What was it really like when It Was Written dropped?

[KiD WavE]

I was only like 5 or something when it dropped and didnt get put on Nas until high school ... the older I get the more of a masterpiece I see IWW as and its crazy to me to hear takeover and hear Jay say it was nahhhhh ...everyone on here treats it as an undeniable classic ...

were people really disappointed at the time with it ? or is that not really how it was ?

 

[Harry B]

I was a kid, what I remember was that it was a hot album. Not a classic, not wack. Just hot like Jays vol 2 (not as hot though). Some cats were disappointed cause he was making gangster/ignorant music to sell records even though they fukked with it. I'd guess that the amount of people saying that, were the same amount saying that it was on the same level as Illmatic. From looking at the reviews they were very mixed. No classic reviews and no weak reviews either.

 

[shopthatwrecks]

heard watch dem nikkas, if i rule the world n the set up on a couple screw tapes..

liked em n bought...dont remember the buzz.. jus remember wha i heard on screw..

 

[Breh Obama]

you gotta also remember this is nas stan central where he can do no wrong. IWW was good but not classic. 4/5

 

[charmander]

my big brother bumped it was written all the time when it dropped, one of the first albums i remember hearing constantly

he would pick me up from daycare bumpin street dreams, if i ruled the world, take it in blood, the set up...had a young nikka feelin himself pullin off infront of the other kids feelin too grown

im too young to remember the buzz around it, but i remember it having a big impact on me comin up and the singles stayed on video channels at the time...

nas - it was written
too short - gettin it
mobb deep - the infamous
8ball and mjg - on top of da world

them albums shaped my life as a lil nikka

 

[Brad Piff]

when if i ruled the world video dropped people were feeling the song because of lauryn, NOT that chump nas, then the album dropped, shyt was lukewarm amongst critics, even vibe (who was major legit at the time) kinda shytted on it... the thought at the time was that chump nas was a studio gangsta all of a sudden rappin about the mafia lifestyle when everybody knew he was just some punk kid who wasnt about that life.. in other words it was a disappointment

it wasnt until years later when the internet was booming that his fakkit stans started fronting online like it was a classic .. fukk outta here shyt has mad weak joints on there

 

[charmander]

you gotta also remember this is nas stan central where he can do no wrong. IWW was good but not classic. 4/5

its easily the best nas album, the rest of his albums are mediocre or garbage

 

[Breh Obama]

its easily the best nas album, the rest of his albums are mediocre or garbage

Stillmatic is actually his most well rounded and coherent album.

 

[spliz]

shyt was everywhere...bumpin out mad whips..all that...Everybody I know had it including myself....shyt..they used to play the street dreams instrumental on the radio every morning when they used to talk or whatever....you know my steez by gangstarr got that treatment when it dropped 2 years later...

 

[Clem]

Read this thread: http://www.the-coli.com/booth/6525-joe-budden-crooked-i-say-written-even-better-than-illmatic.html

 

[charmander]

Stillmatic is actually his most well rounded and coherent album.

stillmatic is trash to me outside of 2 or 3 songs

the best songs on it was written >>>>> the best songs on stillmatic

 

[Breh Obama]

stillmatic is trash to me outside of 2 or 3 songs

the best songs on it was written >>>>> the best songs on stillmatic

yea but thats just you

 

[Yagirlcheatinonus]

I was in the 6th grade I remember before the album came out they was giving out snippets cassettes in the mall. It had like 30 seconds of Watch Dem N1ggas, If I Ruled The World, Street Dreams. It also had Escobar Freestyle it was a crazy sampler. When the album dropped Nas was everywhere. #1 on all the countdown shows all that. I remember I was in the band in school our band teacher came in and we played If I Ruled The World at our middle school homecoming. Cray

 

[H.S.]

I'm from NC, and when it dropped everyone I knew loved it. All you heard that summer was IWW and ATLiens.

 

[charmander]

yea but thats just you

rewind? 2nd childhood? you're da man?

my country?

what goes around? every ghetto? smokin?

face it, stillmatic was trash....nikkas only regard it so highly these days because of Ether