What was it really like when It Was Written dropped?

[DredScott]

I've always thought of Illmatic and IWW as seasons 1 and 2 of The Wire.

After S1/Illmatic everyone was all
When S2/IWW dropped people were not just expecting quality, but a specific type of quality. They thought they had that shyt pegged. That's why the first reaction was "wtf happened?". But after a bit of time passed and people had time to digest they were all ""

you know what this is one of the best analogies i've seen and it makes alotta sense, although i always respected the depth and change of scenery in season 2 of the wire (i attribute that to my maturity and appreciation for great writing and acting). i blame my youth and stubborn backpacker mentality for making me turn my back on Nas for a minute in 1996.

 

[Whitty Hutton]

I can't speak for everyone of course, but I don't recall that bein' a big deal. Stuff like that used to happen all the time, where one artist would have the same sample as another around the same time.

shyt, look how many people sampled "Between the Sheets"

This is true, nobody cared. The blend with both would even play on the night radio mixes

 

[Juliano Soprano]

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

Exactly, I'm from NC too and that's all that was getting spins. That's why it was shocking to me how much these NY cats Say it was trash and nobody was bumping it there on the internet.

It got too much love here.

 

[DoomzdayzV]

It was Written is a very dark album to me...but not dark in a good way like Hell on Earth or Liquid Swordz(much better albums in the same era). Dark in a sense that I cant even explain....the album just didnt feel right. It was stained with some kinda energy i couldnt vibe with at all. Never liked it. I never thought Illmatic was all that great either to be honest, but IWW was a wrap...after that, I hated Nas and wanted him to just fukkin go away. I hated that joint he did with Mary too. 96 was a real creepy year in NY for some odd reason, dont even know how to explain it.

 

[Smokebreak]

A lot of rap nigggas 20-32 will always say IWW > Illmatic because that was their first exposure to Nas. i was 11 when that shyt dropped and street dreams was on bet/mtv 24/7!!!! and of course "if i ruled the world"


OG's were disappointed because they didn't like his "sellout" route. they only said that because they seen his exposure blow up. it was more universal than illmatic. Nas's first modern production era album.

the exposure for IWW was wild though. very polarizing between the OGs and new fans.

 

[Mike Statik]

imo its Nas' best album... his delivery was perfect, lota conceptual tracks...

i gave you power is pretty much flawless as well as watch dem nikkas and take it in blood

 

[Cliche]

It was definitely not as universally acclaimed as Illmatic, because people were expecting Illmatic. But it wasn't like it dropped and people were really thinking it was wack. It was more disappointment versus expectations.

Personally I thought it was a great album at the time. Not as raw as Illmatic, but musically it was so different from what was expected from a guy like Nas.

 

[criminology]

Also, overall back then people werent so obsessed about if an album was classic. People just listened to the shyt and enjoyed music rather than debating if an album was 5 or 4.5 mics.

I don't remember anyone arguing whether muddy waters was a classic album. You just put that shyt on and got blazed.