So... It's 1997 and the idea of what Hip-Hop actually embodies is finally kicking in to my then 12-year-old brain. So I decide to take the strong advice of older, more experienced listeners and pick up Nas' 'Illmatic' which had been released 3 years earlier. At this point, I had never even really heard of Nas, as it was the pre-'Hate Me Now' era, and Nas' music was hardly selling in full volumes on this side of the Atlantic. The first thing I notice about the album is the fact that it only has 10 tracks, one of which is an intro; so that's 9 songs for a whole album. Odd. Upon discovering this, I was expecting the songs to be top-notch, since Nas had to cram his all into approximately 40 minutes of playing time. Fortunately, I was right!
The album begins with a track named 'The Genesis'; which is actually the intro. The opening begins with film excerpts laced over the top of Nas spitting like fire, before introducing himself via a staged conversation amongst friends and fellow rappers, one of them being AZ who we meet later on in the album. Upon commenting that 'Niggas don't be listenin', man/ This is Illmatic!", the album cuts the the glassy, heavy, gritty beat of 'New York State Of Mind', with a bassline so ill that only one man could have laced this track - DJ Premiere. Nas brings on the lyrics immediately, dropping urgent lines as if he feels the need to prove his dopeness right here, right now. Despite the desperation to be heard, Nas here drops some of the rawest lyrics on the album, exhibiting his best flow. What I like about the track is that is mentaility is straight street and Nas cuts the bullshit in order to tell it like it is. However, to me it's not the best track on the album, although some heads will swear that it is.
My favourite track comes in the form of 'Life's A Bitch', featuring the then-excellent emcee AZ; a long-term collaborator with Nas. The track begins with the same lines we hear AZ kick in 'The Genesis'; "A yo what's up/ Let's keep it real son/ Count this money, yknowwhaimsayin'?...", before he proceeds to drop some of the album's best and deepest lines like:
"Visualise the realism of life in actuality/
Fuck who's the baddest, a person's status depends on salary..."
Straight truth from the emcee who caught my ear immediately. In an out of character fashion, Nas doesn't come quite as lyrically strong on this track, but it still adequately on point with his opener, "I woke up early on my born day/ I'm twenty years; a blessin'/ The essence of adolescence leaves my body now I'm freshened...". In a rare Hip-Hop moment, the listener can almost actually hear Nas coming of age, and reels in shock at the revelation that he is only 20. The chorus utilises AZ's 'desperate' voice to the fullest, thus creating a mood which makes listeners think "Yes, I know what he means...". The lyrics; "Life's a bitch and then you die/ That's why we get high/ 'Cos you never know when you gon' go..."; perfectly capture the "New York State Of Mind-esque" feeling to this album.
Whilst the fourth track doesn't quite equal the emotional depth of 'Life's A Bitch'; 'The World Is Yours' is one of the catchiest and highest quality tracks on the album, with the nod-inducing; albeit slightly tinny; beat and killer lines like:
"I'm out for Presidents to represent me/
[Say what?]/
I'm out for Presidents to represent me/
[Say what?]/
I'm out for dead Presidents to represent me..."
This is just one example of Nas' truly witty wordplay exhibited on the whole joint; and has yet been unprecedented in the later musical offerings of his career. The chorus is to blame for the catchiness of the song; the simple "Whose world is this? It's mine, it's mine, it's mine" repetitive sample is enough to make you nod your head, and always seems to stay inscribed upon your brain even hours after listening. One of the most interesting, yet by no means the best, beats on the album is presented in the form of the bassline for track 5, 'Halftime'. In terms of listenability and lyrical quality, it's one of the lesser joints of the album, but the beat is amazing and is fully utilised to construct the weird, yet intriguing chorus. The actual title of the song seems to have no connection with its subject matter, but the track, in terms of music, works wonderfully with strange 'wailing' female vocals over a saxophone-simulating breaks in the rhymes.
'Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)' serves as only the second track on the album to slow things down and gather Nas' thoughts. Despite its superior beat, its lyrical content and depth doesn't come close to matching up to 'Life's A Bitch'. A very good track within its own right, but falls slightly short amidst the wider context of this so far excellent album. The lyrics aim to hit a soft spot amongst the audience, but lines like "I rap for listeners/ Fly ladies/ Blunt heads and prisoners" fail to spark comments about originailty, and seemingly state the obvious by re-gurgitating material already presented in the previous 5 tracks. Fortunately, redemption comes in the form of the untimely excellent epic track 'One Love'; on which Nas pays dues to his incarcerated peers. Hardly an original concept within rap, but Nas adds his own unique touch by conducting the track as if writing a letter, communicating via some of the illest lyrics ever kicked in 90's rap music.
The beat is one of my personal favourite, and seems to exhibit the slightest hint of nursery rhyme-esque melody. Getting his props for his production on the track, Q-Tip's trademark vocals appear on the chorus, repeating "One love, one love, one love, one love..."; perfectly capturing the feel of the track. Nas uses the final verse to collect his own thoughts and reflect on the prison situation, dropping one of my favourite verses of the album:
"Sometimes I sit back with a budda sack mind's in another world/
Thinking how can we exist through the facts written in school text books, bibles, etcetera/
Fuck a school lecture, the lies get me vexed-er/
So I be ghost from my projects/
I take my pen and pad for the week and hittin' nails while I'm sleeping a two day stay/
You may say I need the time alone to relax my dome, no phone, left the 9 at home/
You see the streets have me stressed something terrible...".
Nas re-visits his 'slow flow' on 'One Time 4 Ya Mind'; a style which has so far generated mediocre reviews in regard to its contribution towards the album. However, this is the first track when Nas pulls this adopted style off flawlessly, in order to make one of the mellowest and most thought-provoking joints on the album. Most of the lyrics aren't particularly complex, but exhibit a style so laid-back and lazy that you can't help but sit back, relax and vibe to it. Seemingly unintentionally, the track has its funny moments with lines such as "Y'all niggas was born/ I shot my way out my mom-dukes...". The pentultimate track, 'Represent', bears a remarkable resemblence to 'One Love' in the beat-stakes, presenting the similar chunky, stilted yet excellent bassline. However, the tracks differ somewhat in terms of their subject matter. The shouty intro "Represent, represent, represent..." lays the basis of the track down - this is going to be a slice of dope, hardcore lyricism. Reintroducing himself and reinforces his 'hardcore as fuck' personna, Nas states "Yo, they call me Nas, I'm not your legal type of fella/ Moet drinkin, marijuana smokin street dweller/ Who's always on the corner, rollin up blessed/ When I dress, it's never nuttin' less than Guess". ~ Purely nonsensical lyrics but presented in the dopest manner, and are surprisingly quickfire, in terms of the rest of the album.
The album concludes on a high note in regards to quaility, with the excellent 'It Ain't Hard To Tell', another track which uses weird female 'wailing' vocals to create the perfect abstract feel in the chorus and worked in amidst funk-induced bassline. Again, this is one of the many tracks on which Nas exhibits near perfect lyricism; this time choosing to drop some real 'science':
"It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail/
The mic is contacted, I attract clientele/
My mic check is life or death, breathin a sniper's death/
I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps.../"
The track is the perfect outro for this almost fully-excellent album. The Source awarded it with a coveted '5 mic' rating, and I'd give it 9/10. If you don't own this album, please go out and buy it immediately. Upon hearing and comprehending it, you'll wonder what all the fuss about 'God's Son' was.
