Illmatic

Illmatic is the first album of the Rap fear Nas, left the April 19th 1994 on the label Columbia Records. Containing productions of Broad Professor (of Hand Source), Pete Rock'n'roll (of Pete Rock'n'roll & CL Smooth), Q-Tip (of Tribe Called Quest has) and DJ First (of Gang Starr), and an appearance of the rappor AZ, Illmatic was immediately regarded by the critics as a masterpiece, and is today one of the albums which marked more the history of the Hip hop. The exit of Illmatic redefines the musical medium of the hip hop East Coast in the medium of the the Nineties, outcome with a revival in the lyricism and the rebirth of the scene rap of Queensbridge, which had been latent after one period of importance in the the Eighties. At the time of its exit, Illmatic drew a considerable attention to the community hip hop and caused an immediate feeling in the medium of the hip hop underground. However, the initial sales of the album were not with the height of the hopes. The December 11th 2001, Illmatic was certified disc of platinum by RIAA, and in this month the album sold 3.000 more copies per week. A remasterized edition commemorative of Illmatic had left by Columbia for the ten years the album in 2004, containing a disc no-claims bonus made up of four Remix and two new pieces.

Context

Design

The origins of Illmatic are due to the bonds between Nas and Broad Professor. At 15 years, Nas met this producer of Queensbridge, then 17 years old, and was presented to Main Source, group of hip hop to which Broad Professor belongs. Nas made its first recordings with Main Source, indeed it recorded a verse of " Live At The Barbeque" , extracted the LP of Hand Source entitled Breaking Atoms . Nas will make its beginnings in solo in 1992 on individual the " Halftime" resulting from the original soundtrack of the Zebrahead film of MC Serch. The individual one caused a buzz around Nas, and reinforced the comparisons between him and Rakim

Sessions of recording

Once Serch assumed the role of executive producer of the next album of Nas, it tried to connect this last with various producers. Based on what they had already heard, of many producers of New York were impatient to work with him, and finally entered Power House Studios with Nas. Among them, there was DJ First:

Whoever knows really the hip hop will always remember " Live At The BBQ". The simple fact of listening to its flow on this recording stated to me that it was intended to be there for a long moment. When I listened to " Halftime" , I found that it was too ball… From that, after Serch approached to me to realize a few pieces, it was automatic. That would have been stupid to miss that, even if that did not bring back much money… Several times when I gave him pieces, he pointed out the following day to me and said: " Yo, I do not want a ça." But that did not worry me, and I answered him, " I want that you would be happy, It is your enregistrement." It several times ago when it appreciated a piece, and it still seemed that he thought: " Naa, I want to change ça." Then I resumed my work and modified it, it is as that which " arrived; Represent". Always in " The Genesis" , appearance noticed of Nas on " Live At The Barbeque" is played in the content. On " One Love" , Nas adopts the role of the man writing a series of letters impassioned with a friend in prison, telling several mutual knowledge and the events which occurred since the imprisonment of the receiver. In " N.Y. State Off Mind" , Nas tells its participation in violences between gangs, and philosopher " Life is parralel to Hell, goal I must maintain" (" The life is parallel to the Hell, but I owe tenir"). In the other songs, Nas celebrates the success and the pleasures of the life, recognizing violence like a characteristic of its socio-economic conditions rather than the principal interest of its existence. For example, in " Life' S.A. Bitch" , Nas, awaking, is delighted by the life:

I woke up early one my born day, I' m twenty years off blessin
The gasoline off adolescence leaves my body now I' m fresh and
My physical frame is celebrated causes I made it
One quarter through life nap God-ly like thing created

Lyricism

In addition to powerful narrations, Illmatic was also acclaimed for its lyric contents. Thus, Marc L. Hill of PopMatters written: " Its diagrams of complex rhymes, its word games skilful and its impressive vocabulary took along art to grate with heights without precedents. Based on work of the pioneers Kool G Rap, Big Daddy Kane, and Rakim, the pieces like " Halftime" and ugly the back " One Time 4 Your Mind" show a technical level of precision and dexterity rhetoric… ". Hill quotes " Memory Lane" like an example of the “perfect lyricism” of Nas:

I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners
Henessey holders and old school niggas, then I Be dissin a
Unofficial that smoke woolie thai
I dropped out off Cooley High, gassed up by has cokehead cutie pie
Jungle survivor, fuck who' S the liver
My man could the battery in my back, has difference from Energizer
Sentence begins indented, with formality
My duration' S infinity, money-wise gold physiology
Poetry, that' S.A. leaves me, retardedly bop
off I drop the anciently manifested hip-hop, straight off the block
I reminisce one park jams, my man was shot for his sheep coat
Childhood blessing make me see him drop in my weed smoke

Production

Illmatic is also complimented for its productions. According to criticisms, the four major producers of the album (Broad Professor, DJ First, Pete Rock'n'roll, and Q-Tip) contributed considerably to the cohesive widespread esthetic atmosphere in the album, while keeping each one their own style, their own signature. Q magazine foot-note that: " the musical funds are razor blades; the happy hard ones but of the melody refrains and loops, the atmospheric background of the pianos, the deaf cords or trumpets, and the samples… powerful a plaisir." Having much regard for the productions of the album, a chronicler wrote: " The production, accentuated by vocal loops, samples, and synthetizers in the content, places your spirit in merry, evoking atmosphere… One of the most important reasons of this phenomenal quality… can be allotted to… of accomplished and logically of excellent producers of musique."

Recognition of criticisms

In spite of some criticisms on the album for its brevity (it contains only 9 songs and a intro; unusual for an album of hip hop), the general reaction for Illmatic was immensely positive. The publications of The Source or NME since recognized it like one of the most important albums hip hop of the Nineties. The album has the distinction to be one of the only albums hip hop with being included in the list of the 500 best albums of all times, of the magazine Rolling Stone . It is one of the sixteen albums of hip hop included in the " Best Albums Off The 90s Redux list" of Pitchfork Media and of the thirty-three albums hip hop/R&B list " is one; Essential Recordings off the 90s" of Rolling Stone . Illmatic was voted #5 in " The Critics Signal 100 Black Music Albums off All Time" and #3 in the " Signal 100 Poll" Readers; of Hip-Hop Connection Magazine . Moreover, Illmatic was the album hip hop best noted in the " AlTime Signal 500 Albums" of Spleen Your Music. Illmatic was égalemnt classified #4 in the " Signal 10 Rap Albums" of Vibe , and #2 in the list " The Greatest Hip Hop Albums off All Time" of MTV .

Illmatic is one of the rare albums having been noted 5 mics out of 5 (that is to say traditional of the hip hop) by the magazine The Source , which was prestigious being given the influence of this magazine on the community hip hop to this époque

As very acclaimed at the same time Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) of the Wu-Tang Clan and the business success of Ready to Die of The Notorious B.I.G, Illmatic was an instrument for the restoration of the interest for the scene East Coast, while the hip hop West Coast dominated the American charts from the exit of the album The Chronic of Dr. DRE. Steve Huey of the All Music Guide wrote: " It helped spearhead the artistic rebirth off New York hip hop in the post- Chronic will era, leading has return to street aesthetics."

David Drake of Stylus Magazine written: " … hip hop was one the like-up in '94. Everything that had been building in terms off production and rapping cam to year apex in '94, the year that brought custom both Notorious B.I.G. “S epic beginning Ready to Die and Nas” trenchant street reflections one Illmatic … This was the critical not for the East Coast, has time when rappers from the New York area were releasing bucketloads off thrilling work… " Nas told later: " It felt amazing to Be accepted by New York City in that way… At the time has off batch West Coast was selling; East Coast wasn' T selling ace much, especially for has new artist. So back then you couldn' T Tel. in the dirty, goal you could Tel. in the streets".

Lyricism

In spite of disappointing sales, Illmatic had a deep impact on the beginnings of the hip hop underground, and marked a change of major style in the hip hop by creating a new form of lyricism. Before the exit of the album, the lyricism in the hip hop was mainly defined by two popular forms. One was characterized by a very fast flow Ragga accompanied by an elocution sogrenue, often absurdity, and which had been popularized by the groups of Brooklyn Das EFX and The Fu-Schnickens. The other form was characterized by a nonchalant flow which sacrificed lyric complexity for a greater rhythmic clearness, whose principal examples are the rappeurs West Coast such Snoop Dogg.

Production

The gathering of producers DJ First, Q-Tip, Pete Rock'n'roll, and Broad Professor on the same project was without precedent in the hip hop, before the majority of the albums rap were mainly the work of a dedicated production line team

Rebirth of the scene rap of Queensbridge

Illmatic is also credited to have made reappear the scene rap district of Queensbridge. After the exit of Illmatic , Queensbridge found a great importance after years of darkness, with in particular the ascenscion of the influential group Mobb Deep (see their album The Infamous left in 1995), which gained its credibility thanks to its affiliation with Nas, and later with the emergence of the duet Capone-N-Noreaga. and Reef, the rappeurs acclaimed by criticisms, such Canibus, Talib Kweli and Saigon, the popular producers Just Blaze and The Alchemist, as well as the famous rappeurs Eminem (who uses a similar lyric approach on his album Infinite ), and The Game (which refers many to the album on its first opus, The Documentary ). In its collaboration with Nas on the title " Hustlers" (resulting from the next album of Nas Hip Hop Is Dead ), The Game makes another allusion to Illmatic :

Five Nineteen ninety, eleven years from the day
I' m in the record shop with choices to make
Illmatic one the signal shelf, The Chronic one the left, homie
Wanna COP both goal only got has twenty one me
So fuck it, I stole both, spent the twenty one has dub-sack
Ripped the package off Illmatic and bumped that
For my niggas it was too complex when Nas rhymed
I was the only Compton nigga with has " New York State off Mind"

On the site of the magazine XXL , Illmatic recently belonged to the list of the 10 albums hip hop considered as the traditional ones by the group Clipse. Mischievousness, a member of the duet, declares there: " Illmatic captured the whole New York state off mind for me. It embraced everything I knew New York to Be. The album had 10 songs, all off them flawless. Me and my homies got great memories off rolling around listening to that, huslin', smokin', chillin'. That embodied everything that was right with hip-hop. That CD never cam out my deck."

The words of Illmatic also were samplées on several occasions by other rappeurs, for example Big L (which sample " It Ain' T Hardware To Tell" on " Ebonics"), Real Live (which sample the same song on " Real Live Shit"), Milkbone (which sample " Life' S.A. Bitch" on " Keep It Real") and more particularly Jay-Z (which sample " Represent" and " The World Is Yours" on, respectively " Rap Range/Game" Ace; and " Dead Presidents II"). Indeed, the album Be of Common, very positively criticized, is described like to be modelled according to Illmatic .

Following albums of Nas

Whereas the success of the album among criticisms enormously helped the beginning of the career of Nas, the aficionados of the hip hop quoted it like its inextricable phenomenon of " gift and curse" (gift and curse).

It all the time was listened to, when one left with Nas the Queens. It was funny to see how it was humble of that. I had listened to it and the songs were so much sublimes, that made cry. He, it remained calm, while only saying, “You like?”. It was listened to piece per piece, then when the album left, it was not surprising to hear the reactions. Everyone became insane. You could not walk in the ghetto without hearing Illmatic. It was in your spirit.

List pieces

Information on the samples coming from the The-Breaks.com site.

In 2004, an edition birthday (left under the name of 10th Anniversary Platinum Edition ) left to celebrate the 10 years of Illmatic, containing a second disc of songs no-claims bonus.

Appropriations

Nas - Voice, Producing
MC Serch - Executive producer
Olu Dara - Trumpet
DJ First - Producing
Diego Garrido - Engineer, Mixeur
Broad Professor - Producing
Tim " The Funky Red" Lathem - Engineer
Q-Tip - Producing
Kevin Reynolds - Engineer
Pete Rock'n'roll - Producing
Eddie Sancho - Engineer
Jamey Staub - Engineer
Jason Vogel - Engineer
Stan Wallace - Engineer
Shine Tineo - Assistant Engineer
Aimee MacAuley - Design
Jack Hersca - Assistant Engineer
Danny Clinch - Photography
L.E.S. - Producer
Anton " Sample This" Pushansky - Engineer
AZ - Voice

Position in the charts and individual

Position in the charts of the magazine Billboard (North America).

Album

Individual

Classifications

(*) indicates the lists without ordre

References

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