An Analytical Analysis Of Nasir's 'Illmatic'

On September 14, 1973, the world welcomed “one of New York City’s leading rap voices,” (AllMusic). Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones—better known by his stage name, Nas—is a Crown Heights, Brooklyn native who spent most of his childhood being raised in Queensbridge, one of the nation’s largest projects. At the tender age of fourteen, Nas averted his attention from his schoolwork and dedicated much of his life to the streets of Queens, New York. It was here that Jones developed a rhythmic voice and distinctive tone that would heavily influence the culture of hip hop. Nasir’s most widely accredited debut album, Illmatic, was released in 1994 and is highly regarded as one of the most influential rap albums of all time. In a recent interview with BET’s

It Was Written, released in 1996 under Columbia Records, sold 2,595,000 albums worldwide (Hip Hop DX). According to some sources, this LP gives Illmatic a run for its money. In search of the most influential album created by Nas, Max Weinstein compared the two. It is apparent the author seems to be slightly biased toward Nas’ later creation, though he still analyzes both albums and their elements wholesomely. In paragraph eight of the article, Weinstein writes, “Illmatic presented Nas as a street poet, writing about what he saw from his project window, the subject matter for It Was Written took a more imaginative turn,” (Weinstein). This album allowed listeners into Nas’ world and made it easy to grasp onto his overall plan for success. After rapping about his childhood experiences in Illmatic, Nas produced a poetic album which shared many of his fantasies with those tuning in. In Weinstein’s words, “these rhymes [in It Was Written], slicked back and refined, mirrored Nas’ real-life ambitions,” (Weinstein, par. 9). The transition from sharing stories of hardships he faced growing up to sharing his aspirations was effortless; “If Illmatic is the rap bible, It Was Written is the New Testament,” (Weinstein, par.

Those who want to dream big and imagine a perfect world might be able to identify with many of Nas' visions. Later in the song, Nas begins to lay out what a perfect world might consist of. He raps, "Trees for breakfast, dime sexes, and Benz stretches," (Nas 23). If he were capable of ruling the world, prosperity and wealth would not be uncommon. In line fifty, Nas digs a little deeper, "It would be no such thing as jealousies or B Felonies," (Nas 50). In the state of New York, B Felonies classify as hate crimes, gang related crimes, sex crimes involving children, vulnerable elderly victims and uses of deadly weapons (Criminal Defense Lawyer). If granted the power, Nas would rid the world of hatred and damaging situations for children and defenseless victims. The audience is able to see that--through these proposals--Nas takes into consideration the needs of children and defenseless individuals. Those who are passionate toward sensitive topics such as the one presented above might also make up a large quantity of