Nas - It Was Written (July 2, 1996)

Nas - It Was Written

Template change. Since I'm sick and I can't get to sleep, I figure I'll finish this review.

Nas was in a little bit of a pickle. I mean, he just dropped arguably the greatest hip-hop album of all time. How the hell would you follow that up?

Nas decided to go in a more mainstream direction for his sophmore album, getting the Trackmasters to have production credits in more than half the album. He also decided to change his manager, leaving MC Serch in the dust for Steve "My Only Claim to Fame is that Puff Daddy Hit Me in the Head with a Champagne Bottle" Stoute. He convinced Lauryn Hill of the Fugees to be featured on his first single, since she (and Wyclef and Pras) were still riding an insane wave of popularity, thanks to The Score.

He tapped only two producers from Illmatic, bringing back DJ Premier and L.E.S., both getting one song to themselves (L.E.S. would co-produce a song with the Trackmasters). Nas tapped fellow Queensbridgians Mobb Deep, getting Havoc to produce and appear on two songs, with Havoc's partner-in-crime Prodigy appearing on the second of those two. Nas also got Live Squad, Lo Ground, and General Sound to all produce one track. However, even with all those producers, the biggest production credits would belong to one, Andre Young.

The West Coast doctor, who was busy producing tracks for Death Row artists, collaborated with the East Coast MC, making Nasir the first East Coast MC to appear have a song produced by Dr. Dre.

When It Was Written dropped, it was sold more than Illmatic, but wasn't received as well as Illmatic, but then, how could it be?

1. Album Intro
Produced by Nas & Trackmasters
Nas's sophmore attempt begins with the most pretentious intro this side of Wu-Tang Clan's "Wu-Revolution". It then cuts to an intro similar to "The Genesis" off of Illmatic, where AZ blabbers and Nas appears to not even notice his Queensbridge counterpart.

2. The Message
Produced by Trackmasters
For the most mainstream producers not named "The Hitmen", the Trackmasters provided a beat that doesn't sound at all remotely like it was meant for the radio, which Poke and Tone are known for. And as such, their beat is pretty simple. Simple drum beat, a crash every now and then, and repeating strings. Simplicity can be good, you know. Nas's rhymes are on point making this a damn good song to reintroduce us to Nasir Jones.

3. Street Dreams
Produced by Trackmasters
The second single. If you fancy yourself a fan of Tupac Shakur, you'll notice pretty early that Nas samples the same song as 2Pac's "All Eyez on Me" off the self-titled album. If you fancy yourself a fan of "Street Dreams," you already know there's a remix of this track, featuring R. Kelly. If you fancy yourself a fan of good hip-hop songs, you'll probably think of this as a "Meh." track and skip onto the next track...

4. I Gave You Power
Produced by DJ Premier
The lone DJ Premier production... and it's REALLY good. Premo's beat is awesome, and Nas's lyrics are good. The gimmick of this track would be that Nas is rhyming in the viewpoint as a gun. And while it may sound as though it might not come off well, it really does.

5. Watch Dem N---as (feat. Foxy Brown)
Produced by Trackmasters
SKIP.

6. Take It in Blood
Produced by Live Squad, Lo Ground, & General Sound
I don't know the producers, but their beat is good and simple. Nas's lyrics are on point (like every album he's put out not named Nastradamus). This song is pretty good

7. Nas is Coming (feat. Dr. Dre)
Produced by Dr. Dre
The intro that takes us into the track lasts too long. Once it gets into the song, I notice that the chorus sucks. Dr. Dre's beat is actually pretty boring and totally unlike the good Doctor that we know and love. His appearance on this track is pretty much a non-factor here. Nas sounds good, but the problem is, is this whole collaboration needed to be perfect. We have the best producer on the West and (one of) the best MC(s) on the East collaborating. But Dre uncharacteristically faltered to come up with a good beat. If you need to hear a good Dre/Nas, I'd point you in the direction of "Hustlers" featuring The Game from Nas's Hip Hop is Dead, or the "East Coast/West Coast Killas" track, credited to Group Therapy (Dr. Dre, B-Real, and B-Real from the West, Nas and KRS-One from the East), off of Dr. Dre's Aftermath compilation/teaser CD.

8. Affirmative Action (feat. AZ, Cormega, & Foxy Brown)
Produced by Trackmasters
On his sophomore disc, Nas decides to give the members of his supergroup (featuring AZ (the only guest verse on Illmatic), Foxy Brown, and Cormega (who was dropped from the group and replaced by another MC from Queensbridge, Nature, before they released their first full-length album, titled... The Album). Over a Trackmasters-provided beat (they would go on to produce most of The Album, the only other produced being Dr. Dre). AZ, Cormega, and Nas all provide good verses... and then Foxy Brown drops by. I've never liked her and this is no exception. With Cormega providing a pretty good verse, you may ask yourself why Nas dropped him and replaced with Nature? I don't know why. I'm going to guess Cormega accidentally erased a sketch on Nas's Etch A Sketch that he had been working on for a while and Nas got pissed and dropped him.

9. The Set Up (feat. Havoc)
Produced by Havoc
Havoc, from Havoc & Prodigy Play the Blues (also known as Mobb Deep) drops by and provides Nas with a pretty good beat to which he successfully rhymes over with good results. Havoc, the lesser part of Havoc & Prodigy Play the Blues provides an annoying chorus, making this a meh track.

10. Black Girl Lost (feat. Jo-Jo Hailey)
Produced by L.E.S. & Trackmasters
L.E.S., who had production credits on Illmatic, drops by to co-produce a track with the album's primary producers, the Trackmasters. Jo-Jo Hailey of K-Ci & Jo-Jo provides a meh hook, but the beat is boring. As such, this would be ranked "meh".

11. Suspect
Produced by L.E.S.
Yawn.

12. Shootouts
Produced by Trackmasters
See track #11.

13. Live N---a Rap (feat. Mobb Deep)
Produced by Havoc
Havoc comes back around, bringing his Mobb Deep counterpart, Prodigy. Havoc's beat is good and he and the currently-incarcerated half of Havoc & Prodigy Play the Blues sounds good, as does Nas.

14. If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (feat. Lauryn Hill)
Produced by Trackmasters & Rashad Smith
For a radio-ready track (this was the first single, after all), this is a pretty good song. Nas enlists the Fugees' Lauryn Hill for the chorus, which she sounds good. The ebat's pretty good, too.

Conclusion: There was no way that It Was Written wasn't going to be compared to Illmatic. Illmatic was a critically acclaimed classic, and It Was Written was his follow up. Just like Jay-Z's In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 was compared to Reasonable Doubt, It Was Written was/is compared to Illmatic. And while it's obvious that Illmatic is the better album, It Was Written is a good album on it's own. As such, it deserves money spent on it. The best part about buying it, would be that you can probably find it pretty cheap without spending much time looking for it.

Nas - Stillmatic (December 18, 2001)

Nas - Street's Disciple

Review #8, post #12.

Stillmatic is Nas's second most important album, behind Illmatic. If it weren't for Stillmatic, Nas might not have a career today. Instead he'd be considered as an artist who peaked at his debut and went downwards from then, and for good reason. That's what he did.

After Illmatic, Nas released It Was Written. And while it was still a good album and while it sold more than the debut, it was nothing near Illmatic in terms of quality. After that, Nas followed up with I Am... This continued the downslide in quality, even though it still sold a good amount. Later that year, Nas rushed to release Nastradamus, dropping it in time for the holiday season. The album sucked.

And I say this as a huge Nas fan, it was horrible.

With this, it effectively looked like the once bright-looking career of Nas was over. And yet... it isn't. Nas has dropped five albums since Nastradamus. Why? Well, he can thank Jay-Z.

The whole feud can be traced back to Reasonable Doubt days. Jay-Z and Ski used a sample of Nas's voice from "The World is Your's" for his own "Dead Presidents." After Nas complained, Jay offered him the chance to re-record the line. Nas accepted and never showed up. Also, Nas and AZ's "supergroup" (you'd have to use that term loosely when describing them) The Firm was supposed to release their debut (and only... thank god) album on Roc-A-Fella, but, instead, chose to sign to Dr. Dre's Aftermath.

But that's fine, Jay might've been ticked at Nas, but no diss tracks were exchanged... yet. By this time, The Notorious B.I.G. had been murdered, leaving the spot for "King of New York" vacant. Jay-Z claimed this spot for himself. Nas thought that Jay didn't deserve this and criticized him on "We Will Survive" from I Am...

Cue feud.

While the feud bubbled under for a couple years, it become popularly known at Hot 97 Summer Jam, where Jay mocked Queensbridge and Mobb Deep (Nas's home and Nas's allies) by rapping the opening line of diss track "The Takeover". Nas responded on a radio freestyle over Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full", which he called "Stillmatic." Jay responded by lengthening "The Takeover" adding a longer verse dedicated to Nas, in which he attacked his street credibility, album quality, and subtley suggested that perhaps Nas's baby momma Carmen Bryant had some... relations with Jay.

This pissed Nas off. And as such, it lit a fire under Nas, inspiring him to come back with Stillmatic, his fifth album...

1. Stillmatic (The Intro)
Produced by Hangmen 3
Hangmen 3 (whoever he/they is/are) provides Nas with a decent beat that begins as a typical hip hop intro, though Nas quickly begins rhyming. This sounds good, quickly filling listeners with hope that maybe this wouldn't be Nastradamus II: Nastradamus Harder.

2. Ether
Produced by Ron Browz
The track that pretty much certained Nas had a career for the next couple years. I remember when I went to the Stillmatic Wiki page last year and realized that the auto-tune voice on Busa Buss's "Arab Money" also produced this track. Heh... makes sense... since the beat AND the chorus from that song don't sound too good (I'm kind of complimenting Ron Browz here, because that chorus is absolute SHIT). This song also introduced the phrases "stan" and "ethered" into the hip-hop dictionary.

3. Got Ur Self A...
Produced by Megahertz Music Group
Who the hell are Megahertz Music Group? The second single from Illmatic, featuring a video with Nas portraying 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. in their last moments (which is actually a pretty good video, in my opinion). Didn't chart very well, reaching #87 on the Hot 100 (and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks).

4. Smokin'
Produced by Nas & Precision
The hook sucks. And the song isn't very good. Definitely the worst song on here.

5. You're Da Man
Produced by Large Professor
The first of three producers that Nas brought back from Illmatic (along with DJ Premier and L.E.S.). During my first listen of this, I wasn't a huge fan of the beat. My dislike was about the drums during the song. I am proud to report nowadays, that this song is actually pretty fucking awesome.

6. Rewind
Produced by Large Professor
The second of LP's contributions, this one, however, is just weird. Why? Well, you see... it's backwards. And as such, it's a very weird listen...

7. One Mic
Produced by Nas & Chucky Thompson (of The Hitmen)
I'm sure if you fancy yourself a Nas fan, you've heard this before. You know how it goes. The beat changes throughout the verses and Nas's volume increases, starting off soft and laid back, growing with each line until he's loud and aggressive, practically yelling at you, or in the case of the final verse, he starts off loud and aggressive and ends soft and laidback. Plus, the lines dealing with numbers in the second verse is just crazy. All in all, this is the best song off Stillmatic and one of Nas's best in his catalog (even better than some Illmatic tracks).

8. 2nd Childhood
Produced by DJ Premier
Premo's only contribution to Stillmatic. This is another great song off Stillmatic. While not the best Premier beat that Nas has rhymed over, it's still good. Plus Nas's storytelling propels this to a higher level of quality. And the beat isn't that bad, either.

9. Destroy & Rebuild
Produced by Baby Paul & Mike Risko
Here, Nas moves on from Jay and decides to diss Cormega, Prodigy, and Nature. All being former allies (Mega was in The Firm, Prodigy and Nas collabed several times, and Nature was in The Firm to replace Mega). At the end, Nas basically invites Prodigy and Nature to help their relationship, following that up by dissing Cormega evern more.

10. The Flyest (feat. AZ)
Produced by L.E.S.
Nas allows L.E.S. and AZ back into the studio since AZ's Pieces of a Man. Nas's verse sounds better than AZ, in my honest opinion. L.E.S.'s beat sounds good to make this a decent enough song.

11. Rule (feat. Amerie)
Produced by Trackmasters
This samples and interpolates "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears and is a decent track when you figure that it's pretty much a radio-ready track.

12. My Country (feat. Millenium Thug)
Produced by Lofey
Whoever Lofey is, he provides Nas with a decent beat here. Millenium Thug (whoever he is) sounds decent with Nas, which makes me wonder what he did after this track. Even though the hook sucks, this song's decent.

13. What Goes Around
Produced by Salaam Remi
The first contribution Salaam gave to Nas. It would result in a working relationship that would give us the greatness that is "Made You Look".

14. Every Ghetto
Produced by L.E.S.
This is a decent track to go out on. It's not like it'll be in any greatest hits releases or anybody's "Best Nas Songs" playlist.

Conclusion: While Stillmatic may not be on the level as his debut, Illmatic, this is still a really good album, definitely worthy of your purchase.

Also By Nas
Nas - Illmatic (April 19, 1994)

I had my first problems with procrastination while writing this review. Let's hope I can continue to "beat the little hater."

Track Reviews #2: Crooked I, Eminem, Nas, Raekwon, & More...

For our second edition of track reviews, we have new tracks from an apparent DEA informant, an Albino, a hustla, a crook, a white guy, a Chicago native not named Kanye or Lupe, a legend, a chef, and a supergroup.

Let's go in.

Alfamega - Round One
Leading us off is the supposed T.I. diss by Alfamega, which Alfamega has said isn't true. And it doesn't really sound like a T.I. diss, so I'm gonna have to agree. It was supposed to be off a mixtape called 10 Round K.O., in which he would do 10 songs, each featuring a different flow. However, Alfa says he's not gonna release it because it would be misintrepeted as a T.I. diss. Diss or not, this is actually a pretty good track.

Brother Ali - Us
Here comes my first taste of Brother Ali, "Us" off the album with the same name which drops September 22nd. Brother Ali's flow is half-singing, half-rapping, all good. The track is relatively quick, as Ali drops 1 verse and moves on. However, I'm tempted to check out The Undisputed Truth now.

Cassidy - Ok, You're Right Freestyle
Oh, hey, Cassidy's still around. He hops on 50 Cent's "Ok, You're Right", produced by Dr. Dre to meh results.

Crooked I - 8-11 Part 3 (The H's on the Side)
Here's Crooked's third "8-11." This time, he hops on the beat for "Best I Ever Had" to good results. While I don't like it better than the second "8-11", this is a good track. I wonder when Crooked's gonna release the Mr. Pig Face Weapon Waist EP. And it makes remind myself to go back and listen to go and download one of his mixtapes. Oh, Crooked's new "Slaugterhouse" tattoo... lol.

Eminem - The Warning
You've probably heard this song by now, but I'm gonna talk about it anyway. This is Eminem's diss track to Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon, a response to the former's "Obsessed," which featured a remix alongside Ja Rule (who is still alive) and Gucci Mane (who still sucks). What does this track do ultimately? Well, it pretty much ends this lame feud... that is unless Mariah or Nick respond, in which case Eminem will presumably release nude pics of Mariah. Oh, Em talking about cumming over Mariah's stomach. Funny. Em talking about killing Mariah. Unneccessary.

GLC - A Gangstaz Nature (feat. Cold Hard)
My first listen of GLC without Kanye. Who the hell Cold Hard is... I don't know. But his voice is goddamn annoying. GLC sounds decent, but ultimately, I think I'm gonna delete this track.

Nas - Legendary
Picked this up thanks to Hip Hop Connection's digital magazine. They gave a free .mp3 of it with this description:

An exclusive from the top notch Tyson DVD, here the boy Esco gets into fight mode. Seconds out!

It begins with 40 seconds of orchestra shit and then the beat kicks in and Nas goes in. Great track... but I think I have this track already.
EDIT: I have it on the mixtape Nas dropped before Untitled. Still a good track.

Raekwon - House of Flying Daggers (feat. Inspectah Deck, Ghostface Killah, & Method Man)
So, first ?uestlove posted a radio rip on Twitter. Then the next morning, the clean CDQ version was on illRoots. Then later in the day, I found the dirty CDQ version on NahRight. Inspectah Deck leads us off with a good verse, but he's obviously not the main feature. As everyone's looking forward to the Ghost/Meth/Rae collab (let's hope that album actually pops up). Rae's verse sounds great, so does Ghost's. Meth is also good... overall, great song. Oh, and it's over J Dilla production. Only Built 4 Cuban Linx 2 drops September 8th. Can't wait.

Raekwon - Wu Ooh (feat. Ghostface Killah & Method Man)
I know I'm late on this, seeing as it dropped sometime around May, but I just got it last night... thanks to Hip Hop Connection digital issue #2. The beat's good, though I find myself sometimes concentrating on the "Wuuuu... ooooooh" every now and then. That may just be me. Rae, Ghost, and Meth's verses all sound great. That album they're thinkin about could fucking awesome, provided they get some get good beats (I heard they were thinking of making it pretty much all RZA production). Great song. Can't wait for OB4CL2.

Slaughterhouse - Microphone
Okay, so I lied. I had finished writing this and looking at the Slaughterhouse album on Wikipedia and saw that there was a track produced by The Alchemist and I Google'd it and found it uploaded on OnSmash. So I downloaded it. Onto the song... the beat's good, featuring what I think is a Rakim sample (all I hear is a vague "microphone" in the beat). Royce, Crook, Joell, and Joe all come with hot verses making this my second favorite song so far (can't beat "The One"... or "Woodstock (Hood Hop)" for that matter, but apparently, that isn't on the album). I'm definitely copping Slaughterhouse on August 11th. And you should, too.

Nas - Illmatic (April 19, 1994)

Nas - Illmatic

And so we begin Kyle Collins Reviews His Music with my favorite hip-hop album of all-time.

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (who thankfully shortened his stage name down to Nas) dropped his debut album on April 19th, 1994. This album has been debated as not only one of the greatest hip-hop albums, but also one of the greatest albums... ever.

Born in Long Island City, Queens to father jazz trumpeter Olu Dara and mother Fannie Ann Jones. He made his debut on Main Source's "Live at the Barbecue" (off their Breaking Atoms, an equally influential album). He then dropped his first single, "Halftime," albeit under the moniker Nasty Nas. However, it took Nas a year and a quarter to drop his second single, "It Ain't Hard to Tell." Both singles were produced by Large Professor, the producer of "Live at the Barbecue."

Illmatic not only features production by Large Professor (who supplies three tracks, the two above, and "One Time 4 Your Mind"). Oh, no (also the name of a great producer, but I digress...), Nas snagged Pete Rock ("The World is Yours"), Q-Tip ("One Love"), L.E.S. ("Life's a Bitch"), and my favorite producer, DJ Premier ("N.Y. State of Mind," "Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)", "Represent").

Oh, and he has one guest (not counting Q-Tip's chorus) on the album (AZ, oh, and this one song pretty much made his fucking career). ONE GUEST VERSE. If Illmatic were released today, Nas would be contractually obliged to have an 18 track album (3 skits), and only about 5 to himself, the rest would feature label mates and other artists on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Plus every other third track would be a feature heavy track with T-Pain, Akon, The-Dream, or whoever the new popular guy to get for a hook is. Anyway, I'm ranting here... Shall we get on to the album?

We shall.

1. The Genesis
A typical album intro. Boring and unintersting, except for the fact "Live at the Barbecue" is playing in background... which on second thought... still isn't that interesting.

2. N.Y. State of Mind
Produced by DJ Premier
DJ Premier lays down an awesome beat that, combined with Nas's awesome lyrics, helps create a very... very epic song. However, you've heard this before (granted, you've probably heard this entire album before, and if not, put down the fucking Soulja Boy album and buy this shit.)

3. Life's a Bitch (feat. AZ)
Produced by L.E.S.
Nas's dad (Olu Dara) plays cornet on this. It leads off with the only guest verse on the entire album, one which made the career of AZ (didn't I just say this?). And then Nas comes with his verse... and then the chorus repeats... and then we fade out to Olu Dara's cornet. And L.E.S. solidifies his spot as "random Nas associated producer."

4. The World is Yours
Produced by Pete Rock
The only Pete Rock production on the album. Also known in the Collins household as "that fucking awesome song that Jay-Z sampled for that other fucking awesome song (Dead Presidents II) that pretty much started that fucking intense feud between the two." However, that could just be a regional thing... oh, and the title's referencing Scarface, but you know that... right?

5. Halftime
Produced by Large Professor
Look, kids, it's the first appearance of Large Professor on the album! Also the first single Nasir ever dropped (once again, didn't I just say these things?) Not as good as some of the songs on here, but still fucking AGES above the shit on the radio today. Warning, my distaste for the shit on the radio will be a theme throughout this blog.

6. Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park)
Produced by DJ Premier
Premo's second beat. I'd give this track review a couple lines, but I think it can be summed up in one sentence: I love this fucking song.

7. One Love (feat. Q-Tip)
Produced by Q-Tip
Q-Tip of some group called A Tribe Called Quest (kidding... please don't hurt me) provides the beat and the chorus to a song composed of Nas penning letters to his incarcerated friend. The chorus is quick, just Tip repeating "one love" a couple times, before Nas gets right back into the verses. The third verse... is insane.

8. One Time 4 Your Mind
Produced by Large Professor
Large Professor's one contribution that wasn't released as a single. Nas pretty much describes what he does when he's chilling. That and then he and Large Pro do a call-and-response chorus. Probably the weakest song on here, but to quote myself from above...

Not as good as some of the songs on here, but still fucking AGES above the shit on the radio today.

9. Represent
Produced by DJ Premier
Premier's final beat. This song is fucking awesome. Also contains the "pullin' the Tec out the dresser" that Jay-Z decided to criticize on The Takeover... just a random fact for you... pretty much to make the track review look bigger in context... I think I can mvoe on now.

10. It Ain't Hard to Tell
Produced by Large Professor
Large Pro samples Michael Jackson (RIP)'s "Human Nature" (a fucking great track) for the final track of the album. No real chorus here, Nas just steps away from the mic and let's the beat play out before he comes back with the verses. Definitely the best track out of the three Large Professor-produced songs on here.

CONCLUSION: This album is amazing. There's not a weak track on here, even the weakest track on here is amazing. There's a reason this album is my favorite (and no, it's not 'cause I have shitty taste, you douche). It holds up, even after 15 years. If you don't have it, which you probably do, I suggest you run down to the nearest store that sells music (skip Wal-Mart though... fuck them) AND BUY THIS SHIT. And then ask yourself, "Why the hell didn't I get this earlier?"

Did I say "a week" in the intro, oh, sorry, I meant a couple hours. I'm usually much more procrastinative (that's not a word, but fuck it).

Next review coming tomorrow (actually later today)... hopefully, that is. Just because I did this one immediately doesn't mean my problem with procrastination is gone (neither does it mean my problem with herpes is gone... actually, wait, nevermind, you didn't hear that.)

Peace.