The World is Yours
OTD in 1994, Nas dropped Illmatic and changed the New York music scene and possibly Hip-Hop as we know it forever.
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27 years ago today, a little-known New York rapper Nas dropped his debut album Illmatic and exposed a side of New York that changed the city’s perspective forever for the majority of Americans themselves, let alone the world.
In just 39 minutes and 10 songs. Nas touched on topics ranging from gang rivalries, desolation, and the ravages of urban poverty along with giving an insight into life in the projects in 90s New York City. The second track on the album, N.Y State of Mind apart from its lyrical genius and smooth flow, spoke of a side of New York that not many Americans themselves knew about.
Talking about the inspiration for the album, Nas says:
“When I made Illmatic I was a little kid in Queensbridge trapped in the ghetto. My soul was trapped in Queensbridge projects. When my rap generation started, it was about bringing you inside my apartment. It wasn't about being a rap star; it was about anything other than. I want you to know who I am: what the streets taste like, feel like, smell like. What the cops talk like, walk like, think like. What crackheads do — I wanted you to smell it, feel it. It was important to me that I told the story that way because I thought that it wouldn't be told if I didn't tell it. I thought this was a great point in time in the 1990s in New York City that needed to be documented and my life needed to be told.”
Such was the hype of Nas’s debut album in 1994, regional demand was through the roof and New York rapper MC Serch claims he found 60,000 Bootlegged Cassettes in a garage in New York, 4 weeks before the album dropped.
Sure enough, we put out a tweet yesterday, and Serch confirmed the story, albeit it was cassettes and not CDs that were found. Which makes sense since CDs did not replace cassettes until the late ’90s and early 2000s.
Pretty sick stuff. The original Illmatic record sales were actually underwhelming initially because bootlegging was so rampant, with the five radio singles failing to achieve considerable chart success. Eventually, Illmatic reached Platinum status in 2001 after touching a million record sales.
Regardless of its commercial performance, it is widely accredited as the greatest Hip Hop album of all time. Combining elements of blues and downcast moody beats with Nas’ flow and lyrics talking about life as a black teenager in Queens, New York, it simply sounded like nothing that was ever produced in those times in Rap music.
The World really Is Yours Nas 👑
Check out the Full Album here 👇🏻
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