IWW was the first album I got with the Columbia House stimulus package, Hell on earth is also the first Mobb Deep album I listened tooHow could Illmatic NOT be your or anyones first nas album?
Describe the initial reaction to Illmatic
- Thread starter QuavoFlow
- Start date
Didn't really listen to Nas until 05 after I heard ether. I was 15 then. Listen to God Son first then hip hop was dead. So when I heard Illmatic I was blown away at how straight to the point and hip hop it was. Nas lyrics rhyme schemes the beats blew me away. AZ had one of the best verses in hip hop. Nas "buck that bought the bottle could've won the lotto" line had me in aww cause it was so real.
DoomzdayzV
Banned
didnt like it in 94....still dont. It sounds better today though
Nobodyknows
All Star
Tropical Fantasy
Superstar
I was 4 or 5 when Illmatic came out. about 12 year when I listened to it
Terrance Curtis Beasley
These ni*gas claim Top 5 but we OVOK
I was a fetus
good times
good times
How could Illmatic NOT be your or anyones first nas album?
because it wasn't forced as a classic as everything is now.
My first Nas album was IWW back in 97. I didn't even know Illmatic (the album) existed until 2003. I was 10 in 1994, by the way.
it was released 2 years before i was born
i was put on to Nas music at 12/13 years old and have listened to illmatic all the way through
at least 20+ times since then
it really is a flawless album
every listen i pick up more and get a better understanding of the legacy behind it
but i need more detailed info on the influence and how it changed rap
from the brehs who were alive when it dropped
what was it like and where were you when one of the GOATs dropped this
flawless album, top 3 album of all time!
with dat said.....
who knew, several months later another album droped that would changed hip hop 4eva
Nomad1
Tupac KONY and GOAT
Piff Perkins
Veteran
I had heard One Love and NY State Of Mine first on a mixtape my cousin made. Played that shyt nonstop and assumed the album couldn't possibly live up to those tracks. Then I bought it and was
Illmatic changed my life honestly
If you're young it's not hard. My first one was HHIDHow could Illmatic NOT be your or anyones first nas album?
Ukbrotha
Superstar
My first Nas album was definitely IWW then heard illmatic later the same year iww came out. Illmatic wasn't really heard in Nigeria then. It was written was what made Nas known in Africa tbh.
Enjoyed it, always liked it, I actually knew some that didn't like it, some thought it was dull, beat wise in particular but I liked the stripped down sound though. Plus he was rhyming ill on it, it was beats and rhymes, and it was concise and told a story. I knew others that loved it also, for various reasons but I think they liked what he did lyrically there: I always viewed it as a concept album and a street album, Nas probably grew up later but was raw in this stage and the lyrics were on point. The flows too were solid and pure. I find it easy to listen to, to this day I can run it and still appreciate it. So I've always felt it, I was never blown away or amazed by it but I certainly enjoyed, respected and appreciated it. I do view it as 1 of the great albums, it never seems to get old, probably cause it's so short and it's a head nodder with dope lyrics and is thought provoking, substance. You can see there's gonna be a rising poet and artist there. I think the album deserved it's 5 mics, I think it's a shame some underappreciate some of Nas' other work though cause he has other high calibre work and albums. Some get caught up in the adulation of Illmatic and hold Nas to impossible mythical standards, of course some genuinely feel that way. But I'm very happy and grateful for Nas' career and I regard some of his other ish as 5 mic classics too....