it was written is nas best album technically speaking in terms of writing lyrics imo
- Thread starter ronnie46
- Start date
the cac mamba
Veteran
imo imo imo imo imo imo imo
chunky_mcdaniels
All Star
But his worst as far as following trends and allowing Bad Boy/Puff/Big/radio to dictate content/package/brand etc. Trackmasters/Steve Stoute
/Columbia had too much influence.
/Columbia had too much influence.
that was the criticism at the time. There are more commercial tracks and different themes than Illmatic but from a purely lyrical standpoint I agree with the OP
DontEemTry
Superstar
Facts. Lyrically he was in rare form throughout that whole album. Not a single bar was wasted plus it was really the last time he experimented with his flow and it actually worked.
You hear glimpses of it now and then in his later projects but on IWW that nikka went all the way off.
You hear glimpses of it now and then in his later projects but on IWW that nikka went all the way off.
Jimmy Two-Times™
Coli Mods Catch Me If U Can Forgive Me Imma Ridah™
op is good hearted but has the worst threads.
Sound nothing like bad boy album
blankstairz
Superstar
Lyrically he stepped it up from illmatic.
Just listen to I gave you power or Black Girl Lost.
The Trackmasters/Steve Stoute creative direction with the beats/production was a step back from illmatic...overall.
People got spoiled with Illmatic. You had a dream team of producers on that....
Tip, Primo, Pete Rock, Extra P..
The Bad Boy/Biggie formula of balancing street/commercial was huge and a lot of people followed suit (no pun?).
Nas went that route with Trackmasters/Steve Stoute. Trackmasters had produced on Ready to Die, and they were going in the direction of looping obvious samples with commercial appeal like Puffy.
The core fans weren't happy about it. They wanted another critically acclaimed album, not a commercial one.
But it worked...IWW went double platinum
Nas knew he f*cked up with the core fans though.
That is why he came back with primo produced "Nas is Like" as the first single off "I Am" and video.
Just listen to I gave you power or Black Girl Lost.
The Trackmasters/Steve Stoute creative direction with the beats/production was a step back from illmatic...overall.
People got spoiled with Illmatic. You had a dream team of producers on that....
Tip, Primo, Pete Rock, Extra P..
The Bad Boy/Biggie formula of balancing street/commercial was huge and a lot of people followed suit (no pun?).
Nas went that route with Trackmasters/Steve Stoute. Trackmasters had produced on Ready to Die, and they were going in the direction of looping obvious samples with commercial appeal like Puffy.
The core fans weren't happy about it. They wanted another critically acclaimed album, not a commercial one.
But it worked...IWW went double platinum
Nas knew he f*cked up with the core fans though.
That is why he came back with primo produced "Nas is Like" as the first single off "I Am" and video.
chunky_mcdaniels
All Star
No shyt.
The formula for radio was unmistakable however.
That sting shyt was wack as fukk. That ain’t NAS, that’s Stoute and Trackmasters chasing commercial success.
Name these commerical songs besides "if I rule the world"
mathematik
Pro
The Message Is one Nas’s best tracks!! IWW always gets talked about for commercial songs but only has one. And lyrically nothing pop about it. Just the Hook
Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harassin'
Imagine going to court with no trial
Lifestyle cruising blue Bahama waters
No welfare supporters, more conscious of the way we raise our daughters
That's not on the album
Yeah i know but it confirms they were chasing a more commercial sound during this era.
Go through the tracks and tell me these commerical sounding records