Official Nas Thread

[Awesome Wells]

Nah lol. Stretch debuted the album on college radio but after it came out are you saying he kept playing records? Because I have a lot of the 96 recordings and you barely hear any Nas at all. Damn near nothing from IWW after the album came out. BEFORE the album came out yes, he played records.

I've never heard Stretch say IWW was wack but him and Bobbito were 100% the type of dudes to believe that. Because of how different the album sounded, specifically the drums and some of the samples.

Dude, you have to stop with the cap.

He was playing IWW tracks 1-2 months before it even dropped. That was literally how we all heard the records in advance. School was still in. I recorded the show and sold copies with IWW on cassettes before the album even came out. He was the only one doing that. On Hot 97, he was playing damn near all the other songs too. He went back and forth between both stations, playing joints off of IWW. I still have all of my old tapes of the show, dated with tracklists.

No lie, Stretch reached out to me personally to borrow my tapes for the documentary. I'm unofficially a damn Stretch and Bobbito historian, lol. They'll both tell you. So trust me, he was playing IWW joints. A lot.

Mobb Deep feat. A.C.D - Street Life
Doo Wop & Sun Dullah - New York Love
Nas feat. Mobb Deep - Live N*gga Rap
Large Pro - Ijuswannachill
Herb McGruff feat. The LOX & Murda Mase - Reppin' Uptown
M.O.P - World Famous
Real Live - Pop the Trunk
C.N.N - Illegal Life
RZA feat. Cappadonna & Method Man - Wu-Wear: The Garment Renaissance
Godfather Don - Styles By The Gram
De La Soul feat. Common - Da Bizness (Remix)
Lord Finesse feat. Roy Ayers - Soul Plan
Heltah Skeltah - Operation Lockdown
Jay-Z - Can't Knock The Hustle
Artifacts - Art of Facts

This is literally the back end of my tape from that night.

Are you even from NYC? Because there's no way you're from here saying Stretch wasn't f*cking with IWW. He leaked damn near the whole album and was playing it on all his shows after it dropped.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Dude, you have to stop with the cap.

He was playing IWW tracks 1-2 months before it even dropped. That was literally how we all heard the records in advance. School was still in. I recorded the show and sold copies with IWW on cassettes before the album even came out. He was the only one doing that. On Hot 97, he was playing damn near all the other songs too. He went back and forth between both stations, playing joints off of IWW. I still have all of my old tapes of the show, dated with tracklists.

No lie, Stretch reached out to me personally to borrow my tapes for the documentary. I'm unofficially a damn Stretch and Bobbito historian, lol. They'll both tell you. So trust me, he was playing IWW joints. A lot.

Mobb Deep feat. A.C.D - Street Life
Doo Wop & Sun Dullah - New York Love
Nas feat. Mobb Deep - Live N*gga Rap
Large Pro - Ijuswannachill
Herb McGruff feat. The LOX & Murda Mase - Reppin' Uptown
M.O.P - World Famous
Real Live - Pop the Trunk
C.N.N - Illegal Life
RZA feat. Cappadonna & Method Man - Wu-Wear: The Garment Renaissance
Godfather Don - Styles By The Gram
De La Soul feat. Common - Da Bizness (Remix)
Lord Finesse feat. Roy Ayers - Soul Plan
Heltah Skeltah - Operation Lockdown
Jay-Z - Can't Knock The Hustle
Artifacts - Art of Facts

This is literally the back end of my tape from that night.

Are you even from NYC? Because there's no way you're from here saying Stretch wasn't f*cking with IWW. He leaked damn near the whole album and was playing it on all his shows after it dropped.

I'm not from NY and wasn't even in HS when that album came out. I'm talking based off the recordings I've run across.

He was consistently playing IWW tracks that summer AFTER the album came out? Ehh I'll revisit the tapes but I sure as hell don't remember that. Stretch was more into gangsta rap shyt than Bobbito was but I never got the impression either of them liked that album.

 

[Awesome Wells]

I'm not from NY and wasn't even in HS when that album came out. I'm talking based off the recordings I've run across.

He was consistently playing IWW tracks that summer AFTER the album came out? Ehh I'll revisit the tapes but I sure as hell don't remember that. Stretch was more into gangsta rap shyt than Bobbito was but I never got the impression either of them liked that album.

Nah, you can't have this talk with me then, lol.

I was in middle school then. The Stretch Armstrong tapes were how I made a little fortune recording and bootlegging. He was playing IWW joints before and after the album dropped. But if you're not from here, how can tell someone who was here and listening to the radio all day everyday, about what was being played on NYC radio?

 

[Piff Perkins]

Nah, you can't have this talk with me then, lol.

I was in middle school then. The Stretch Armstrong tapes were how I made a little fortune recording and bootlegging. He was playing IWW joints before and after the album dropped. But if you're not from here, how can tell someone who was here and listening to the radio all day everyday, about what was being played on NYC radio?

I based it off the recordings I've heard from that year so I'll take the L. However I assume you agree with me that "real rap" nerds did not like that album, compared to everyone else?

 

[spliz]

Nah, you can't have this talk with me then, lol.

I was in middle school then. The Stretch Armstrong tapes were how I made a little fortune recording and bootlegging. He was playing IWW joints before and after the album dropped. But if you're not from here, how can tell someone who was here and listening to the radio all day everyday, about what was being played on NYC radio?

Unfortunately I have to agree with ur last whole 2 pages of posts. Cause it’s all true.

 

[spliz]

I based it off the recordings I've heard from that year so I'll take the L. However I assume you agree with me that "real rap" nerds did not like that album, compared to everyone else?

The point he’s trying to make is them “real rap nerds” was some cornballs and they damn sure weren’t the majority or consensus of anything. It’s weird as hell how history can be skewed by articles etc etc. Which is why we gotta start calling these “reviewers” out for the bullshyt they be pulling. Even Elliott Daniels recently admitted he was wrong about IWW and took his L. It’s a reason why most dope emcees hold that album in high regard. From G Rap to Lupe to Fab to Jadakiss. All different spaces of hip hop who all do what they do well and all feel the same about the album.

 

[Piff Perkins]

The point he’s trying to make is them “real rap nerds” was some cornballs and they damn sure weren’t the majority or consensus of anything. It’s weird as hell how history can be skewed by articles etc etc. Which is why we gotta start calling these “reviewers” out for the bullshyt they be pulling. Even Elliott Daniels recently admitted he was wrong about IWW and took his L. It’s a reason why most dope emcees hold that album in high regard. From G Rap to Lupe to Fab to Jadakiss. All different spaces of hip hop who all do what they do well and all feel the same about the album.

That's what I said. Those people often write the history but the overall reactions (casuals, streets, etc) fukked with the album. And it also got multiple good reviews, it's not like it was completely trashed. It's just that purists get to dictate certain shyt right or wrong.

I've said it before but IMO a big reason the types didn't shyt on LAD is because Biggie died. Going song for song that shyt got multiple straight up pop rap tracks and no one really says shyt about it lol.

 

[Awesome Wells]

I based it off the recordings I've heard from that year so I'll take the L. However I assume you agree with me that "real rap" nerds did not like that album, compared to everyone else?

Recordings you downloaded off the Internet can't tell you the actual story of what was happening in NYC, back then. Clearly.

Some sh*t you just had to be there for, my guy.

 

[ADP]

Some people didnt fukk with the album because it was a departure in sound from Illmatic to some degree, they were expecting something more similar and got a more mainstream version of Nas' talents. Not sure why people need to defend that so IWW becomes this unrivaled classic... The rapping might be better but the album overall is not flawless.

Illmatic is just once in a lifetime GOAT album, any follow up wouldve had its detractors

 

[Awesome Wells]

Unfortunately I have to agree with ur last whole 2 pages of posts. Cause it’s all true.

 

[Awesome Wells]

Some people didnt fukk with the album because it was a departure in sound from Illmatic to some degree, they were expecting something more similar and got a more mainstream version of Nas' talents. Not sure why people need to defend that so IWW becomes this unrivaled classic... The rapping might be better but the album overall is not flawless.

Illmatic is just once in a lifetime GOAT album, any follow up wouldve had its detractors

Facts.

There was nothing Nas was gonna be able to drop after Illmatic that was gonna please everyone.

I copped IWW the first day it dropped, and thought it was dope. And I told people on here before, he had an in-store in Union Square that the cops and fire department had to shut down because too many MF's came and started rioting. So Nas was flying high and loved by everyone, but he was gonna have a hard time getting the same kinda acclaim that he got on the first joint.

 

[Pop123]

It Was Written’s reputation has grown over the last 15 or so years to the point where its almost universally recognized as a classic. Rolling Stone went from giving it 2 Mics in 1996 to including it on their list on 500 Greatest Rap Albums and calling it a classic in 2021.

If there’s a Nas album that gets unfair hate i’d say its Streets Disciple. Nas was rapping his ASS off on that album and because he went against the grain production-wise it got unjustly hated on.

Them giving it 2 mics is just goofy hater shh lol, them coming back later praising it don’t even matter

 

[Ziggiy]

Them giving it 2 mics is just goofy hater shh lol, them coming back later praising it don’t even matter

The point is that the album went from being divisive to being acknowledged, even amongst haters, as a classic. People nowadays debate if IWW or Illmatic is better but NOBODY fails to acknowledge its a classic.

Same thing with Elliot Wilson. He wrote an extremely negative review of IWW when it first came out and in modern day he admitted to Nas’s face that he was wrong.

 

[Pop123]

The point is that the album went from being divisive to being acknowledged, even amongst haters, as a classic. People nowadays debate if IWW or Illmatic is better but NOBODY fails to acknowledge its a classic.

Same thing with Elliot Wilson. He wrote an extremely negative review of IWW when it first came out and in modern day he admitted to Nas’s face that he was wrong.

Did either the rolling stone piece or Elliot Wilson explain their reasoning for thinking it was so trash initially? A lot of “critics” panned it, the street loved it since Day 1 tho, I was a kid and confined to the NY, NJ, CT area only but I’ll never forget the wave and the impact that album had.

It’s nowhere even in the same realm as Illmatic as an album tho…lol, but that topic doesn’t need to be revisited. Illmatic = 95-96 Bulls. IWW = 91-92 Bulls. Both won the chip,