old head how did illmatic change the game lyrically

[the rhyme king]

i want to know from the old heads how did illmatic change the game lyrically.

like what did he do in terms of technique that had'nt been done before that he did

 

[Manuel Hot Pepper Lopez]

the piano loops and snare game on that album were ridiculous. Mc's started rhyming over patterns that went

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*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*


piano drum piano snare piano piano drum drum snare piano
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*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*


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*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*


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*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*

 

[razassin]

Nas made lyrics more complex

 

[Tony_Siegel]

To answer your question young blood, Nas definitely changed the game with Illmatic.

Even though I tire of the "overatedness" disguised as universal acclaim that this album receives, and also the "status" you receive if you even mention the album... I still love it because at a time when everyone was listening to the "regular" radio jams, a few of the select homies went back to the classics to digest the flavor...

In other words, appreciate it for what it is, recognize the time frame it represents; realize the mental, emotional, and physical state the young man is describing on this album, and lastly don't listen to this album & blindly exalt it to the final frontiers of the galaxy because you saw the album cover on a t-shirt or read a great review of the joint...

"Shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul Only twelve trying to tell me that he liked my style Then I rose, wiping the blunt's ash from my clothes Then froze only to blow the herb smoke through my nose And told my little man I'mma ghost, I rose Left some jewels in his skull that he can sell if he chose Words of wisdom from Nas try to rise up above Keep an eye out for Jake, Shorty Wop, one love" - Kid Wave​

 

[bigbadbossup2012]

To answer your question young blood, Nas definitely changed the game with Illmatic.

Even though I tire of the "overatedness" disguised as universal acclaim that this album receives, and also the "status" you receive if you even mention the album... I still love it because at a time when everyone was listening to the "regular" radio jams, a few of the select homies went back to the classics to digest the flavor...

In other words, appreciate it for what it is, recognize the time frame it represents; realize the mental, emotional, and physical state the young man is describing on this album, and lastly don't listen to this album & blindly exalt it to the final frontiers of the galaxy because you saw the album cover on a t-shirt or read a great review of the joint...

But the question was HOW did it? I'll answer. It didnt really . nas took rakim's style and put it over the beats he chose. Ny publications overhyped him and the rest is history.

 

[razassin]

Nobody was rappin' like Nas at the time... He changed the way niqqaz rhyme, that's why he's so highly respected among vets... What rakim did in the 80's, Nas did in the 90's... before Rakim everybody was nursery-rhyming talkin about some real simple shyt..

Like...
I went to my car to go to the party
A girl saw me and said said hello Hardy

Rakim turned a bar like that into:

Champagne and gold chains, ready for the night
The big assed cutie peeped game so we headed for the ride

then Nas came and it was...

King's drinks and modern slave chains popped to the city lights
The weed smoke rings framed shawty's image of the city life

Its a dumb example, but Im just sayin' both Rakim n Nas upped the bar and made rhyming more complex. The use of metaphors and multi syllabel rhyming, the discussion of more complex issues... these niqqaz was the one that did it.

 

[up in here]

before illmatic these other cats was rappin like the fu-shnickers.

but on the real, what nas did with illmatic was that he took all the grimey street shyt that folks rapped about and he made it sound beautiful, pause. illmatic sounded poetic as opposed to just rhyming and braggin and stories. it was intelligent but it was street at the same time. it was reflective without being judgmental. he brought a depth to the music that up until that point was only occasionally heard, especially throughout a whole album. it was like he didn't just paint a picture of life in the projects, he took you there. and the way he rhymed it was full of multi's but it wasn't over the top where the multi's become more important than the meaning, it was relaxed and calm. some rappers have technical skills but no depth, thats what separated nas from the others.

 

[neph27]

piano drum piano snare piano piano drum drum snare piano
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*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*

might go over some heads but this is maybe the best post i've seen on the coli ever

perfectly executed, son booted up the account to get that first response

infinite daps to you my friend

 

[Big Mel]

EPMD rapped like the Fu Schickens? UMCs rapped like the Fu Schnickens? Redman and Snoop and Onyx and Black Moon and Tribe and De La and NWA and Chubb Rock and Heavy D and LONS and Krs rapped like the Fu Schnickens?

Lol


Aside from that, your assessment is spot on.

 

[tirademode]

the piano loops and snare game on that album were ridiculous. Mc's started rhyming over patterns that went

piano drum piano snare piano piano drum drum snare piano
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*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*
*DJ scratches with old verses*

yo beat king ...

can you break down the beat schemes on Reasonable Doubt for me ?

 

[Piff Perkins]

nikkas didn't even rap over beats before Nasir dropped Illmatic. We was bumping Bach and Mozart on the block in the early 90s, then Nasty Nas hit us with that boom bap. It's been a wrap ever since. I remember being on my nikka's porch drinking a 20 cent soda when he told me about NY State Of Mind. When my nikka told me the name of the title I said "Billy Joel remixed his classic song?" He was like nah, there's a nikka on this song - and he's rapping over a beat!


I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This nikkas was making words rhyme over drums and pianos, shyt was crazy. I remember dropping my soda, jumping off the porch, and doing some spontaneous dance moves on a card board box that happened to be on the street; later nikkas turned those moves into a dance craze, although I don't remember what they called it. Oh well, hope they made some money off that shyt, I was just wilin' out.

Then he played One Love. I had to tell my nikka to pause the record so I could run down the block and use the payphone - I needed to tell my cousin Laurence that I was hearing a nikka tell a story over a xylophone melody! He rode his bike to my nikkas house and we listened to the track again. When the god Nasir discussed shorty Oops in such poetic beauty we ran to the yellow pages to look him up. Didn't find anyone, damn. But it was ok, we figured maybe shorty Oops preferred privacy and didn't want nosy nikkas discovering the location of his street bench.

The drums, the piano, the words...I'll never forget that summer duns

 

[DontEemTry]

nikkas is revisionist like a mug. Illmatic changed nothing. Biggie changed NY hiphop later that same year. How you think Nas went from Illmatic to IWW? Biggie even called him out for it on "Kick In The Door"

"nikkas used to be on cruddy shyt
took home ready to die, listened, studied shyt
now they on some money shyt, succesful out the blue"

Come on man.

 

[Po pimp]

Illmatic is a classic, no doubt, but Nas didn't reinvent the wheel with that album. 1) it's not that easy to just rap like Nas, and 2) illmatic wasn't even poppin like that. You had cats like Snoop and Kurupt who were killin shyt, prior to illmatic, and those raps still hold up TODAY.

 

[The Unknown Hype]

to he didnt have that kind influence until later to influence the way nikkas rapped forreal. no doubt lyrically the album was miles ahead of the game but what about jeru the damaja with his weird style. biggie among most even mobb deep came off as fresh with how they described the street life

 

[Harry B]

Not an old head but just by listening to how rap changed, it didn't have anywhere close to the same impact as Paid in full. But it basically killed the whole "old 80s style" and introduced the 90s style, specially the flows and how the multis were smooth like butter, the detailed deeper lyrics, and idk if this is due to Illmatic but having production that sounded exactly like the shyt you were rapping about perhaps N.w.a., ATCQ or Bombsquad were ahead of Illmatic idk.

Together with 36 Chambers, Ready to Die and Snoops dogg (chronic/doggystyle) and later on OB4CL those album imo had an equal share of laying the foundation for the greatest period in hiphop and music period for the past 30 years.