Why was the greatness of It Was Written ever questionable?

[Mr.Black]

it goes

illmatic
iww
streets disciple
stillmatic
life is good
nastradamus
untitled
hip hop is dead

 

[bigesco]

Dope album, but some songs were meh and lets not forget Nas Is Coming

Illmatic will always be better to me. One Love last verse is unfukkwitable

 

[bigesco]

Oh and HOE >>> IWW

 

[Rapmastermind]

Actually Biggie transition from RTD to LAD is not the same as NaS from ILLmatic to I.W.W.

It is not the same, but it is similar...

NaS did a complete 180 where as Biggie just expanding his formulas.

Nas didn't do a "complete 180" as you put it...He expanded just as you concluded with Biggie...

(Actually sound wise and subject matter wise it was a 180 from "ILLmatic")

"Ready To Die" still had the club bangers in the mist of the grimey tracks.

Dude there are no "club bangers" on Ready To Die...The concept of "club banger" as we know it today, and as you are referring to, did not exist back in the 90's...

Would you call "Protect Ya Neck" "All I Need" "Ice Cream" "Shimmy shimmy ya" and etc "Club Bangers"...? What about "Quiet Storm"...? According to hip hop historians, and people who lived through it, "Quiet Storm" wrecked the Tunnel (a club) when Mobb Deep released it...

The song was so hot it propelled the Mobb to platinum status...There were NO "club bangers" as we know it today...Hot songs were just hot songs...

"One more Chance" which you are probably referring to, was just a less edgy song that did well in the club, because it had a slow RnB beat, and people could slow dance it when the party was closing down...

Ready To Die has 16 tracks, and of the sixteen tracks, "One more chance" is the only so called club banger that you are referring to, okay, I will give you "Juicy" too..So, 2 out of 16 tracks are so called "Club Bangers"...That's only 12.5% of the album...

(Are you kidding? Juicy, Big Poppa, One more Chance" were all certified club bangers that did well on the POP charts, the point is Biggie didn't give you 100% grimey so when he made a more commerical shift on LAD people weren't that thrown off by it cause he gave you a little of that on "Ready To Die" where as NaS didn't give you any of that and then on I.W.W. he wanted to be flashy which is why he got hate.)


Where as "ILLmatic" basically had no club records on it then he had the more flossy sound on "I.W.W.".

The same argument can be used for "Ready To Die" and "Life After Death"...Those two albums DO NOT have the same sound as you alluded to, in your argument against the Nas albums...

"It was written" doesn't have any "Club Bangers" on it...The album was carried by "If I ruled the world" and "Street Dreams"...These songs can hardly be called "Club Bangers"...

("If I ruled the world and Street Dreams" were both club bangers but the fact the album as awhole was a more polished mainstream sounding album compared to "ILLmatic", it's like night and day)

Nas didn't do a 180 as you put it...He was "dreaming" a little bigger...On "Illmatic", he is a young dude looking out his window and fantasizing on a hood level...On "It was written," he has matured a little bit, and he is "dreaming" on a global level...On "It was written" Nas realizes that QB is not the beginning and the end of the world...There is a bigger world beyond those project walls...

In other words, he is "expanding" his horizon as you argued for Biggie..."It was written" was just ahead of it's time, in the sense that, (1) hip hop in a stage were, the grimmey NYC sound was being challenged by a more advanced brighter NYC sound, producers were becoming more creative (2) Nas was pushing forward, but the fan base was not ready for it...They wanted a couple of more "Illmatics" before letting Nas go...

(No, "ILLmatic" was a head of it's time, "I.W.W." fell in line with what was going on in the mainstream New York, "I.W.W." was a reaction to Biggie's success period)
I personally loved the album when it came out but even back then I knew it wasn't better than "ILLmatic". Purist did go overboard with hate but NaS did again make a huge 180 turn. The reason Biggie didn't get the same criticism is the fact he gave us the "Big Poppa's, and One More Chance's". Which was no different than "Hypontize and Mo, Money, Mo Problems". Had NaS did a few flossy records or polished sound on "ILLmatic" then it wouldn't of been a huge change to "I.W.W.". Also Critically "Life After Death" got way better reviews than "I.W.W." actually the reviews were on par with his debut. Where as I.W.W. got way less reviews scores than "ILLmatic"

Biggie didn't get that hate because (1) he died..."Life After Death" really is a trash album...How many people who are not Biggie fans even talk about that album...? Even in The Coli, we hardly discuss this album, unless somebody brings it up in an unrelated discussion...For example, this thread was about "It is was written," but because I made the comparison, we are talking about Life After Death...

LAD is a sympathy win for Biggie...That album was NOT that good...Especially when you consider the album that preceded it...

Think about it, most casual Nas fans will pick "It was written" over most Nas albums most of the time...But a casual Biggie fan like me will pick RTD over LAD, like many more casual Biggie fans would...

LAD was NOT that good...It was a commercial success, but Biggie's talent was not put into good use...Biggie was a dark irony with a little twist of a sick sense of humour type of rapper...I was glad that even Kanye West alluded to this in one of his recent rants...

That flashy stuff, I really don't think Biggie "naturally" wanted to do it...

The change from RTD to LAD is night and day to me...I was young at the time, but all I remember from that time, is the hype of "missing you," and I think that song helped to sell LAD, in unison with Biggie's untimely demise...

LAD is forgettable without the historical context of its release...

(Saying Life After Death is a "Trash" album you lose credibility, everyone is entitled to an opinion but that doesn't make that opinion creditable. If "Life After Death" is trash than "I.W.W." was weaker cause it's not on the level of LAD in success, impact, influence and critical acclaim. LOL @ "LAD" being forgettable when it's one of the most sampled and copied rap albums of all time. Again NaS made a 180, everyone knows this denying it doesn't change history. ILLmatic and I.W.W. are night a day. RTD and LAD actually compliment each other which is why people are torn on which is their favor Biggie album. It's not like that with NaS as "ILLmatic" is universally accepted as his best work.)

 

[Nino Brown]

From what I remember the tupac and biggie hype was overshadowing the music. Illmatic took a while to reach classic status amongst the wider audience but just when it did IWW dropped and didnt live up to the commercial expectations

but real nikkaz knew





Going platinum wasnt even considered as much of an achievement back then

 

[Darts]

Oh and HOE >>> IWW

Debatable...

 

[nineteeneightysix]

The sound in Illmatic is "grimmey" because of the production that was available for NYC rappers at that time...That was that authentic NYC sound...

But the words in Illmatic were not "grimmey"...Nas didn't do a 180 in that regards...How exactly did he...?

Please explain so I can actually have something to work with...

The album started with "NYC State of Mind"...Nas imaging himself being a gangster having shootouts through the NYC streets and project buildings...

So, how exactly does dude do a 180 on his follow up, when he started his debut with fantasies of being a gangster...?

On the other hand, Biggie goes from being cold to his mother, robbing innocent ladies, and doing all kinds of things that are sicker than your usual gangster just trying to make some ends meet, to lord knows what on LAD...LAD doesn't even have an identity...It is just a collection of fillers, and songs Puffy wanted for the radio...With crumbs of Biggie's true potential...

Biggie's image on RTD is that of a hoodlum that will break into your house to rob you, but while he is doing that, he might fondle your wife and your daughter, because he likes them "young fresh and green, with nothing in between" on LAD he is more of a Mafiosi doing contract killings...

If that's not a drastic switch up, I don't know what is...That's like "City of God" Lil Ze turning into Michael Corleone...

 

[bigesco]

Debatable...

HOE is one of the better produced albums of alltime. Original, unique, grimey, memorable.

Lyrically they are about equal since Pee was one of the few nikkaz that could challenge Nas on the mic at the time. Hav was no slouch neither.

I dont really think its debatable

 

[Darts]

HOE is one of the better produced albums of alltime. Original, unique, grimey, memorable.

Lyrically they are about equal since Pee was one of the few nikkaz that could challenge Nas on the mic at the time. Hav was no slouch neither.

I dont really think its debatable

I love HOE and some days even put it above Infamous, but some of the beats/songs on there are too similar and does not provide a lot of variety.

IWW has more standout tracks and has a better variety of beats and concepts. Like I said tho, it's debatable and you can't go wrong picking one over the other.

 

[JQ Legend]

Took me forever to realize what HOE was

Murda Muzik Mobb's best album tho imo

Can't believe nikkaz sayin Nas Is Coming wasn't that crack

That nikka had bars for days and what was so bad about the hook?

How the hell is a chick constantly repeating "Nas Is Coming...Nasty Nas Is Coming" the worst hook in the world when most the hooks on the Illmatic were just repeating the same word or phrase over and over

"New York State Of Mine" was constant repetition of the song title
"The World Is Yours" was constantly repeating "Whose world is this? The world is yours the world is yours."
"Halftime" didn't even have a hook it was just the beat with Nas randomly every 10 seconds or so sayin "halftime"
"Memory Lane" is constantly repeatin "lemme take a trip down memory lane...coming outta queensbridge"
"One Love" is constant repetition of the song title
"One Time For Your Mind" is constant repetition of the song title
"Represent" is just sayin "represent" over and over and over
"It Aint Hard To Tell" didnt even have a hook

"Life's A bytch" prolly the only track that had a hook that wasn't just repeating the same thing over and over

And nikkaz shyt on a track on IWW for having the same exact hook style most of Illmatic has while making an argument that Illmatic is better?

IWW>>

And I Am a classic too

Nastradamus underrated

 

[nieman]

Took me forever to realize what HOE was

Murda Muzik Mobb's best album tho imo

Can't believe nikkaz sayin Nas Is Coming wasn't that crack

That nikka had bars for days and what was so bad about the hook?

How the hell is a chick constantly repeating "Nas Is Coming...Nasty Nas Is Coming" the worst hook in the world when most the hooks on the Illmatic were just repeating the same word or phrase over and over

"New York State Of Mine" was constant repetition of the song title
"The World Is Yours" was constantly repeating "Whose world is this? The world is yours the world is yours."
"Halftime" didn't even have a hook it was just the beat with Nas randomly every 10 seconds or so sayin "halftime"
"Memory Lane" is constantly repeatin "lemme take a trip down memory lane...coming outta queensbridge"
"One Love" is constant repetition of the song title
"One Time For Your Mind" is constant repetition of the song title
"Represent" is just sayin "represent" over and over and over
"It Aint Hard To Tell" didnt even have a hook

"Life's A bytch" prolly the only track that had a hook that wasn't just repeating the same thing over and over

And nikkaz shyt on a track on IWW for having the same exact hook style most of Illmatic has while making an argument that Illmatic is better?

IWW>>

And I Am a classic too

Nastradamus underrated

I won't say that Nas Is Coming is wack, but it is a misstep and seems to throw the album off, just a tad.

 

[kp404]

This is the most debated album on the coli....it will never get a consensus here

 

[Droopy]

It Was Written is easily my favorite Nas album

 

[Sensitive Blake Griffin]

It's arguable IWW is better than Illmatic. It isn't to me, but I've heard several people say they like it better than Illmatic and I wasn't mad at them at all. I just like the production on Illmatic better overall than IWW. Nas's persona was different on IWW, it's more violent/street oriented than Illmatic.

 

[Big Mel]

IWW isn't even is the same realm as Illmatic. A total drop off in quality. even the so called great songs on IWW aren't as good as an apostles warning or god part 3 or nightime vultures.