Nasir
bin Ola Dara Jones (Nas) grew up in public housing in Queens, New York. His
Father was a jazz and blues musician and his Mother was a postal service worker.
Nas dropped out of school in 8th grade and soon began pursuing a career in rap.
In the early 1990's, he began to gain attention in New York, and in 1992 he was
signed by Columbia records.
Nas' debut album, Illmatic, was released in april, 1994,
when he was just 20 years old. This album is considered to be one of the
greatest, and most influential hip hop albums of all time despite the fact that
it is only ten songs and 40 minutes long. Still today, many people would argue
that Illmatic is the best album of
the genre.
Illmatic
greatly influenced hip hop and more specifically, east coast rap. With the
release of the album, Nas set a new bar for lyricism and production. Nas'
lyricism is one of the main reasons this
album is so highly regarded. His lyrics had many poetic elements that were not typically
found in hip hop. Nas experimented with different rhyme schemes and inspired
many other rappers of the time to do the
same. The clear, precise execution of his rhymes, is another trait that gained
Nas attention at this time. This album also revolutionized the production of
hip hop. Nas used several producers on this album, something else that was not
common in the early 90's. Before this, most artists would just use one producer
an album, but after Illmatic, more
artists used multiple producers. His beats have a blues/jazz influence, which
can be heard in songs like "Life's a b*tch," "The World Is Yours,"
and "One Love."
Most other artists have been greatly
influenced by Illmatic. Even Jay-Z
and Biggie Smalls used some of Nas' techniques. Shortly after the release of Illmatic, Jay-Z released Reasonable Doubt, which was clearly
influenced by Nas. Jay-Z even used some of the same producers on his album and
wanted Nas on one of his tracks. Many other artists have indirectly been
influenced by Illmatic, due to its
influence on the entire genre.
I really like how you mention how it influenced other rappers. When people usually think of Illmatic, they think of the lyricism and production but not the impact it had on other rappers.
ReplyDeleteinformative piece, I had no idea he only got to 8th grade in school pretty amazing how he was able to be such a great rapper with that much education.
ReplyDeleteIllmatic is definitely more than what is at the surface. I like how you talked about the the impact it had... even though it was such a short album. Really liked what you said overall.
ReplyDeleteLife's a bitch is one of my favorite songs. He does use his original style to create a unique sound unheard of to the rap community
ReplyDeleteYes you are right the album was short yet had so much more to it then meets the eye. I love the song life's a bitch! Also it's crazy he only got to 8 grade
ReplyDeleteReally good post, I think it was really important that you addressed the fact that Illmatic influenced other New York hip hop artists. Nas pretty much set the bar for all New York rappers after the album.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I never knew how influential Nas was to hip-hop music. Im writing our paper on J.Cole and now with you mentioning all the first he did for hip-hop I can see why J.Cole looked up to him so much. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI've never been a big fan of Nas, it's really cool learning about his and style and music having not heard him rap too much. You did a great job talking about Illmatic and Nas a as a whole.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I wouldn't consider Illmatic one of my favorite albums, I can't deny how great Nas is throughout the album. Every song has hard-hitting lyrics can captivate any listener.
ReplyDeleteA very informative big article, because I knew nothing about Illmatic. Although after listening to it, I did not think it deserves ask the credit it has received.
ReplyDeleteI've never known much about Nas or was a big fan of his. I really liked how you gave a background of his and how you talked about the impact Illmatic had.
ReplyDeleteGreat detail on Nas and Illmatic. It's incredible to watch an album created 20 years ago still impact and nourish the artistic minds of those aspiring rappers and artists today.
ReplyDeleteIt truly was an iconic album. It's interesting that Nas was in school till the 8th grade. Good info, learned a lot about Nas.. I wasn't even aware of his full name before..
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