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As of February 6, 2019, the album had sold 2 million copies in the United States. Since its initial reception, Illmatic has been recognized by writers and music critics as a landmark album in East Coast hip hop.
- Overview
- Description
- Background
- Cover artwork
- Legacy
- Track listing
- Certifications
is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. While it only sold 330,000 copies in its first year, it became widely regarded as a "classic" hip hop album, helped revitalize East Coast hip hop, and was added to numerous critic lists. The album features guest appearances from his father, Olu Dara, and fellow American rappers AZ and Q-Tip.
For its 10th anniversary, the platinum edition of the album was released, followed by its 20th anniversary where he dropped the album Illmatic XX with bonus tracks. He also performed the record in its entirety at Coachella and Washington D.C.'s Kennedy Center. Of the latter, it was released four years later to streaming services as an album entitled Illmatic: Live from the Kennedy Center (2018). Along with this, the companion documentary film Time Is Illmatic was released in October 2014, directed by One9.
Nas lied to us. Four tracks into his debut album, he told listeners, "The world is yours," but he was wrong. And if he didn't know it going into the release of Illmatic, he knew almost immediately after. As the critical rap universe would assure him, the world belonged to Nas himself—a New York rap prodigy hailing from the talent-rich Queensbridge housing projects whose 10-track debut realized the promise he'd shown as a guest MC on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque." And while the album was immediately recognized as a gem by those in the know, its impact on hip-hop at large would only fully be appreciated in the years following.
is only nine actual songs (not counting opener "The Genesis"), and while it was reportedly released in haste to combat the rampant bootlegging of an early version, it's no less heavy a listen. Its first single, "Halftime," appears on the soundtrack of the 1992 film Zebrahead and, coupled with his "Live at the Barbeque" verse, positioned Nas as hip-hop's next great MC, well before an album was ready. With Illmatic, Nas' poetic aptitude reveals itself, the MC introducing turns of phrase and perspective previously unheard within the art form. "My mic check is life or death, breathing a sniper's breath/I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps/Deep like The Shining, sparkle like a diamond/Sneak a Uzi on the island in my army jacket lining," he spits on "It Ain't Hard to Tell."
's sample-heavy sound comes courtesy of a veritable dream team of production talent (DJ Premier, Large Professor, Q-Tip, Pete Rock, and L.E.S.), a lineup that helped to break a long-standing tradition of single-producer hip-hop albums. Together they present a unified vision of the murky, guttural, jazz-heavy hip-hop that would come to define the '90s New York sound. Aside from L.E.S., the group were all established in their lanes, but they'd elevate their practices for Nas, an MC of his caliber making it that much easier for everyone to shine. Over menacing piano lines ("N.Y. State of Mind") and horn stabs ("It Ain't Hard to Tell"), Nas is able to transition seamlessly and continuously between freewheeling non sequiturs and vivid storytelling (a verse from "One Love" would inspire a scene in video director Hype Williams' feature film Belly).
The only person who gets a guest verse on the effort is AZ ("Life's a Bitch"), and the Brooklyn MC makes the absolute most of the opportunity, effectively writing himself into history by "visualizin' the realism of life in actuality." Did AZ know then what Illmatic would go on to mean for Nas and for hip-hop in general? Was he aware of the album's potency and its likelihood to launch the man they called Nasty Nas toward superstardom while also setting a course for him to become an all-time great? Or was AZ simply chasing his own moment, another victim of Nas' unintentional goading, believing his friend when he told him, "The world is yours."— Apple Music
In an interview, Nas dedicated the album to his friend, Illmatic Ice, who was incarcerated for a murder. He explained, "He made his own rules for the game and he ain't take nothing from nobody. And he was kind of like a strong path to follow and look at. Even though he got caught up, and mislead into the wrong situation and now he's caught in the system right now, I still dedicated the album to him." Despite being a highly anticipated record, Illmatic underperformed commercially, compared to fellow debut artists, the result partly attributed to many bootlegged versions. This was also the reason the project was shorter and rushed by his label, Columbia.
According to Haute Living, he stated, "Twenty-five years is a lifetime. So I did another Symphony Orchestra show for Illmatic this year; I got another plaque for it. I'm very grateful—it's so crazy—but to celebrate one album when I've made over 10, all the things I've worked on—and I've been working for so long—to celebrate one album over all else is corny to me. I don't want to celebrate another Illmatic anything. I'm done. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for appreciating that record, but it's over."
The album artwork is a childhood picture of Nas (aged seven), superimposed over Queensbridge project buildings. It has been observed to be similar to The Howard Hanger Trio's album artwork for A Child Is Born (1974). In an analysis done by Sanibel Chai of HotNewHipHop, she wrote:
Tech N9ne commented to Google Play, "The artwork [made] a lot of MCs, like Biggie, Tech N9ne, all of us, [follow] after he did his baby picture on the front. We did the same thing with our baby pictures."
Critical reception
penned in their review, "vaulted himself into the elite group of MCs. Not because of an ultrabutter flow and boldly distinctive voice like Q-Tip or Slick Rick but because of sharp articulation, finely detailed lyrics and a controlled tone reminiscent of Rakim. [...] Those sounds and Nas' no-nonsense urban tales pair Ill's every beautiful moment with its harsh antithesis." Pitchfork had also compared Nas and Rakim: "If Rakim was rap's Woody Guthrie, Nas was the Dylan figure expanding the possibilities and complexity of the form, twisting old fables to match contemporary failings, faithful to tradition but unwilling to submit to orthodoxy." They continued, "A classic album is supposed to change or define its time. Illmatic did both [...] No album better reflected the sound and style of New York, 94." The Source rated their highest score of five-mics, which stirred controversy particularly among the East versus West Coast tensions, and sparked a debate. AllMusic assessed, "It helped spearhead the artistic renaissance of New York hip-hop in the post-Chronic era, leading a return to street aesthetics. [...] reveals a great lyricist in top form meeting great production, and it remains a perennial favorite among serious hip-hop fans." retrospectively wrote in praise of his flow, describing it as a "perfectly calibrated mix of speed and control. He raps with the natural forward momentum of a train of thought, like a preternaturally skilled freestyler hurtles ahead into the darkness, unsure of where he'll be in four bars but certain he'll land on his feet." They added, "Nas created not only a perfect rap album, but maybe the single most important reference point for all the rap music that has been created in the 25 years since."Nas created not only a perfect rap album, but maybe the single most important reference point for all the rap music that has been created in the 25 years since."
Cultural impact
It was said to have changed Jay-Z's approach in music, where he "switched his style up from his fast-talking Jaz-O days enough to produce Reasonable Doubt, an album marked by Nas-like introspection as well as Premier production." It was added to Talib Kweli's 2012 list of "Top 100 Hip Hop Albums." Vic Mensa told Clash in 2014, "I mirrored so much of my style in my earlier days around Nas and Illmatic. I was really trying to rap like that. I used to print out pages of Nas raps and imitate them, count the syllables and bar structures and make clone raps. Same flows, but just different words." Kendrick Lamar acknowledged to BET of its impact, "You hear it in my music what's surrounded me, and just to be able to elevate your mind a little bit further past that through writing is bigger than one song. In order to do that and craft that, it's on another plane, and I wouldn't have been able to do that if it wasn't for that album, truthfully." Bishop Nehru had said, "I think it affected my rapping style a lot. I think it affected a lot of people's rap styles. I think that was the first rap album that really changed the structure of how hip-hop was. There wasn't really too much structure in hip-hop before that. It was still figuring it out. I think Illmatic was one of the first albums to really bring a structure. The verses, the choruses. Everything is really lined up." Common stated, "It was that serious for so many of us. We didn't just grow up with hip hop; we grew up with hip-hop as hip-hop was also growing, and so that made for a very close and intimate relationship that was becoming more and more urgent—and we felt it. Our art was being challenged in many ways as the moneymen began to sink their teeth into us." Lupe Fiasco commended in celebration of the album's 25th year, "it expanded my lyrical horizons [...] it is the epitome of a classic and one of hip hop's most elegant offers to the cannon." He also named his album Drill Music in Zion to be his "Illmatic," which also consists of ten tracks. In a personal anecdote to Clubhouse, Eminem spent around $600 for a sealed cassette copy of Illmatic, stating, "I think it's backstock from what records stores had in the back storage. The tapes that never sold and they just kept them. That's the only thing I can think of. 'Cause nobody's going to have a fucking Illmatic tape and not open it." Song references •50 Cent – "Fuck You" (2002): 'I been gone through static, shot at with automatics / Since '90, when Nas came out with Illmatic' •AZ – "Love Me" (2001): 'Since Illmatic, this shit started that never departed' •Big Sean – "First Chain" (2013): 'Big was the first one that had it / Then I saw Nas' chain, man, that was Illmatic' •Childish Gambino – "Hero" (2010): 'Barf on the track, be amazing and rap-furious / Damn bloggers argue on whether or not I'm serious / It's Nas' Illmatic not Eddie Murphy's Delirious' •Eminem – "Careful What You Wish For" (2009): 'The Marshall Mathers was a classic, The Eminem Show was fantastic / But Encore just didn't have the caliber to match it / I guess enough time just ain't passed yet / A couple more years that shit'll be Illmatic' •G-Eazy – "Reefer Madness" (2011): 'Can recite Illmatic in its entirety / 'Cause growing up that album definitely inspired me' •Jay-Z – "A Star Is Born" (2009): 'I had the Illmatic on bootleg / The shit was so ahead, thought we was all dead' •J. Cole – "Villematic" (2010): 'It's the feeling in the air you 'bout to drop a real classic / He said, 'Cole, A lil' birdy told me on the low you got an Illmatic / Nobody touching Nas n*gga it's more like Villematic' •Kanye West – "We Major" (2005): 'At the studio console, asked my man to the right / What this verse sound like, should I freestyle or write? / He said, 'Nas what the fans want is Illmatic, Stillmatic' •The Game – "The Documentary" (2005): 'I'm still at it, Illmatic'
Standard edition
No. Title Writer(s) Producer(s) Length
1. "The Genesis"
1:45
2. "N.Y. State of Mind"
DJ Premier 4:53
Region Certification(s) Certified units/sales
Canada (MC) Gold (April 1, 2002) 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI) Gold (July 22, 2013) 100,000*
United States (RIAA)
500,000*
1,000,000‡
May 14, 2024 · Over the last 30 years, the album has reached households across the world, selling two million CD copies as of 2019 while bringing in nearly 900 million streams on Spotify, including over 500 thousand daily.
Apr 19, 2024 · It sold just a few thousand copies in its first week, and didn’t achieve platinum status until 2001, years after his sophomore effort (1996’s It Was Written) had done so.
Apr 19, 1994 · Ilmatic debuted at No. 12 on the Billboard 200, only selling around 60,000 copies in its first week. The low sales were attributed to pre-Internet leaks, with renderings of Illmatic in circulation up to a year before its official release date, according to Clash .
Apr 19, 2024 · Q: How many copies did “Illmatic” sell? A: “Illmatic” has sold over one million copies in the United States alone, achieving platinum status by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Apr 19, 2024 · MC Serch claimed that he once discovered a garage containing 60,000 pirated copies of Illmatic, the same amount as its first-week sales. The album wouldn’t have one successful radio single or hit gold status for nearly two years.
