Nas's Illmatic Page 11
But if there’s one thing the remixes from Illmatic prove, it’s how versatile Nas’s lyrics are. By displaying the complexity of his life in each track, Nas was able to complement a dark beat just as easily as a happy one. Because he had such incredible producers, this versatility was on full display on Illmatic. It’s not that the precise combination of breaks and flows on the album were so essential to Nas’s message. Rather, the thoughtful offerings from this all-star lineup underscored or counterbalanced his message, heightening the impact of his words.
They also happened to be straight fire.
Conclusion
Gift/Curse
By the turn of the millennium, Nas was facing decreasing interest among hip hop fans and new challengers to the New York hip hop throne he was widely regarded to reside upon after the Notonous B.I.G.’s death in 1997. “The fact that Big passed made him what it was,” AZ recalls. “And that’s when his mom was going through some problems. And that’s when people said he lost it or he switched over or whatever and he came out with Nastradamus, and there was one joint on it and that was it. And, I mean, the lyrical content was there, but it wasn’t as strong as Illmatic and It Was Written.” The lukewarm response to 1999’s I am …and Nastradamus signaled the first rough patch in Nas’s career (though it should be noted that both albums still eventually went platinum). Fans bemoaned the perceived sellouts, particularly that fateful “Hate Me Now” video and the Notonous Ginuwine collab. The sharks could smell blood in the water, and in the hyper-competitive world of hip hop, an attack was inevitable.
The biggest shark in the water circa 2001 was undoubtedly Jay-Z. The history behind one of the most-publicized feuds in hip hop has been well documented elsewhere. But Illmatic’s status as an undeniable classic is key to understanding why Jay fired his first shots. It’s the reason why Jay felt the need to dedicate a full verse to Nas on his song-length claim to the throne, “The Takeover,” off 2001’s The Blueprint. But it’s also why, even on that biting dis record, Jay still feels the need to admit Nas has “a one hot album every ten year average.”
Therein lies the conundrum of Illmatic for Nas. Like any artist who succeeds so wildly so early in life, Nas has struggled the rest of his career with separating his new work from what came before it. On the intro to Stillmatic, he raps “they thought I’d make another Illmatic, but it’s always forward I’m moving, never backwards, stupid, here’s another classic.” Yet, ironically, he has time and time again reached back to that work. That tide Stillmatic, used for his 2001 “comeback” album, was a clear indication that he felt the need to insist he had not lost his previous touch. His 2004 Street’s Disciple used the first two words Nas ever spoke on record from “Live at the BBQ” as its title. Meanwhile, the album intro to I am …reminded viewers of his previous hits (and leads into a sequel to “N.Y. State of Mind”) while songs like “The Message,” and “Thief’s Theme” use samples or lines from Illmatic tracks as choruses.
Nas’s complex relationship with his own work shows up in interviews as well. While promoting 2006’s Hip Hop is Dead, Nas was asked by Pitchfork’s Ryan Dombal if he ever wished Illmatic had not been quite as good as it was. “I could never wanna wish that,” Nas replied. “Because if there’s a record I do that’s as good as Illmatic, it wouldn’t be intentional. When I say as good as Illmatic, I mean to those Illmatic fans, in their opinion. I want each album to say something different and be accepted better than the last one but I don’t have any point to outdo any particular album of mine.” This process of putting the past behind him is essential to the longevity of Nas’s career in a genre Notonous for throwing away talent when it arbitrarily goes out of style.
Premier explains Nas’s mentality post-Illmatic as that of a musical auteur. “Nas has always been cutting edge, and he has always done what he feels like he should do, whether it was a good decision or a bad decision. He makes those decisions alone. I mean, even when he had all those dudes with him, he was always kind of a loner. But through all that he has always been daring to break certain barriers, you know, putting out the Nigger album and Hip Hop Is Dead, willing to take a lot of flack for that for the fact that everybody’s thinking he’s hatin’ or whatever. And I understood his points on all of them.”
But Nas’s desire to constantly reinvent himself as the musical landscape evolves is not the only explanation. In fact, Nas’s shift from hardcore hip hop emcee on Illmatic to more amenable crossover rapper on It Was Written might seem unnecessary in hindsight. Deciding you have to switch up your sound in order to fit in with hip hop’s new directions after releasing a record hailed as the greatest hip hop album of all time would, indeed, be completely insane. Yet, as AZ notes, the reality of the time was very different than the revised history might imply. “After Illmatic, he was trying to find his way. Illmatic was so anticipated on the streets, there was blowback on the streets early that the sound didn’t equate to the hype. I came out with ‘Sugar Hill’ and Doe or Die and ‘Sugar Hill’ went platinum. So I was the plank that he crossed over to do It Was Written.’Cause you gotta understand, after Illmatic was out and sales wasn’t doin’ so good, I know that the vibe with-Nas was that he was kinda disappointed in himself. When ‘Sugar Hill’ came out and blew up, I did for him what he had done for me like ‘let’s go to shows and do what it was,’ you know what I mean? He still was the number one contender in the game, but through that I guess he got his vibe up. He switched management, got with Steve Stout and the Trackmasters, and worked on It Was Written, and after that, he did what he had to do.”
The management switch AZ speaks of meant Nas left behind one of the people most integral in getting his career off the ground, MC Serch. Yet it was Serch who ultimately made the decision, not Nas. “To be totally honest with you, I didn’t want to be the Jew behind the black guy. I didn’t want to be Lyor [Cohen, the legendary hip hop manager/executive]. I wanted him to stand on his own. I wanted him to be a black man doing for himself and for the other brother s around him. That’s why I chose to walk away.”
If Serch had stayed, he says, there would have been more objection to the path Nas took in the late-90s. “I would not have agreed with the Ginuwine records, and I would not have agreed with the Nastradamus direction. But I understand it from an artist perspective because he is a true artist. He wants to experiment and he wants to test the boundaries and he wants to see what people think and what people are gonna say and how they are gonna react.” Serch also acknowledges a key component of Nas’s talent, his acute sense of where his genre has been and where it is headed. “He also went with the flow of the music and he went with the flow of the culture and he always found his place within the culture. If Nas would have got stuck [with Illmatic], he wouldn’t have grown, and he enjoys that growth process. And if he didn’t go that route, he never would have created “Ether.” He never would have created Stillmatic. He never would have created Hip Hop Is Dead.”
It’s this give and take that seems like the most rewarding way to approach Nas’s catalogue post-Illmatic. Even viewing It Was Written as the first step Nas took towards being mindful of the radio is difficult when listening to uncompromising tracks like “I Gave You Power” and “Black Girl Lost”—or even street-minded cuts like “Affirmative Action” and “The Set Up.” “He’s a real artist,” Q-Tip says. “I think he’s definitely trying to change and grow and do different things and be innovative with his music.” Illmatic’s seeming contradictions have not disappeared—if anything, they have become more apparent and challenging to the listener. But neither has its unflinching portrayal of reality faded from Nas’s focus. Tracks like “My Country,” “Hip Hop is Dead,” and “Coon Picnic (These Are Our Heroes)” are flawed but complex explorations of what it means to be a black person in America.
While the “gift and curse” explanation of Illmatic seems most appropriate considering how Nas has been viewed since the album was released, the truth is that few artists wouldn’t give up the relatively low expectatio
ns of their future work for the opportunity to produce a work as moving and influential as Nas did at only 20 years old. Even if Nas hadn’t become the towering figure in hip hop that he did, Illmatic would have been enough to cement his reputation as the quintessential modern emcee. That much is certain.
Also available in this series:
1. Dusty in Memphis by Warren Zanes
2. Forever Changes by Andrew Hultkrans
3. Harvest by Sam Inglis
4. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by Andy Miller
5. Meat Is Murder by Joe Pemice
6. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn by John Cavanagh
7. Abba Gold by Elisabeth Vincentelli
8. Electric Ladyland by John Perry
9. Unknown Pleasures by Chris Ott
10. Sign ‘O’ the Times by Michaelangelo Matos
11. The Velvet Underground and Nico by Joe Harvard
12. Let It Be by Steve Matteo
13. Live at the Apollo by Douglas Wolk
14. Aqualung by Allan Moore
15. OK Computer by Dai Griffiths
16. Let It Be by Colin Meloy
17. Led Zeppelin IV by Erik Davis
18. Exile on Main St. by Bill Janovitz
19. Pet Sounds by Jim Fusilli
20. Ramones by Nicholas Rombes
21. Armed Forces by Franklin Bruno
22. Murmur by J. Niimi
23. Grace by Daphne Brooks
24. Endtroducing …by Eliot Wilder
25. Kick Out the Jams by Don McLeese
26. Low by Hugo Wilcken
27. Born in the U.S.A. by Geoffrey Himes
28. Music from Big Pink by John Niven
29. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Kim Cooper
30. Paul’s Boutique by Dan LeRoy
31. Doolittle by Ben Sisario
32. There’s a Riot Goin’ On by Miles Marshall Lewis
33. The Stone Roses by Alex Green
34. In Utero by Gillian G. Gaar
35. Highway 61 Revisited by Mark Polizzotti
36. Loveless by Mike McGonigal
37. The Who Sell Out by John Dougan
38. Bee Thousand by Marc Woodworth
39. Daydream Nation by Matthew Steams
40. Court and Spark by Sean Nelson
41. Use Your Illusion Vols 1 and 2 by Eric Weisbard
42. Songs in the Key of Life by Zeth Lundy
43. The Notonous Byrd Brother s by Ric Menck
44. Trout Mask Replica by Kevin Courrier
45. Double Nickels on the Dime by Michael T. Fournier
46. Aja by Don Breithaupt
47. People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm by Shawn Taylor
48. Rid of Me by Kate Schatz
49. Achtung Baby by Stephen Catanzarite
50. If You’re Feeling Sinister by Scott Plagenhoef
51. Pink Moon by Amanda Petrusich
52. Let’s Talk About Love by Carl Wilson
53. Swordfishtrombones by David Smay
54. 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Drew Daniel
55. Horses by Philip Shaw
56. Master of Reality by John Damielle
57. Reign in Blood by D.X. Ferris
58. Shoot Out the Lights by Hayden Childs
59. Gentlemen by Bob Gendron
60. Rum, Sodomy & the Lash by Jeffery T. Roesgen
61. The Gilded Palace of Sin by Bob Proehl
62. Pink Flag by Wilson Neate
63. xo by Matthew Lemay
64. Illmatic by Matthew Gasteier
65. Radio City by Bruce Eaton
69. 69 Love Songs by L.D. Beghtol
1 See the Kelefah Sanneh book Why White Kids Love Hip Hop for a full argument on why this “given” is most likely inaccurate.
2 In fact, Ghostface Killah of the Wu Tang Clan would accuse Biggie of stealing the idea for his cover, which featured a picture of a baby many took to represent Biggie, from Illmatic’s cover of Nas as a child. This would start a minor war of words between Nas and Biggie.
3 Biggie, on the other hand, never sounds like he quite has a handle on what he’s saying. The remarkable thing about him as an emcee was that he neither looked nor sounded like an emcee. As he threw out couplets and metaphors, it always seemed as if he was just about to stumble, tongue on teeth, out of breath from his lack of conditioning. Yet he never did.
4 For more on their first encounter, see “Halftime” in chapter eight.
5 Red Hot Lover Tone, later known simply as Tone, would go on to make up one half of the Trackmasters, the producing duo which gave Nas his first significant hit with “Street Dreams,” and produced most of Illmatic’s follow-up, It Was Written.
6 For proper perspective, Premier remembers that Nas and Big L—another lyrical legend—were signed to Columbia at the same time. However, the latter’s debut album, Lifestylez Ov Da Poor and Dangerous, wasn’t released until 1995.
7 While Illmatic is widely regarded as the first album to feature such an impressive lineup, there were enough similar records before it by such high-profile artists as Big Daddy Kane and KRS-One that it’s at least clear that the idea was not invented by Nas and his executive production team, however well they perfected it.
8 Minya Oh, as Dennis mentions in his interview, would go on to New York fame as Hot 97’s Miss Info.
9 Rakim, a direct influence on Nas, also had musical blood: his aunt was R&B legend Ruth Brown
10 Though it is almost certainly a coincidence, Texas rapper Big Mello used “Yearning for Your Love” in a very similar way a few years earlier on “Gank Move,” from his 1992 debut Bone Hard Zaggin.
11 The remix is also notable for being the actual source of the famous “I’m out for presidents to represent me” sample that Jay-Z and producer Ski used on the emcee’s classics “Dead Presidents I and II,” not the original as is widely assumed.
12 According to Q-Tip, this is not the whole story. “The first beat that he did for “Memory Lane” was some shit that Nas didn’t like. That’s why Nas at the beginning of the one that you hear says, ‘Fuck that other shit.’ The other version was crazy. This one, I liked it, it was a little more jazzy. The other version was just crazy.” Unfortunately, this version seems never to have been released.