Explain what´s good so good about Illmatic!?

[.: God Is One :.]

I bought this album cuz everyone claims this album as a classic.
"Life´s a bitch" "It aint hard to tell" & "Memeory lane" are the only classic songs on this fuckin album.
Please explain whats so fuckin good about for example "N.Y State of mind", i mean the beat is horrible!!!
Ok, ok, the lyrics are dope as hell and i dont think anyone rips it more poetic & raw than Nas, but the beats are not good, not good.
And i dont think u can call an album that just has REAL dope lyrics a classic!? am i right?

I know i´m going to get alot of shit for typing this down, BUT REMEMBER THEESE ARE JUST MY OPINIONS!!!

Peace

[infinite59]

I'm glad you asked this question homie....

I asked the same fuckin question on a message board back in 99... I went out and bought the album because I kept reading that it was a classic.  I listened to it, and was thinking, "Is this the right album."  I went on a message board and asked what the fuck the deal was.  And which songs were tight..  And everyone was like, "Every fuckin song is tight, New York State of Mind, One Love, etc."

So then I went back and listened to it again with less expectations.. and suddenly dog.. I just let it play though, and I've been hooked ever since.

The Beats- "New York State of Mind" was produced by the legendary DJ Premier.  The whole albums production sounds you could listen to over and over, it's real hip-hop, street sound.  It's not all this sonic shit that's popular nowadays.. the album has an old-school feel to it that really sets the mood..  Yo, you just got to calm down and really think about the lyrics... and the music.. and you'll get hooked.. Start with the first track and let it go. Don't skip around.. that's my advice.. Peace

[.: God Is One :.]

i dont kno what it is but im juss addicted to this album. i really like the beats, they fit to the songs and damn! lifes a bitch, it aint hard to tell  memory lane only classic songs? ether, one mic, and every other fuckin other track besides bravheart party maybe is TIGHTER THAN A MUTHAFUCKA!!! even the intrO!!!!!!

Hey, i was talking about ILLMATIC, NOT STILLMATIC.

Peace

[Nima - Dubcnn.com]

yup! post deleted.. sorry im a lil high.. my bad

[.: God Is One :.]

Infinite59, thanx homie, you made me look at it in a different view now.

Ill try to listen to it from beginning to end a few times now.

Peace

[NEW_MINORITY]

go read my review.....

[I TO DA GEEZY]

man.....ILLMATIC IZ UNBELIEVABLE......nas iz at hiz best on hiz debut.....when i first heard it......i waz like....shit ....RAKIM"z CROWN iz in danger.....those nine trackz.....waz intellegent and deep thug poetry.....
i"m havin a mighty hard time to believe that tha NAS dat made illmatic iz tha same guy dat made all that lower than mediocre garbage that followed.....
tho STILLMAITC iz a lil improvment (after a fat pile of shit) Nasir got a long way to go imo....

[Hittman]

This Album Can't Be Fucked With. Nas Comes Consistent All The Way Through. The Beat On N.Y. State Of Mind Is Literally Amazing.

[=[Euthanasia]=]

Illmatic = ALL Killer, NO Filler  

[HBKid_Jr]

what illmatic lacks in beats it makes up for in lyrics,m  sought of like tha chronic an doggystyle,  what they lack in lyrics dre makes up for in production, an personally i didnt think tha beats were that bad on illmatic,  there are rugged street shit,  not club pop beats

[Big BpG]

NY State Of Mind is one of Nas's biggest hits and one of the best beats... thats why he used it twice

-Big BpG

[lala]

Even though I've never posted here before I thought I'd post why Illmatic is not only one of the best lyrically but beat wise as well, considering I've seen posts saying the beats are weak on Illmatic.  Here's a review I think sums up why Illmatic is so great, I didn't write it but it was like the reviewer was reading my mind, so check it"

"An album does not consist of only beats, melodies, hooks, or words. A clasic album should give you a since of time, mood, personsonal theology, and raw determination, which "Illmatic clearly shows"

For the true music lovers out there I add a little personal reveiw of the album from a critic's view.

Genisis( Produced by Nas) : Just gives you an glimpse into the mindset of most young NY men that attempt to escape the chains of poverty by any means: weed, robbery, scams, ect..........and Nas breaks the monotany by explaining to his "hommies" that representing is Illmatic( translation: I'm about to explain what life is like for a young black male in the projects with a vision a no real plan, but has tons of talent) and by the way that "Mind Rain" Sample that you hear in the backround is the perfect backdrop after the train passes the window a transision from the oldschool hard bassy beats to a more melodic new school hip-hop...........and hence the clasic begins.

2) New York State of Mind( Produced by Premier): the heavy drum, and basline hits hard as the barratone piano plays a simple five or six keys repeatedly to give a feeling of suspence while Nas desribes the mentality of a youth with dreams to escape, but is trapped by the same desires that drive him to want something better. ............" Thinking of cash flow/ food yo/ and shelter/ whenever frustrated I'm going to hi-jack Delta/........in the PJ's my blend tapes plays/ bullets with stray/ young b*&^th's will stray/ each block is like a maze/ full of black rats trapped"........come on this is about us man( LISTEN)

3) Life's a Bitch( Produced by LES):With maybye the smoothest beat, just to send a meloncholy feeling through your bones as Nas, and AZ explain to you how hard it is to not only survive but to achieve when there are no means too. Do you hear Nas's father play that horn like Coltrane while his son( and friend rip the story).......Visualizing the realism of life in actuality/ fuck who's the baddest a person's status depends on salary/ and my mentality/ is money orrientated/ I'm destined to live the dream for all my people who never made it/ because we were beginners/ in the hood as five percenters/ but something must have got in us/ cause all of us turned to sinners/.....................I woke early on my born day I'm 20 it's a blessin/ the essense of adolesence/ leaves my body now I'm fresh and/ my physical frame has celebrated/ because I made it/ recorded through life's ungodly like theme's created/...........come on man.

4) The world is Yours( Production by pete rock) The best piano rift ever....silky to make you listen to the inspiration Nas gives to you as he explains his own doubts and victory.......And I'm apmed up/ they locked the champ up/ even my brains in handcuffs/ headed for Indiana stabbing women like the phantom" .........do you even understand that line? Tyson who was like a role model to the youth of NY had just been locked up because of a rape charge he caught in Indiana!!!!!!!!!!!Whoa............I need another nigga for this black cloud to follow/ cause while it's over me it's to dark to see tommorow"........nuff said.

5)Halftime)(Produced by Large Profesor) a song that was two years old when it was released and MC's to this day can't match the techique...........with suprising horns to show you how strong the lines are........I rap and front on more Nigga's than in the slave ships/ I use to watch CHIPS/ but now I load Glock clips/....................yeah ok.

Memory Lane( Produced by Premier) electric keyboard to smooth everything out and a melodic chorus of oh oooooh ohhhhhhhhhhh, clasic Premo beat over some strong lyrics.... I see dark streets hustling brothers who keep the same rank/ pumping for nothing/ some will prosper, some fail/ judges hanging niggas uncorrect bails/ for direct sales/...my intellect prevails/ from a hanging cross with nails/ I reinforce the frail/with lyrics thats real......word to Christ, a disciple on streets/ trifle on beats/ I dicypher propheses/ through a mic then say peace/.......................ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

Did you get that?

6) One Love( Produced by Q-TIP) the best story>>>>>>>>Did you noticed that they dedicated a whole part of Belly to this last verse. .......Some times I sit back with a budda sac/ mind in another world thinking how can we exist through the facts/ written in school text book, bibles,ect/ f%^k a school lecture/ the lies get me vexed huh/............too much more to write but check out the verse and try to remember when nas was sitting on the bench in "BELLY"

One Time4 your MIND( Produced by Large Profesor) Just a hard beat with hard lyricks.....................plain and simple check the rhyme and it's from "92" and it still bangs............I try to stay mellow rock with acapella rhymes/ which make me richer/ than a slipper/ made cinderrella/ fella..

Represent(Produced by Premier) Hard beat hard rhyme that just represents his streets from the start....They call me Nas I'm not your legal type of fella/ moet drinking, marajuana smoking street dwella/ who's always on the corner rolling up bless/ when I dress/ it's never nothing less then guess/ cold be walking with a bop and my hat turned back/ love commiting sins, and my friends sell crack/...................see it's his style

It aint hard to tell( produced by Large Profesor) This is IT.......true lyricism at it's best with the perfect mystical beat to match the theme.........................Listen to any verse

It aint hard to tell/
I excell/ then prevail/
the mic is contact/ and I attract/ clientele
my mic check/ is life or death/ breathing the snipers breath
I exhale the yellow/ smoke with budda/ through righteous steps
deep like the "SHINNING"/ sparkle like a diamond/
sneek a uzi on the island/ in my army jacket lining
hit the earth like a comet invasion/
Nas is like the Afrocentric-Asian/ half man, half amazing
cause in my physical I can't expres through song/
delete stres like motrin/ then next stand strong
I sip moet with Modusa, give her shot guns in hell/
From the split that I lifted inhale/ IT AINT HARD TO TELL>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That's it...........Clasic Lyrics, Melodies, Beats, Stories, Themes........."

You may not like it because your analyzing it wrong there is a lot more here. You have to look at it more like it's a book. The beats are just a guide to make you listen closer to what he is trying to convey. the "beat" set's the mood. You will not find a more lyrical or melodic album EVER