nas-illmatic (FULL REVIEW)

[NEW_MINORITY]

this is my 3rd review ever.......
stillmatic is coming out 18th so i figure i wanted to take a trip down memory lane and review this classic debut LP titled illmatic in 94. this album is my favorite album ever.....i like this album better than any pac, jay-z, biggie, mobb deep, whatever....this album is definetly for the lyricists, ill use of metaphors, vocabulary, story-telling, etc., so if you buying this album for the beats then you buying it for the wrong reason, the point is, these 10 tracks i'm about to review is better than 3/4 of the garbage rap shit that is coming out today, its been 7 years and i'm still bumping this shit in my car

1. the genesis- this is just a intro, it does have a clip of him flowing live at the BBQ but its only 10 sec. anyways, its nas and his peeps just talking and shit.......nothing special like the stillmatic intro, jay-z's vol.1 intro, or makaveli intro 2.5/5

2. n.y. state of mind- this song is too much for words, its produced by premier(?), the beat is kinda lazy but its also uptempo sort of and very simple. nas drops 2 long ill verses talking about crime life, drug life, "I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death, Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined, I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind" "Investments in stocks, sewein up the blocks
to sell rocks, winnin gunfights with mega cops" "I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin, Give me a Smith and Wessun I'll have niggaz undressin" "Time to start the revolution, catch a body head for Houston, Once they caught us off guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin"   5/5


3. lifes a bitch f/ AZ- this song is smooth, laid back shit, tight ass jazz sound near the end, both come alright, but nas didn't come real crazy like the last track although there were parts that shined, "I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing, The essence of adolescent leaves my body now I'm fresh in" "When I was young at this I used to do my thing hard, Robbin foreigners take they wallets they jewels and rip they green cards" 4.5/5

4. the world is yours- i think this was the 2nd single off the album, wicked melody sound laced with simple drums and nas spit 3 verses and the first 2 verses are my favorite, "I sip the Dom P, watchin Gandhi til I'm charged, Then writin in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin ,To hold the mic I'm throbbin, mechanical movement, Understandable smooth shit that murderers move wit" "I trip we box up crazy bitches aimin guns in all my baby pictures, Beef with housin police, release scriptures that's maybe Hitler's" 4.5/5

5. half time- uptempo simple beat, jazzy feel, he drops 3 verses full of pure dopeness this is one of my favorite tracks, "You couldn't catch me in the streets without a ton of reefer, That's like Malcolm X, catchin the Jungle Fever, King poetic, too much flavor, I'm major, Atlanta ain't Brave-r, I'll pull a number like a pager" "Now wait, another dose and you might be dead, And I'm a Nike head, I wear chains that excite the feds" "Cause I'm as ill as a convict who kills for phone time, I'm max like cassettes, I flex like sex, in your stereo sets, Nas will catch wreck" "I rap in front of more niggaz than in the slave ships, I used to watch C.H.I.P.S., now I load glock clips" "Versatile, my style switches like a faggot ,But not bisexual, I'm an intellectual, Of rap, I'm a professional and that's no question, yo" "With more kicks than a baby in a mother's stomach, Nasty Nas has to rise cause I'm wise ,This is exercise 'til the microphone dies" 5/5

6. memory lane- the best track on the album, premier(?) produced it, its candy type melody with like a black church choir singing whoowhoo in the background, reminesing the older days...."My man put the battery in my back, a differencem from Energizer, sentence begins indented.. with formality, My duration's infinite, moneywise or physiology, Poetry, that's a part of me, retardedly bop, I drop the ancient manifested hip-hop, straight off the block" "It's real, grew up in trife life, did times or white lines, The hype vice, murderous nighttimes, and knife fights invite crimes" "I rap divine Gods check the prognosis, is it real or showbiz?, My window faces shootouts, drug overdoses, Live amongst no roses, only the drama, for real, A nickel-plate is my fate, my medicine is the ganja, Here's my basis, my razor embraces, many faces, Your telephone blowin, black stitches or fat shoelaces" "Pumpin for somethin, some uprise, plus some fail, Judges hangin niggaz, uncorrect bails, for direct sales, My intellect prevails from a hangin cross with nails, I reinforce the frail, with lyrics that's real, Word to Christ, a disciple of streets, trifle on beats, I decifer prophecies through a mic and say peace." "Fuck 'rap is real', watch the herbs stand still, Never talkin to snakes cause the words of man kill" 5/5

7. one love- another simple beat but that don't even matter cuz his lyrical abilitiy is top class, i think this song his talking about his homies in prison and he touches on cormega, very nice story telling 4.5/5

8. one time 4 yo mind- my least favorite track but that doesn't mean its real whack, this song is reallll lazy at first cuz of the beat but nas rip it but it ain't on the level of other tracks 4/5

9. represent- this is my favorite track on the album, nas drops 3 verses glorifying and explaining about the streets that he grew up, beat is fast yet again its simple but that doesn't matter for real, another good story telling shit  "Straight up shit is real and any day could be your last in the jungle, Get murdered on the humble, guns'll blast, niggaz tumble" "I drink a little vodka, spark a L and hold a Glock for, the fronters, wannabe ill niggaz and spot runners" "Nas is a rebel of the street corner, Pullin a Tec out the dresser, police got me under pressure" "Yo, they call me Nas, I'm not your legal type of fella, Moet drinkin, marijuana smokin street dweller" "The brutalizer, crew de-sizer, accelerator, The type of nigga who be pissin in your elevator" 5/5

10. it aint hard to tell- first single off the album, nas spit 3 short but ill verses i've ever heard, the beat is fast tempo, give you that jazzy feel, the shit was so ill that i'm gonna have to post the whole lyric

It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail
The mic is contacted, I attract clientele
My mic check is life or death, breathin a sniper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps
Deep like The Shinin', sparkle like a diamond
Sneak a uzi on the island in my army jacket linin
Hit the Earth like a comet, invasion
Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man, half-amazin
Cause in my physical, I can express through song
Delete stress like Motrin, then extend strong
I drank Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in hell
From the spliff that I lift and inhale, it ain't hard to tell

The buddha monk's in your trunk, turn the bass up
Not stories by Aesop, place your loot up, parties I shoot up
Nas, I analyze, drop a jew-el, inhale from the L
School a fool well, you feel it like braille
It ain't hard to tell, I kick a skill like Shaquille holds a pill
Vocabulary spills I'm +Ill+
plus +Matic+, I freak beats slam it like Iron Shiek
Jam like a tech with correct techniques
So analyze me, surprise me, but can't magmatize me
Scannin while you're plannin ways to sabotage me
I leave em froze like her-on in your nose
Nas'll rock well, it ain't hard to tell

This rhythmatic explosion, is what your frame of mind has chosen
I'll leave your brain stimulated, niggaz is frozen
Speak with criminal slang, begin like a violin
End like Leviathan, it's deep well let me try again
Wisdom be leakin out my grapefruit troop
I dominate break loops, givin mics men-e-straul cycles
Street's disciple, I rock beats that's mega trifle
And groovy but smoother than moves by Villanova
You're still a soldier, I'm like Sly Stone in Cobra
Packin like a rasta in the weed spot
Vocals'll squeeze glocks, MC's eavesdrop
Though they need not to sneak
My poetry's deep, I never fell
Nas's raps should be locked in a cell
It ain't hard to tell

5/5

so basically thats it....this album is a masterpiece, in my book, i only consider 4 albums classic, which are the chronic, doggystyle, 7 day theory, and this.....

[TheShiznit227]

Dope review dogg...I agree wit' cha on Memory Lane & Represent, those are my two fav. Nas Joints...

[AlerG]

i think this might be the best rap album ever...

[NEW_MINORITY]

i think this might be the best rap album ever...

yup

THE BEST

[Murrow]

Here is Jake's review of "Illmatic."

http://www.angelfire.com/la3/hip-hop-reviewed/reviews/illmatic.htm

[shlomid1]

nice review illmatic is the best eastcoast album i ever heard and in my top 10 least. my fav. joint is lifes a bitch amazing jazz beat with tight ass lyrics by nas and az. other classic songs:represnt, one love, mamory lane, it aint hard to tell.

[Smooth]

i think this might be the best rap album ever...

Word i agree... qutie possibly

[I TO DA GEEZY]

lol...how old is this thread ....anyway...ILLMATIC is most deffenatlly in my top 5 eastcoast(and not only eastcoast) albums ever, my number one eastcoast piece will always remain BIGs "ready to die" tho.

[KVB]

^^^ Geezy once again speaking the truth.

[.:R-E-L:.]

lol...how old is this thread ....anyway...ILLMATIC is most deffenatlly in my top 5 eastcoast(and not only eastcoast) albums ever, my number one eastcoast piece will always remain BIGs "ready to die" tho.

word......this is fuckin old!!!