An Analysis Of Nas's Illmatic

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Nas debut album “Illmatic” which is considered one of the greatest albums ever made was released on April 19, 1994. Illmatic is considered by many to be a masterpiece. The album is a story of his life, the things he experienced, what New York City was like in the 90’s. Illmatic established Hip-Hop in its truest form. Only nineteen at the time Illmatic came out, Nas proved to be ahead of his time. With his story telling, lyrical content, complex rhyme schemes, production and great album instantly put him at the top. “Even Nas' longtime nemesis, Jay-Z, frankly confesses that the first time he heard the album, "the shit was so ahead/thought we was all dead." (Serwer 2)
You will learn that the album follows a child from a poor community who not …show more content…

Illmatic is just a great body of work; from the lyrical content, technique, and production of the album. Nas painted pictures for his listener’s and provided them with a narration.
Even though Illmatic was not a commercial success at the time, Illmatic was instantly recognized as a classic. An album containing 10 classic tracks took the game by storm. Nas kind of electrified Queensbridge hip-hop and East Coast rap as a whole and put the shine back on the East Coast after the West Coast had the game on lock in the late 80’s early 90’s. After Nas and Illmatic Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z and many others were up next and ran Hip-Hop with Nas.
Nas absolutely changed Hip-Hip forever with having a young boy as cover art an album. Before Illmatic, rap album covers were clichés: rapper with gold chains, cars, girls, and B-Boys. For Illmatic’s album cover, Nas chose a close-up picture of himself as a kid that covered over his project buildings. Not knowing years to come in the process of creating his album that the cover art would become a cliché. Illmatic's cover corresponded with the mood, tone, and songs of the album to such a high mark that it became an instant classic. A few albums that followed Illmatic’s cover were Notorious B.IG. (Ready to Die), LIL Wayne (Tha Carter III, Kendrick Lamar (Good Kid, M.A.A.d City), and J-Cole's (Villematic)

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