33 Facts About Illmatic

Since its initial reception, Illmatic has been recognized by writers and music critics as a landmark album in East Coast hip hop.

Illmatic contains highly discerning treatment of its subject matter: gang rivalries, desolation, and the ravages of urban poverty.

Nas said in an interview in 2001: “When I made Illmatic I was a little kid in Queensbridge trapped in the ghetto.

Many of the themes found in Illmatic revolve around Nas' experience living in an environment where poverty, violence, and drug use abound.

Illmatic contains imagery inspired by this prevalence of street crime.

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Illmatic has been noted by music writers for Nas' unique style of delivery and poetic substance.

Illmatic'slyrics contain layered rhythms, multisyllabic rhymes, internal half rhymes, assonance, and enjambment.

In other songs on Illmatic, Nas celebrates life's pleasures and achievements, acknowledging violence as a feature of his socio-economic conditions rather than the focus of his life.

Since its release, the cover art of Illmatic has gained an iconic reputation — having been subject to numerous parodies and tributes.

Illmatic was released on April 19,1994, through Columbia Records in the United States.

Illmatic was met with widespread acclaim from critics, many of whom hailed it as a masterpiece.

Heidi Siegmund of the Los Angeles Times found most of Illmatic hampered by "tired attitudes and posturing", and interpreted its acclaim from East Coast critics as "an obvious attempt to wrestle hip-hop away from the West".

Since its initial reception, Illmatic has been viewed by music writers as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings of the 1990s, while its rankings near the top of many publications' "best album" lists in disparate genres have given it a reputation as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.

In Illmatic, you find the meaning not just of hip-hop, but of music itself: the struggle of youth to retain its freedom, which is ultimately the struggle of man to retain his own essence.

Illmatic has been included in numerous publications' "best album" lists in disparate genres.

On March 30,2004, Illmatic was remastered and re-released with a bonus disc of remixes and new material produced by Marley Marl and Large Professor, in commemoration of its tenth anniversary.

Illmatic has been noted as one of the most influential hip hop albums of all time, with pundits describing it as an archetypal East Coast hip hop album.

Illmatic has been noted as a creative high point for East Coast hip hop, since it featured production from renowned New York-based producers Large Professor, Pete Rock and DJ Premier.

The album solidified the reputation of these producers, whose contributions to Illmatic became influential in shaping the soundscape of New York's regional scene.

Illmatic was one of the first major recordings to emerge from New York's burgeoning hardcore hip hop scene, at a time when much of East Coast hip hop was still dominated by alternative hip hop acts such as A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul .

Many of the poetic tropes found in Illmatic have become terms and phrases within hip-hop lexicon.

Illmatic has become a benchmark for upcoming rappers whose albums are widely anticipated by critics.

Illmatic has been cited as a musical template for other hip hop artists.

Illmatic has become a totem, a work that both looked back into hip-hop history and pointed towards its future.

Illmatic has received notable attention from scholars and authors outside the music industry.

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In 2009, as part of the 33? book series, author Matthew Gasteier published a deconstruction of Illmatic, that focuses on the dualities that inform its narratives.

In 2012, playwright Shaun Neblett created a tribute play titled Homage 3: Illmatic, which tells the story of an aspiring artist and explores the themes found in Nas' debut.

Illmatic is the focus of a significant work of hip-hop scholarship, Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic, edited by Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai.

Straight up though, Illmatic is just a dope album, embodying everything that is hip-hop while mastering what matters most: beats and rhymes.

Illmatic has helped to shape the attitudes and perceptions of hip hop fans, who cherish it as a music template that defines the genre's conventions.

Illmatic will be reissued as a deluxe CD bundled with a 48-page hardcover book featuring photos, reproduced artwork, lyrics, and liner notes courtesy of The Source founder Jon Schecter.

Illmatic XX includes a remastered version of Illmatic, an extra disc of demos, remixes, and unreleased records from that era of Nas' career.

Illmatic is known as one of the most refined rap albums, these stories just add to the narrative.