Prior to the release of this now legendary and ground-breaking album, hip-hop had arguably developed into a very fragmented genre of music, both geographically and stylistically. Geographically, as with the rise of Death Row records, and several conscious rappers like Del, A Tribe Called Quest, and Pharcyde, L.A. had become the new hip-hop capital of the world. the industry in New York was left in its wake (for this review we are conveniantly ignoring the Wu's "36 Chambers" in 1993). Meanwhile in terms of style, commercial hip-hop, and specifically gangsta rap, had popularized a self-centered syle of narrative which relied on promoting oneself and blasting others on simple one-liners and rhyme schemes.
Enter Nasir Jones aka. Nas. 1994's Illmatic displayed not only some dangerous and grimy beats that reflected the violent nature of the NYC streets, but more importantly, a vicious poetic style that combined the hardness of gangsta rap, with the highly-detailed narrative, skillfull obeservation and deep self-analysis that was often the focus of conscious rap. Along with Wu-Tang, Nas helped firmly re-establish NYC/East Coast as the epicentre of rap, and nearly every rapper who strives to work beyond the now horribly rigid structures of commercial rap owe it to Nas and specifically this album- even Nas' arch-enemy Jay-Z.
This is without a doubt, an exceptional album. where much of gangsta rap embodied old funk samples and stagnant beats, this album is a dark, brooding masterpiece in terms of production, characterized by smooth beats, and a plethora of jazz, soul, and obscure vocal samples. the lyrics, as mentioned repeadtly is the real focus here however, as there is pratically no filler in this regard- each line was written with a prior intention to leave a mark on the listener and are all successful in doing so. a masterpiece.
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