illmatic

• 1994 tarihli ilk nas albümü. 2pac'ın henüz süperstar olmadığı, the notorious b.i.g.'nin ready to die'ı yapmadığı, wu-tang clan'in yeni yeni patladığı günler. 20 yaşını yeni bitirmiş veled-i-nas'ın "illmatic"inin rap tarihinin en iyi albümlerinden biri olacağını kim tahmin edebilirdi?
  
  mtv'nin tüm zamanların en iyi 2. hip hop albümü olarak gösterdiği "illmatic"in yapımcıları large professor, dj premier, pete rock ve q-tip. rap seviyorsanız ve bu albümü hala dinlemediyseniz, çok şey kaçırmışsınız demektir.
  
  saygı duyulan rap müzik dergisi the source'un o dönemki editörü reginald c. dennis, 5 üzerinden 5 tam puan verdiği tek albüm olan "illmatic" hakkında şöyle konuşuyor:
  
  awarding records 5 mics – classic status – has always been, on some levels, troubling to me. i mean, we are not only saying that a particular piece of music is superior to everything that is out now, but it will be better than most things released in the future as well...i only gave one 5 under my watch and it went to nas's illmatic. it was the only time i ever broke the 'no 5' rule. jon shecter [co-founder of the source] had gotten his hands on the album like eight months before it was scheduled to drop...jon didn't let the tape out of his sight. not only that, but he constantly raved about it. everyday. he played it in the office about a million times and very early on began to lobby for this record to receive 5 mics...i told jon that we'd work all of that stuff out when it was time to review the album. but everyday, jon was like, "yo, this album is 5 mics — seriously, reg, 5 mics!"
  http://web.archive.org/…test-story-never-told/p.all
  
  40 dakikalık albüm şu şarkılardan oluşuyor
  
  1. the genesis
  2. n.y. state of mind
  3. life's a bitch
  4. the world is yours
  5. halftime
  6. memory lane sittin' in da park
  7. one love
  8. one time 4 your mind
  9. represent
  10. it ain't hard to tell