Illmatic

Product Information

A2 - Produced by DJ Premier for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. Contains sample from "Mind Rain" as performed and written by J. Chambers. This historic performance was recorded live in March 2014 for One Mic Hip Hop Culture Worldwide Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. But Nas uses Illmatic as more than a vehicle to escape. The styles and stories that formed him fuse into something that withstands outdated slang and popular taste: it is a story of a gifted writer born into squalor, trying to claw his way out of the trap. It's somewhere between The Basketball Diaries and Native Son, but Jim Carroll and Richard Wright couldn't rap like Nas. B4 - Produced by DJ Premier for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP)/Taking Care Of Business Music/Total Experience Music Publishing Co. (BMI)

One Time For Your Mind" produced for Paul Sea Productions, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, NYC. Matrix / Runout (Side C, etched): MSAP0055LP C RE-1 NAS - LIVE AT THE KENNEDY CENTER S- 101213 RE-1 NY State Of Mind" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. Have others noticed that the album cover picture is based on two negatives overlayed with the face picture being the top with the street and houses as the bottom. The phrases and images are so deeply rooted in rap consciousness to have become cliché. Over the last 19 years, a million secret handshakes and scratched hooks have been executed to lines from Illmatic: I woke up early on my born day; I sip the Dom P, watching Gandhi 'til I'm charged; you couldn't catch me in the streets without a ton of reefer, that's like Malcolm X catching jungle fever; I'm an addict for sneakers, twenties of Buddha, and bitches with beepers; vocabulary spills, I'm ill; life's a bitch and then you die.

A5 - Large Professor Music Ltd. / EMI April Music Inc. / III Will Music, Inc. / Skematics Music / Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP) A3: Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music/Taking Care Of Business Music/ Total Experience Music/ODAR Publishing One Love" produced for A Tribe Called Quest, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Battery Studios, NYC. Contains sample from "Smilin' Billy Suite Pt. II" as performed by The Heath Brothers and written by J. Heath. Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music (ASCAP)/MJQ Music, Inc. (BMI). A3 - III Will Music, Inc. / Skematics Music / Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP) / Taking Care Of Business Music / Total Experience Music Publishing Co. (BMI) The World is Yours" produced for Mecca And The Soul Brother Productions, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Battery Studios, NYC.

This resourcefulness carried on into my adult years, leading to a passion for turning rubbish or discarded items into art or fixing them up and onselling. Contains sample from "Smilin' Billy Suite Pt. II" as performed by The Heath Brothers and written by J. Heath. Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. Contains sample from "We're In Love" as performed by Reuben Wilson and written by R. Wilson and P. Barsella. EMI Unart Catalog Inc./Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Gifted Pearl (ASCAP) No album better reflected the sound and style of New York, 94. Raw rap, soul samples and beat breaks. A gifted writer whose wordplay knows no bounds, Nas tells his own story, the archetypal anti-hero with ambitions of ruling the world, escaping the conflict, violence and brutality of New York's underbelly.

Life's A Bitch" recorded and mixed at Unique Studios and Chung King Studios, NYC. Contains sample from "Yearning For Your Love" as performed by The Gap Band and written by R. Wilson and O. Scott used courtesy Polygram Special Products, Inc. Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP)/Taking Care Of Business Music/Total Experience Music Publishing Co. (BMI)

A5 - Produced by The Large Professor for Paul Sea Productions, Inc.. Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, NYC. Contains samples from "Dead End,""Soul Travelin" and "School Boy Crush". Thanks for supporting my small business, all made in my workshop at Papamoa Beach in the beautiful Bay Of Plenty May as well have been recorded in a crappy sounding arena, because you would never believe it was done in an acoustically sound amphitheatre, as it was.Side B label has, additionally: Zomba Enterprises Inc./ Jazz Merchant Music (admin. by Zomba Enterprises Inc.)

Contains a sample of "Yearning For Your Love" as performed by The Gap Band and written by R. Wilson and O. Scott. Used courtesy Polygram Special Products, Inc. Large Professor Music Ltd./EMI April Music, Inc./Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP)

B1 - Produced by DJ Premier for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. Contains sample from "We're In Love" as performed by Reuben Wilson and written by R. Wilson and P. Barsella. Like many others, because this was a live hip hop album, I wasn't expecting much in terms of its sound quality. That prejudice was smashed 10 seconds in due to the fantastic audio engineering that went into this album. The quiet parts are dead quiet, the vocals are surprisingly well balanced, and the icing on the cake is the orchestra. NY State of Mind, One Love, and Life's a Bitch in particular sound brilliant with the addition of these live instruments. Even though it's Illmatic and Nas does a solid job MC'ing, the orchestra truly is the focal point here as it adds a refreshing and powerful new addition to the best hip hop album ever made. I got goosebumps several times during the performance (for real), as this is a rare occasion. Usually fusions such as these sound mashed and clumsy. Not here for it's evident that a ton of work and rehearsal went into this performance. Illmatic' is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas, originally released in April 1994. Often cited as one of the best hip-hop albums of the '90s, 'Illmatic' is the undisputed classic upon which Nas' reputation rests. It helped spearhead the artistic renaissance of New York hip-hop in the post-'Chronic' era, leading a return to street aesthetics. Hip-hop fans accustomed to 73-minute opuses sometimes complain about 'Illmatic''s brevity, but even if it leaves you wanting more, it's also one of the few '90s rap albums with absolutely no wasted space. 'Illmatic' reveals a great lyricist in top form meeting great production, and it remains a perennial favourite among serious hip-hop fans.