Illmatic Review

My first album to be reviewed is Illmatic said by many to be the greatest hip hop album of all time. The raw gritty queensbridge rapper holds back nothing in this well-produced depiction of new york life through the eyes of Nas, the street poet. When you combine raw intricate rhyme schemes depicting graphic new york streets, witty wordplay, and deep metaphors you get this album. So let's get into the breakdown.

1. The Genesis - A combination intro, skit, and interlude this track opens the album with a nice generic yet unforgettable beat that had me yearning to replay even though there were no lyrics. 5/5

2. NY State of Mind - My personal favorite track on the album, the beat is produced by Dj Premier one of the greatest hip-hop producers of all time. Then you combine that amazing production with a first line like this:

Rappers I monkey flip em with the funky rhythm I be kickin
Musician, inflictin composition
of pain I'm like Scarface sniffin cocaine
Holdin a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme

Whoa! This is something powerful something lyrical with the beats to make you nod your head. I love love love this track and always have so I give it a 5/5.

3. Life's a Bitch - The message on this track is pretty straightforward as is evident from the chorus "life's a bitch and then you die." However my favorite part is AZ's verse at the beginning he and Nas complement each other as vocalist quite well. However I believe this to be one of AZ's best verses on any track even his solo work. Anyways this track has a decent beat, a little stripped down for my tastes but the horns at the end are a nice touch. Love the lyricism by both AZ and Nas. This track was produced by L.E.S. who went on to help co-produce "Gettin Jiggy wit it". Although the beat is mediocre to me I still give this song a 4/5 for lyricism.

4. The World is Yours - Again, a pretty self-evident message the world is yours. Love the imagery though in Nas's first verse:

I sip the Dom P, watchin Gandhi til I'm charged
Then writin in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin
To hold the mic I'm throbbin, mechanical movement
Understandable smooth shit that murderers move wit

A young Nas who's experiences and interests lie in drinking, running the streets and that unmistakable bulletproof feeling that all young people in the prime of their life can't help but posess. He sees the problems and violence and weaves a tale of how it feels to be in his shoes (suede timbs). Although not in story form this track displays the feelings and thoughts of a day to day hustla trying to survive. Produced by the legendary Pete Rock of Pete Rock and CL Smooth this beat is hard enough to carry the subject matter but melodic enough to encompass the keys at the beggining. This track has all the right stuff 5/5.

5. Halftime - Coniently placed in the middle of the album this track has a build up beat that seems to bring together nicely all the horns as well as the bells which are intricately and nicely disguised so as not to make this sound too Chritmasey. Produced by The Large Professor who is credited with discovering Nas and also produced two more tracks on this album. Nas comes hard again with his usual street swagger and lyrical depiction of confidence and pop culture references to Nike, the Jackson 5 and others. Al in all a nicely produced and emceed track with a nice message that this is only halftime in this record and Nas's career has much more to go. 4.5/5 just because I don't get as excited to her this as other tracks.

6. Memory Lane - Another Premier produced track, so of course the beat is amazing in its flow and use of samples to bring together the beat in a way that only Primo can do. Nas absolutely rips it as well with his memories of yesterday and his experiences throughout life beautifully spoken in a way that let's us understand but not get bored, again Nas has this technique of telling a story in a way that gives us a glimpse of what he's talking about without a full autobiography. It really makes the track a complete and true to it's title 5/5.

7. One Love - The xylophone type sounds make me think of that Mario part where you arein the lava and there are dinosaurs and it makes that sound when you jump on them. haha I digress this beat was produced by Q-Tip of Tribe a little known fact and he actually sings the chorus as well. Not one of my favorite songs jsut doesn;t flow and work together as well as other songs on this album. Not bad because Nas of course brings the fire but even 3 straight heaters of verses can't save the uninspired chorus and less than complementary beat. Decent beat just not for this song.3/5

8. One Time 4 Your MInd - Well I think that's the name of my blog so you'd think I have to give this a 5/5 but let me tell you why I like this song. Produced by The Large Professor and nicely I might add. A beat that is necely composed with a looping bass line that sort of dances lightly and chimes at the beat. Although the lyrics are not as inspried as some of the other songs on this album. In the chorus he adds it sounds clever which I interperut to mean that this saying 1 time for your mind is a clever saying but that he really doesn't have any witty sayings or chorus sayings that will have you singing and remembering this song after listening to the CD. I do like the beat and the idea the lyrics don;t really deliver for me they are too thuggin for such an insightful and thought related title. That really insin't what makes a song good or bad but I just like the saying hence making it my title. I liek the song but don't love it. 4/5

9. Represent - DJ Premier...Need I say more. OK OK flowing and nice beat sounds a little like the previous one actually in that it chimes on the the beat with a nice bass line but then when Nas starts spittin the beat changes to a nice blend of chimes and drum and bass. Again Nas just seems to bring out his best stuff when Primo is on the tracks maybe he just feels the beat that much more. By the way this song live was SICK Nas straight killed it during this song with the Reverb on the chorus and his mad stage presence and flow. Love the lyrics even throws in some old school rap references with MC Shan and The Real Roxanne and you know the beat is hot. 5/5

10. It aint hard to tell - Heavily sampled with horns added to the drum and bass track. No chorus at all on this track whic I think really makes the lyrics that much more memorable I find myself singing along to this track much more than any other. The slight buildup in the the beat is a nice touch by The Large Professor samples are by Micheal Jackson and Kool and the Gang so I mean if you are going to sample as this album is heavily sampled then get the best and those two are not bad from a purely musical standpoint. All in all a nice way to finish the album with some tight lyrics and a fade out at the end of the song. 4.5/5

11. Wait there's only 10 tracks! hah yeah this is one of the shorter classic albums in history but what would you rather have some meaningless skits about bitches (See Ready to Die) or straight hip hop channeled through great production and amazing lyricism for 10 straight tracks. I say no contest.

Average Score per track: 4.5

Overall Score: 95%