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Nas - Illmatic CD
Nas Discography of CDs
Bonus Tracks; Anniversary Edition
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$ 9.15
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Out of a seemingly endless array of hip hop albums, every now and again something fresh and powerful rises to the top of the pile. Hailing from the Queensbridge Housing Projects in Long Island City (home to Marley Marl among others), 20-year old Nasir "Nas" Jones is less concerned with being an impersonator than with being an originator, bypassing adolescent fantasies and B-boy braggadocio in favor of jazzy beats, rap noir realism and new answers to urban despair.
ILLMATIC is his story, a cautionary tale of the inner-city streets, and as Nas makes plain on his opener, "The Genesis," this is what he does, with or without a record contract, and it's going to be served up straight, no chaser. And because Nas has the courage to transcend popular trends, to separate himself from the ranks of wannabes and me-toos, he may be on the verge of inaugurating some stylistic changes of his own.
Production-wise, Nas has gathered together some of the superstars of the hip hop underground, producers the likes of Q-Tip, Pete Rock, L.E.S., DJ Premier and The Large Professor, but it is Nas's unique rhythmic cadences, his idiomatic sense of on-the-street wordplay, his disrespect for the high time and the empty rhyme that distinguishes ILLMATIC. When Nas rocks the mic, it's not a hedonist's wet dream, but a depiction of urban hope and despair, and thanks to Nas's poetic insights, he soon transports you there (in a manner seldom seen in black pop since the days of Stevie's INNERVISIONS and Marvin Gaye's WHAT'S GOIN' ON?).
Includes a bonus disc with select remixes.
Explicit.Brand New Remixes Of Songs Fr."Illmatic"+2 Undergro
Recorded at Chung King Studios, D & D Recording and Battery Studios, New York, New York.
Engineers include: Eddie Sancho, Jason Vogel, Jamey Staub.
Personnel: Nas, A.Z. (rap vocals); Olu Dara (trumpet).
Producers: DJ Premier, L.E.S., NAS, Pete Rock, The Large Professor, Q-Tip.
Engineers include: Eddie Sancho, Jamey Staub, Kevin Reynolds.
Personnel includes: Nas, AZ.
Producers include: The Large Professor, Pete Rock, L.E.S., DJ Premier, Q-Tip.
Personnel: Olu Dara (trumpet).
Audio Mixers: Diego Garrido; Kevin Crouse.
Audio Remasterer: Chris Gehringer.
Recording information: Amerycan Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Battery Studios, New York, NY; Chung King, New York, NY; D&D Recording, New York, NY; House Of Hits, New York, NY; Larrabee West Studios, North Hollywood, CA; Mirror Images Studios, New York, NY; Right Track Recording, New York, NY; Studio-Atlantis, Hollywood, CA; Unique Studios.
Photographer: Danny Clinch.
Personnel includes: Nas, AZ (vocals); Olu Dara (trumpet).
Producers: DJ Premier, L.E.S., Pete Rock, Q-Tip, The Large Professor.
Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.73) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone (8/25/94, p.88) - 4 Stars - Excellent - "...Nas' no-nonsense urban tales pair ILL's every beautiful moment with its harsh antithesis..."
Spin (8/94, p.84) - Highly Recommended - "...ILLMATIC pays serious mind to uncertain sources, to abstract anxiety, spiritual and otherwise....These are powerfully stressed-out images, but Nas hints that he's after something more personally revealing..."
Q (5/97, p.142) - "...the musical backdrops are razor sharp; hard bears but with melodic hooks and loops, atmospheric background piano, strings or muted trumpet, and samples...A potent treat."
Vibe (6/02, p.108) - Ranked #4 in Vibe's "Top 10 rap albums" - "...As perfect as 39 hip hop minutes get..."
The Source (4/94, p.73) - 5 Mics - Classic - "...I must maintain that this is one of the best hip-hop albums I have ever heard...No cliched metaphors, no gimmicks...Never too abstract, never superficial. Even the skit-intros are meaningful..."
The Source (4/94, p.73) - 5 Stars - Classic - "...I must maintain that this is one of the best hip-hop albums I have ever heard...No cliched metaphors, no gimmicks...Never too abstract, never superficial. Even the skit-intros are meaningful..."
Musician (8/94, p.95) - "...ILLMATIC could be one of the finest conventional hip-hop albums ever made...Nas is a dark, compelling lyricist who enunciates cleanly and quickly, leaving the listener able to hear everything he says, but racing to follow the meaning..."
Village Voice (2/28/95) - Ranked #33 in the Village Voice's 1994 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll.
Mojo (Publisher) (p.103) - 5 stars out of 5 - "Concise, focused and lyrically dazzling, ILLMATIC remains one of hip hop's must-buys..."
NME (Magazine) (12/24/94, p.23) - Ranked #33 in NME's list of the `Top 50 Albums Of 1994.'
NME (Magazine) (7/9/94, p.44) - 9 - Excellent Plus - "...Nas' upbringing oozes from every pore of the music. This is the true voice of where Nas comes from, set to 40 minutes of rhythmic perfection. A stunner..."
Illmatic Music Review
Average Rating: (4.7 out of 5 stars)   List All 147 Reviews THE greatest... now with fire power to cripple a nation
so few songs... so perfect. talks about everything the rap community is still striving to accomplish. 10 tracks of fluid, smooth, hard beats, and lyrics. every idea carries over several lines and every idea is completed with a sign to the believers and a middle finger to the doubters. absolute magic.
now with new tracks that'll make any hip hop listener crumble and any music lover's jaw drop. if you're interested in hip hop or rap, or music, AT ALL, buy this album.
Submitted by JT (albany, ny)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No
Classic Hip-Hop Album of All Time
I was at a music store one day and I had a choice to pick from The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Ready To Die" or Nas' "Illmatic" so I got both. Nas speaks about tales about the streets in his point of view. So I felt that he was writing out his heart when he wrote "The World Is Yours". When Nas said "I need a new nigga for this black cloud to follow, cause while it's over me it's too dark to see tommorrow", I said to myself that he's more then a rapper, he's a street poet that knows what he's talking about. So get this album. This is a classic Hip-Hop album of all time.
Submitted by one10boys4 (Manteo, NC, USA)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No pretty dam good
too short but extremely good album one of the best of all time nas knows how to rap n storytell
Submitted by JERMAINE (melbourne, Australia)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No The New King of Hip Hop?
He's always been the king of hip hop. throwing one classic after another and all of you Jay-z fans who hate on him just because he had beef with nas. Nas is way better then jay-z he has better lyrics then him, better songs.
Submitted by birdman is king (antelope, Ca)
Was This Review Helpful? Yes No  CAREFUL, DONT GET THE CENSORED VERSION!!!
I bought this album at cduniverse.com only to find that it's the censored version. No returns. Almost unlistenable. I would give this version of the album 2-3 stars. Otherwise it sounds like it might have been a great album. 4 or 5 stars.
Submitted by asparagus3000 (Santa Barbara, CA, USA)
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