Illmatic
by Nas

First Released: 19th April 1994

Columbia

Review

Nas’ Illmatic is considered one of the high water-marks for 90s hip-hop and the development of the East coast sound. It’s his debut release and was largely recorded when he was around 19 years of age. Not being massively familiar with his work, and certainly not to the extent of having focused on it to the level that I do for reviews, this is an interesting one. Much of my issue of hip-hop from this era comes down to the overly repetitive nature of the samples used in production. As someone who’d main focus is on the musical elements of a track, rather than lyrics, I tend to find that a two or four bar loop repeated for 4-5 minutes is the kind of things that can swiftly drain away my enthusiasm for a track unless the rest of the production is very carefully handled. That being said, while lyrics tend to be secondary, the cadence and rhythm of a rappers delivery do tend to factor into my musical appreciation of a piece of a record. When applying those personal preferences to this album, there were times when I did feel like the repetitive nature of some of the samples were detrimental to the musical structure and staying power of the work. When there was enough effort put into adding variation, and Nas’ vocal given prominence, things did work much better, but there were times when it was oddly low in the mix compared to some of the more prominent elements of the samples. As opposed to elements such as bass line and drums, the repetition of clear tonal elements works against the songs, and that’s where I struggle more with this album. Putting that to one side, there is a lot to like about this record. The vibe is first class, and the consistency of tone and ambience across each of the tracks is very strong too. Nas writes rhymes that cut and skip through a range of rhythms and flows beautifully, and manages to vary his delivery from a more laid-back approach to one with a bit more aggression and front-foot intent. It’s really strong stuff and, especially when combined with extra ear candy elements and a more structured approach to sample us on tracks like The World Is Yours and One Love. Despite my slight misgivings over certain elements, I did find myself grooving along frequently as the album progressed. The production is strong and the sample selection is also well handled. So I enjoyed it, and I can really see why this is considered to be an important record, but despite the fact that I did have a good time with it, there was just not quite enough musical variation at play to let me slide it further towards the higher end of my scale. It is one that I may well pop back to and re-assess as time goes by though, so watch this space.

Track by Track

The Genesis

It’s an intro with some cool lo-fi sample usage, but it’s vocally crowded, so while it sets the scene and tone of the album fairly well, it is a bit throwaway, despite being nearly two minutes long.

N.Y. State Of Mind

The rapping is fantastic here, and I love the pace of the groove. Unfortunately, that groove doesn’t vary or develop at all across the whole 5 minutes of the track. The production of it creates a solid vibe, and the flow and rhythm of Nas’ delivery is of great quality, but there’s only so long I can listen to the same two bar loop around before I just start to find it boring. They do drop out to just the beat now and again, and throw in some sound effects, but it’s so musically limited that’s it’s hard to remain engaged, especially when the volume of the music is mixed oddly loud against the vocal.

Life's A Bitch

Ok, so the musical content is a bit more subtle here. It’s still massively repetitive, but there’s loads more range from the vocal, and that gives it much more life. The rapping is more melodic too, and has a broader approach to rhythm and emphasis than the last track. They even throw in a cool bit of brass instrumental towards the end. The mixing and production tie this up really well and it feels much more musically pleasing, so hopefully things are on the up.

The World Is Yours

It’s another two bar loop at the base, but again, there’s more depth provided by the layered vocal parts and the addition of the scratching elements. It’s hard not to get sucked into the groove, and the chorus, while simple, is pretty hooky and effective. Nas throws in some nice moments of rhythmic switch-up, and again the delivery is of great quality. It is just a shame that we have to listen to the piano part of the loop for basically the entire 5 minutes, because while there’s plenty of other stuff going on, it does feel like we’re lacking as much musical range as I would like.

Halftime

It’s another great beat, and in this instance there are some more melodic elements thrown in more sporadically, which give things a far less repetitive edge, despite the beat and bass line looping for the whole track. The slightly more forward approach to the delivery of the vocal here is great, and the little skips and rhythmical slurs that he chucks in here and there are fantastic. There’s a lot to grab hold of vocally, and it does a lot to carry the track. It also feels like there’s a little more deftness in the arrangement compared to some of the early tracks. Pretty good stuff.

Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)

We’re back to something a bit more laid back now, but the vocal again feels like it’s being blended a bit too much into the two bar loop to overwhelm the repetition of the melodic parts, particularly the electric piano. The groove is lush, and the addition of the scratching and extra vocal parts do add a bit of range, so it does have a bit more staying power, particularly when Nas’ vocal works so well. I am enjoying this record, but this is another one of those that could have been so much better with some musical development.

One Love

The start of this feels a little disorganised, but there’s more actual musical interest here, even if the mixing and timing of the component parts feels a bit uneven. With a defter hand at the mixer, I think this would be a lot stronger, because the vocal needs to be a bit more prominent and the thumb-piano sounding lead should be a bit more subtle. Those quibbles aside, I think there’s a lot to like about this one. It’s got great vibe, and a slightly different acoustic fingerprint to the rest of the album, which is great when combined with the considered and rhythmically powerful vocal delivery from the man himself. Like it.

One Time 4 Your Mind

We’re into a leant back groove now that is again really good, but rests too much on a single two-bar repetition. There’s not as much other stuff going on on this one either, so it does become quite draining after a while. The lyrical and rhythmical delivery of the vocal is great though and, while I do find it a touch tiring, the general vibe and atmosphere of the groove is solid.

Represent

Another where a prominent short loop makes things a bit too repetitive. They do at least work with tweaking the length of the sample here and there, but it feels like there’s a bit less to this in general. There’s some decent vocal stuff in there, particularly in the rhythmical choices of the lyrics, but the chorus section is a bit week, and when we just end up with Nas listing a bunch of his mates, it’s just a bit crap.

It Ain't Hard To Tell

Now we get a slightly too quiet sample from Michael Jackson’s Human Nature, as well as a bunch of other samples that don’t quite work together. It feels a bit of a scattergun approach and the tuning all feels a tiny bit out, which is quite distracting. I actually appreciate the fact that there’s been a bit more work put into adding musical depth, but apparently, it’s been done by someone who’s not got the most musical ear, so it all sounds cluttered and discordant. Again, strong vocals, and when the beat is more stripped back, the vibe is sold. But it’s a slightly disappointing closer.

Illmatic by Nas