Nas - Illmatic

Nas - Illmatic
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Nasir Jones made this debut album at the age of 20, already armed with the calm perceptiveness and been-there-done-that attitude of a much older ghetto vet, though sometimes his inner callow youth shows itself. Illmatic is a look back at a life spent in the culture of the projects, acknowledging joy as much as pain and taking note of violence as a fact of his environment rather than a focus of his life. It's enlivened by Nas's kicky, deep-threaded multiple rhymes--you can tell he grew up listening to Mr. Magic's rap show and internalizing the secrets of everybody's flow--and by tracks from a bunch of all-stars, including the Large Professor, DJ Premier, and, most memorably, Q-Tip ("One Love"). --Douglas Wolk

Album Tracks
1. The Genesis - Nas, Braithwaite, F.
2. N.Y. State of Mind - Nas, Martin, C
3. Life's a Bitch - Nas, Jones, N.
4. The World Is Yours - Nas, Phillips, P.
5. Halftime - Nas, Mitchell, W.P.
6. Memory Lane (Sittin' in da Park) - Nas, Martin, C
7. One Love - Nas, Davis, J.
8. One Time 4 Your Mind - Nas, Mitchell, W.P.
9. Represent - Nas, Nas
10. It Ain't Hard to Tell - Nas, Mitchell, W.P.

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