On April 19th 1994, Nas' debut album "Illmatic" was released on Columbia records. By the end of that day, a majority of the Hip Hop world had just heard, arguably the best Hip Hop record ever recorded. From the intro to the last track (It Ain't Hard To Tell) Nasir Jones paints a beautiful picture, through his complex, yet easy to understand vocabulary attack of street wise wordplay. He's in fact so perfect in his rhymes, that you can see the stories unfold in your head like a well scripted movie. The most amazing part of this album itself is that it's limited to only 10 tracks! Nas was dicovered by MC Serch (of 3rd Bass fame) and was debut at the crisp age of 17, on Main Source's classic track "Live At The Barbecue" in 1991. He was head over heels, lyrically ahead of every MC on that track by far (It was a posse cut) Adding to the brilliance of Illmatic is the production value contributed. With notable NY giants as: Dj Premiere, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q Tip, & L.E.S. and also features Nas' father Olu Dara on the track "Life's A Bitch" which also features a young AZ. I was 16 the first time I heard this, let it play all the way through, and listened in my headphones at school for weeks, totally addicted to the sound created by this album, something that doesn't happen very often, and something that doesn't happen at all in the MP3 age! So, before I go on for days about Illmatic, I'll leave you with the first song (track 2) NY State Of Mind. It sets the stage perfect for what's to follow throughout the album.
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