Nas in 1998, several years after the release of Illmatic.
Illmatic, the 1994 debut album by Nas, made a significant impact on the hip hop genre. The album has been credited as one of the pivotal works that returned East Coast hip hop, particularly Queensbridge's hip hop scene, to prominence in a time when public attention was focused on West Coast releases. Nas' lyricism and storytelling on Illmatic has been regarded as setting a new standard for lyrical sophistication in major hip hop releases. The production of Illmatic has also been viewed as influential in cementing the characteristic sound of New York hip hop.
Many other hip hop artists have described Illmatic as having influenced them. Additionally, the album has received substantial discussion in academic and literary fields, including in the 2009 book Born to Use Mics. When reviewing Nas' later albums, critics have frequently compared those albums to Illmatic; in particular, Nas' albums from the later 1990s were often criticized for their departures from Illmatic's style.
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Illmatic, the 1994 debut album by Nas, made a significant impact on the hip hop genre. The album has been credited as one of the pivotal works that returned...
Illmatic is the debut studio album by the American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with...
album, Illmatic (1994) is considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time; in 2020, the album was inducted into the Library of Congress's...
unpolished and underground tone of his debut. Despite its significant impact on hip hop at the time, Illmatic did not experience the larger sales of most major...
that Nas' Illmatic album heavily influenced Mobb Deep when making The Infamous, saying that the Illmatic album made them look at themselves and helped them...
best hip-hop album since The Notorious B.I.G.'s Ready to Die and Nas' Illmatic in 1994, and it cements Kendrick Lamar's spot as an all-time great." The...
(1995) and Hell on Earth (1996), are "indebted" to RZA's early production with the Wu-Tang Clan. The success of albums such as Nas's Illmaticand Notorious...
Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic. Basic Books. ISBN 978-0465002115. Nickson, Chris (2004). Hey Ya!: The Unauthorized Biography of Outkast. Macmillan. ISBN 0312337353...
inductees". Library of Congress. Retrieved April 19, 2022. "Mamie Smith and the Birth of the Blues Market". NPR. November 11, 2006. "The Impactof Barber's 'Adagio...
Michael Eric; Daulatzai, Sohail (2010). Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic. New York: Basic Civitas Books. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-465-00211-5. Kim, Richard...
Amnesty International, Water Aid and the Legacy Project. Bestival actively reduced its carbon emissions andimpact on the environment; for example schemes...
High-selling rap albums released in the 1990s include The Chronic by Dr. Dre, Illmatic by Nas, All Eyez on Me by Tupac, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers) by Wu-Tang...