It Was Written: A rap discussion

[Phoenix Dark]

Illmatic is an undisputed classic, but opinions on IWW have always been mixed to say the least. Some say it's classic, others say it marked the beginning of Nas' decline and commercialization. What does EB think?

I've been listening to Only Built for Cuban Linx a lot lately, and the influence it had on IWW is pretty blatant. Hell some of the skits on IWW sound exactly like those on Cuban Linx. Nas also adopted Raekwon's mafioso style, calling himself Escobar and such; he actually started doing that on his guest appearance on Cuban Linx.

IWW has some great material
-The Message
-Street Dreams
-I Gave you Power
-Nas is Coming (classic Dre beat omg)
-Affirmative Action
-If I Ruled the World

But so much of the album is bogged down with repetitive gangster posturing. I can take Cuban Linx seriously in part because it has a gritty, unforgiving atmosphere; IWW often sounds like gangsta pop music, which of course isn't gangsta at all (think 50 Cent).

Nas also loses much of the introspective touch that really made Illmatic awesome. Not many rappers had that angle back in the day, and Nas' storytelling was ace. But most of that was gone here

[TVC15]

U R GAY

[Eric P]

i've only really listened to illmatic because i came into nas late (i'm a backpacker).  do you think it would be worth a listen just for a cursory examination?

[Phoenix Dark]

i've only really listened to illmatic because i came into nas late (i'm a backpacker).  do you think it would be worth a listen just for a cursory examination?

Yeah it's definitely worth checking out; I wouldn't buy it but a download would suffice. Some of the production is pretty great

[tiesto]

I like a couple Nas songs... "If I Ruled The World" is great, especially the instrumental. And I like UBR and Ether. Is he still gonna call his next album "Ni**er"?

[Powerslave]

Big Nas fan here. I really love the I Am... album though it's really underrated.
It Was Written has some great tracks like I Gave you Power, which is just poetic genius seeing as how he puts himself in the position of a gun. That track always stood out for me.

[Himu]

it's a classic

not as good as illmatic

[Phoenix Dark]

Big Nas fan here. I really love the I Am... album though it's really underrated.
It Was Written has some great tracks like I Gave you Power, which is just poetic genius seeing as how he puts himself in the position of a gun. That track always stood out for me.

Yup it's a great song. Not many rappers do stuff like that, although Lupe did something similar last year on his album; the song is called Gotta Eat and it's fuck awesome

I'll check out I Am... this week

[lordmaji]

Affirmative Action - Some of the best rhyming is in this song. I mean wtf I can jam this out and still go, damn these cats where on it when they did this track. Foxy fucks it up, along side all of em. But seriously, Foxy fucks it up.

If I Ruled the World - Classic tune  man, the combination of Miss Hill and Nas was very good.

The Message - Nas just rips. The beat is also omg! I love this beat. Great track

Street Dreams - lol Same beat Pac used, I think this is a good reason for their beef. Good shit though. Both Songs (All Eyez On Me & Sweet Dreams are classics)

I liked "It was Written". It's classic, just not Illmatic classic.

You knew I'd show up in this topic eventually PD.