Illmatic is one of my favorite albums. The first time I listened to it in its entirety was during a long car ride when I was about 13 years old. With my shitty iPod headphones on, I closed my eyes and felt like I was right there on the streets of Queens with Nas narrating my surroundings. It was a surreal moment that I have been unable to experience with any other album since. I really can't imagine how mind-blowing this album must have been to a hip-hop fan in 1994 if I was able to experience that about a decade after its release.
Sometimes when pieces of art are considered one of the GOATs of its respected craft (e.g. The Mona Lisa, The Godfather), it's due to reasons that are hard to understand years later without knowing the historical context of it and the influence it had. But as Illmatic turns 20 today, I guarantee there'll be some young kids out there today and in the future who will play it for the first time and experience those same feelings I felt. That's how well it has withstood the test of time, and is probably why there is little to no argument in the often polarized hip-hop community as to why it is one of or THE greatest album of all time.
The Illmatic XX edition is a very solid remastering. Sounds much better in the car than the original.
The funny thing about it is that in '94, it was actually a bit of a non-event. Before the album dropped he had major buzz going after appearing on "The Barbecue" and a few other features. Everyone who heard him knew he was the truth and waiting on his album to come out. One of the reasons it's so short is because it was getting bootlegged so heavy they had to hurry up and get it done (guess they couldn't figure where the leak was). At a time when the top rap artists were routinely going platinum this one didn't even go gold for a long, long time.
Not having lived in NYC for about five years by that point (grew up in Queens, btw), and the bootleggers not being that good where I was, I actually went and brought the album when it hit stores. The only song I had heard by that point was "It Ain't Hard to Tell" by seeing the video a few times on Rap City. It was definitely something different, extremely lyrical and had a cool beat, but the video was less than memorable. But back then, I was buying as many CDs as I could carry to the register so I copped it.
My first listen had me nodding my head all the way through and just marveling at his verbal dexterity, but I didn't immediately crown it my all time fave. The thing to remember was this was when Death Row was at its peak coming from the west coast and Bad Boy ruled the east (and the buzz was already humongous for Biggie's upcoming debut). Then there was 2Pac (not yet on Death Row), The Geto Boys, OutKast, Onyx, Wu-Tang, etc. In other words, all "in your face" hip hop either meant to make you dance or incite a riot. "Illmatic" was neither one of those things so lots of people didn't jump on the bandwagon right away. It kind of got lost in all the shuffle. Rap that requires us to actually pay close attention to and appreciate the lyrics always sells less. Us hip hop intellectuals and the rap critics just got more and more into it as it the months ticked by. The more we listened the more we came to love it. Part of its power is that you really can pick up on something different every time you hear it. It's why every one of the nine songs has spent some time as "my favorite song on the album." The more you pick up, the more you realize its genius and have to hear it again. Suddenly, while most albums stayed in my listening rotation a few months at most, I found myself still playing "Illmatic" on a regular basis a year later, then five years later, ten years, now twenty.
It's that kind of album, it just grows and grows on you the more you listen to it. You might think it's only me but let me assure you, it took a while before the rest of the hip hop world really got on board. It finally went gold in 1996, two whole freaking years after it's release. Wu-Tang's classic debut is known as a "slow burn." They started off as far underground as you can get and that album when platinum in two years. Nas had a release on a major label, had the backing of well-known and respected MC Serch, had the well-respected Large Professor singing his praises, had production by Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, and none other than DJ Premier, and the damn thing still took two years just to sell half as many as the Wu. It only got there because us rap nerds told our slightly cooler friends how great it was. They gave it a listen and liked it, but didn't see the big deal until they found themselves on their hundredth listen. Then they told their friends who did the same thing. And so on. Finally, FIVE MORE YEARS after it went gold, it crept across the platinum level. It sold so slowly that "If I Ruled the World" off "It was Written," HIS SECOND DAMN ALBUM, was really his first hit single. After that song, he was nominated for an MTV Music Award for, get this, "Best New Artist." Those of us in the know scoffed, but we understood.
Long post, I know. Just understand that in '94 when it hit it really wasn't like everyone suddenly dropped to their knees in praise. It took a while for everyone to come around. When you were hanging with the fellas, or out partying, or just wanted to get hype you were banging "The Chronic," and whatever other albums by Snoop, Tha Dogg Pound, 2Pac, Biggie, Craig Mack, Onyx, and Wu (solo or group). Everyone had to have those. If you really cared about lyricism, you were listening intently to Illmatic when you were at home, or in the car alone.
