It Was Written

About

While Nas’ 1994 classic <i>Illmatic</i> is often hailed as the golden standard for hip-hop debut, there’s a dedicated sect of his fanbase that prefers his chart-topping follow-up, <i>It Was Written</i>. Nas’ early work had established him as a prodigious street poet with uncanny observational gift. But Nas was after more than critical acclaim; he wanted superstardom, plaque, and respect. And on <i>It Was Written</i>, released in 1996, he makes a good case for why he’s worthy of them all: “There’s one life, one love, so there can only be one king,” he raps on “The Message.” This is the album in which the rapper adopted the persona of “Nas Escobar”—a mafioso alter ego inspired by drug lord, as well as rap contemporaries like Notorious B.I.G. and the Wu-Tang Clan’s Raekwon. The imaginative approach took his career to new artistic and commercial height. <i>It Was Written</i> is a gangsta flick over speaker, with Nas serving as both Coppola <i>and</i> Brando—he sets the scene as director, and takes on the star role. “The Message” has him scoping enemies and bedding baddies in a Mercedes-Benz wagon; “Watch Dem N****s” questions his crew with suspicions of betrayal; and “Shootouts” narrates a plot to take out a trigger-happy police officer. The storytelling on <i>It Was Written</i> is stark, cinematic, and full of details: No-name extras are rendered as vividly as the album’s main character, down to their clothe, hair, and facial expression. Musically, Nas’ flow becomes more spaciou, eschewing his multi-syllabic delivery for one that’s light and effortle. And to soundtrack his new approach, he enlisted the Trackmaster, the production team that had already made crossover hits like Notorious B.I.G.’s “Juicy” and Mary J. Blige’s “Be Happy.” The duo supplied Nas with silky smooth beats that veered left of the boom-bap foundation he had laid on <i>Illmatic</i>, helping Nas find the largest audience he’d ever seen. .

via Apple Music

The Clerk says

Start your shelf to read the full take →