To say Nas fell off from Illmatic when he made It Was Written isn’t an astute analysis regarding the change of sound between the albums at all. The major knock on It Was Written was that it had a more commercially viable sound than Illmatic and it did but I never understood why that was a bad thing. Artists grow and Nas had every right to grow his fan base by changing with the ever expanding hip-hop culture. If you never heard the album and you heard people speak about it, you would think it was an album full of bubble gum pop but the album was hard. Some beats were more radio friendly which in my book is a plus but the message and the lyricism were still there, which is the important thing. The album starts with the epic and classic, “The Message” which is one of the hottest hip-hop tracks ever recorded. I mean just look at the lyrics, “96 ways I made out, Montana way/ The Good-F-E-L-L-A, verbal AK spray/ Dipped attaché, jumped out the Range, empty out the ashtray/ A glass of ‘ze make ya mad Cassius Clay/ Red dot plots, murder schemes, thirty-two shotguns/ Regulate with my duns, 17 rocks gleam from one ring/ Yo let me let y’all niggas know one thing/ There’s one life, one love, so there can only be one king.” And yes that “one king” line was a veiled shot at Biggie. “Street Dreams” is another classic and who could forget the Casino themed video that saw Nas chillin’ with Frank Vincent while rocking the pink suit? The lyrics were on point on this Trackmasters produced track, “My man put me up for the share, one-fourth of a square/ Headed for Delaware, with one change of gear/ Nothin’ on my mind but the dime sack we blazed/ With the glaze in my eye, that we find when we crave/ Dollars and cents, a fugitive with two attempts/ Jakes had no trace of the face, now they drew a print.” “I Gave You Power” is another hot track produced by DJ Premier that sees Nas in top form with hot lines like, “Yo, weeks went by and I’m surprised/ Still stuck in the shelf with all the things that an outlaw hides/ Besides me it’s bullets, two vests and then a nine/ There’s a grenade in a box, and that tech that kept cryin’.” Primo and Nas always make for a good combination. “Take It In Blood”, in my opinion, is one of the greatest songs ever, in any genre. The beat has this mystical feeling that makes you feel like you’re in a crisp New York City night. Nas gets busy on this song and that’s an understatement as he spits, “Yo I never brag, how real I keep it, ‘cause it’s the best secret/ I rock a vest, prestigious, Cuban link flooded Jesus/ In a Lex watchin’ Kathie Lee and Regis/ My actions are one with the seasons/ A Tec squeezin’ executioner, winter time I rock a fur/ Mega popular, center of attraction/ Climaxin’, my bitches they be laughin’/ They high from sniffin’ coke off a twenty-cent Andrew Jackson/ City lights spark a New York night.” We can’t forget “Affirmative Action” which introduced us to The Firm. Over the dramatic, opera sounding beat, AZ, Nas, Cormega, and Foxy all go in hard. This is the track the led to The Firm album, another tragically slept on album but that’s another article. The main attraction as far as record execs were concerned was “If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)” featuring Lauryn Hill and they made a good call. The Trackmasters beat was crazy and Lauryn Hill did her thing on the chorus while Nas rapped, “Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harassin’/ Imagine going to court with no trial/ Lifestyle cruising blue behind my waters/ No welfare supporters more conscious of the way we raise our daughters/ Days are shorter, nights are colder/ Feeling like life is over, these snakes strike like a cobra/ The world’s hot my son got knocked evidently/ It’s elementary, they want us all gone eventually.” The album is rounded out by hot tracks like the Dr. Dre produced and featured “Nas Is Coming”, “The Set Up” produced by and featuring Havoc, “Suspect”, Shootouts”, “Live Nigga Rap” featuring Mobb Deep and produced by Havoc, “Black Girl Lost”, and “Watch Dem Niggas” featuring Foxy Brown. With all that said, It Was Written shows growth on Nas’ part especially coming off another classic like Illmatic and it contains some of the dopest tracks hip-hop has ever heard. It cemented Nas’ place as a legend and is hands down and MMD Certified Classic.
Article By: Jon DaBove
