How A Cassette Rough Of Illmatic Led To A 5 Mic Review In the Source

[@pSmurf954]

IllMatic is the standard.

[@erick.roberts9074]

I remember the feature *and* the review, Quest. Still got the issue!

[@BowersLA]

I see what Quest is saying. Dead, Whut Thee Album, Chronic, Illadelph and many more that got 4 1/2 were actual classics and stand more as one than some that got 5.

[@lovememoremeticulous4378]

The album definitely was the Holy grail. Illmatic was beyond comprehension, we couldn’t believe a 19 Year old kid was saying what he was saying.

[@vegadon4112]

To be fair the album came out when he was 19 but writing it he was 17 let that sink in.

[@JACE_75]

Memories.👏🏾

[@Solsurvz92]

To truly appreciate what a game changer Illmatic was, you have to put yourself in a virtual time machine back to what hip hop was in the year or two prior to Illmatic. On the mainstream side Dre, Snoop and company were dominant but the attraction was more the beats and their individual personalities than the actual lyrics. NY hip hop was more gimmick orientated with rappers flipping words and styles (the iggedy trend that Das created), yelling over sped up beats (Onyx and Run DMC) or straight-ahead boom bap such as early DITC, The Hit Squad, Gang Starr ect. Nas was so much more than this. He rhymed like a college professor from the projects, his wordplay level far beyond your average MC of the day. Clean vocals, laid back yet hungry delivery. And he literally had the best beats from the producers of Main Source, Gang Starr, Pete Rock & CL Smooth and A Tribe Called Quest. That sounds insane when you think about it those terms. We were used to one producer or team per album. This literally changed how hip hop albums were made. If Paid In Full is The Old Testament, Illmatic is The New Testament of hip hop.

[@dawb86]

It’s not that you missed a detail, I just wish people would more often emphasize it when speaking on ‘Illmatic.’ Chris Rock said years ago now that rappers don’t have to dumb down the lyrics, they just have to have ignorant (banging, super dope) beats. Nas married the first person street-level narratives of a G Rap to the sophisticated jazz rap production styles of those producers that you named that were usually reserved for the “alternative/conscious” emcees prior to that project. It’s the same blueprint (no pun intended) Jay used ironically on ‘The Blueprint’ and we still hear descendants of the approach with artists like Freddie Gibbs and his works with Madlib.

[@milicevicgospodin]

​@@dawb86No just for Jay Z. Illmatic was the first modern rap album. It set a precedent for future rap albums, in some ways until this day. Before Illmatic, you usually one to three guy produce your album. This was the first time someone went out and handpicked the best producers in the game (well, at least best east coast producers), have them crate beats, and still keep a cohesive sound. Biggie's went a level up by having mainstream hits white America listened to. Jay Z took it nationally by working with producers from east, west, and south. We can get into an entire conversation about the evolution of the rap solo album. But yeah, Illmatic is an unbelievable milestone... And the album sounds amazing to this day.

[@kincamell2]

Gratitude. Was Life's Like a Dice Game on that version of Illmatic ? I love that Bronx Subway Theme from Wildstyle. My Top 5 Alive ; Nas, Black Thought, Common, Andre 3K and Lupe. Innervisions is my favorite Stevie album.

[@veegob5287]

This is incredible

[@frankmastromauro5630]

Great story

[@marcoliver484]

I never get over how good the drums sound on the intro lol I just want one Questo and alchemist collab lol One scary joint the rest jazz lol

[@LifeofHanzo]

I'm so glad I still have the 1st draft of Illmatic. I converted it to digital. I did the same with Noreaga's mixtape leading into N.O.R.E.

[@ehunt]

No sir my caucasian brother the hip hop quotables and the ratings are what mattered 💯

[@ammbaataa]

Aye man 🤯

[@ScottThrill]

It was fun to look at the 🎤 reviews but this is the same magazine that gave 93 til Infinity and Resurrection 3.5 mics lol.

[@leavethewatandleavethewho]

Them albums was not 5 mic worthy. Maybe a 4

[@oseiosei6649]

93 till Infinity, yes the single is a definitely a classic hip hop song, but the album itself is a 4, 4.5 at best. Same with Resurrection-4, 4.5 at best.

[@Cevensities]

Classis songs came out of those albums but neither were worthy of more than 4 mics. And this coming from a person who was at the record store every Tuesday when albums would drop back in the day. The only instances where I think the source ever truly fucked up was OB4CL & The Infamous. Both those were definitely fives imo...

[@KV9599]

This is hindsight saying this because I don’t remember people being upset at these ratings when these albums first dropped. There was heat dropping damn near every week during these years

[@FrancisPope-l8c]

93 till is definitely a five mic, no question but i can't say the same four Resurrection. Great album but not a classic.

[@RobertSaxy]

5:00 or like that movie Adam Sandler was in, Spanglish I think, eye he was a chef and in the beginning he was trying to get a 3 1/2 review for similar reasons

[@ChazBrown22]

People cared about the ratings and the “fat tape”.

[@WawaMarvel]

Well I’ll say this, Nas best album is the life is good album. It truly is his best album start to finish. No it doesn’t mean I don’t like his other albums or anything ridiculous. If I’m ranking all his albums as if they came out today, the life is good album is the best. The track order, the balance, production, lyrics, flows, topics. It was superior

[@thedarksideoftheforce6658]

No Nas Illmatic is his best album!

[@tedvandross1984]

LOL

[@ChazBrown22]

Wrong broski.

[@darrickmeek5531]

I don't think it's his best album but one of his better albums (and maybe most underrated)

[@life4ers]

I agree, that album is excellent!

[@jealouscloud2386]

One Time for Your Mind still stinks

[@Cevensities]

Your opinion stinks.... Aint nothing on that album even remotely wack, FOH!