WORD: LIFE Spotlight | Minya Oh on her five mic review of Nas's ILLMATIC

American radio personality, podcaster and journalist, Minya Oh discusses her five mic review of Nas's album ILLMATIC. The Source magazine reviewed and rated rap albums stringently and awarded up to five Mics, its equivalent to stars. In 1994, when the magazine published its review of Illmatic, The Source had given out only six 5 Mic ratings in its six-year history - the last one had been more than two years previous and gone to The Low End Theory. A 5 Mic review meant that you had made a classic album. The Source's 5 Mic review of Illmatic was written by Minya Oh under her pen name, Shortie.
Sample credit:
Frannie Kelly, Minya Oh: 'I Was Never Gonna Not Want To Listen To This' (Podcast: The Record/NPR, 2023)
www.npr.org/sections/therecor...

[@RamonAcosta191]

Ice Cube said to NaS on his 'The Bridge' podcast, "Back then we were doing our penmanship, then you came and put it in Cursive". Highest compliments from 1 of Hip-Hop Greats! Illmatic is like New Testament to Catholics. It is like BC & AD, before Illmatic and after Illmatic! Facts!

[@jkbzz]

RZA said Nas was like Bobby Fischer. i fully agree. he understood everything alot of dudes were trying to get on, at a very early age and captured it on Illmatic and It was written, two of Hip Hop's Top 50 albums of all time, Illmatic is certainly a Top 5-10 all time (its #1 for me) and It was written is certainly Top 30-50.

[@Cevensities]

​@@jkbzz I'd argue IWW is top 20. The only reason IWW wasn't given the 5 mics it justly deserved is soley because it followed Illmatic imo. It's a classic in it's own right. It's ONLY flaw is it followed arguably the greatest hip hop album of all-time in discography. So it could never be judged honestly.

[@jkbzz]

@@Cevensities in all honesty, i would not fault that argument. i could easily put IWW in my Top 20 but people would be wildin out. i think the only two artists that frequently get two of their works in Top 20 are Dr Dre and A Tribe called Quest.

[@jkbzz]

@@Cevensities realistically IWW might be a 21-30 album but you can make the argument for it to be rated higher, i would not dispute.

[@user-we1mn7xc1m]

Dope interview! The single Nas had was “halftime” and it was on the zebra head soundtrack.

[@erick.roberts9074]

Ms. Oh, I hope you see this. Not only did “Illmatic” change my life, so did your review! I was fifteen, and took the issue with me on a family spring break road trip that March. My family all remembers me talking about the article and your review all the way from Ft. Worth to Big Bend National Park in west Texas. I still have the magazine!

[@erick.roberts9074]

And somehow the album surpassed my expectations!

[@Shysta30]

The undisputed 🐐 Nasir Jones.

[@RamonAcosta191]

"Biggie's Ready to Die album came out several months after Illmatic, and Biggie was crowned king of New York in the popular culture of Hip Hop heads, Ready to Die unfairly over-shadowed Illmatic, which is truly a classic album. Though they were quite distinct artists, they innovated in analogous ways. Biggie merged language that was high and low, vernacular and vocabulary words, in a way that sounded natural. He did this with a sophisticated understanding of the patterns of black language. When a different or unusual word or phrase could be introduced while still maintaining the aesthetics of black language, he inserted it. NaS, in contrast, merged concepts that were high and low, vernacular and metaphysical, in a manner that was whole rather than pieced together, thus presenting a complex that is unusual in any music outside of jazz. What Biggie started to do with language in 1994, NaS had already begun to do with ideas on Illmatic. He carries us through the "Righteous steps" of the cosmic, oceanic, and literal dimensions of his person. He transcends." - Imany Perry (Born To Use Mics)

[@jkbzz]

and Biggie himself acknowledged Nas in the 95 Source Awards as the best lyricist.

[@RamonAcosta191]

@@jkbzz Yes! This happened, but some haters want to rewrite history. 👍🏾