It was Written a classic?

[jaimie.uk fan]

Take your 2Pac groupie ass out of this thread then. Heh.

but i wanna be a nas groupie and join the other three of you

 

[cm_millionaire]

10 years after the album reflecting on it, I believe It Was Written is Nas's second classic LP. The follow up to Illmatic had alot of hype to live up to, and although at the time it didn't for most people...alot of people couldnt understand Nas's new innovative style.

1. It had no hype to live up to. The majority of hip hop heads at the time didn't know who NaS was. Illmatic didn't even go gold.

2. How exactly was Nas' style "new" or "innovative"? He took in essence what Jay Z, BIG and particularly 2Pac were doing at the time and put his own stamp on it. That's hardly what I'd call "innovative".

In truth, It was Written was written before its time. This album along with Only Built for Cuban Links ushered in the costra-nostra era hiphop which wannabe "gangster", not "gangsta" rappers are still imitating 10 years after it was created.

Bullshit. The genre of ganster music was pioneered over ten years before this but a little band called the NWA. As I have already said, Nas only took what BIG and Pac had been doing because he knew it was more profitable. Shit, Mobb Deep and Pun had been on this tip for years before.

Another Illmatic could not be reproduced..it was a different time, but wouldnt another illmatic have been redundant, after all dont we want an artist to innovate?

Innovation. A word you seem to hold in high regard is not the only criteria for a classic album. There have been many albums I'd consider to be classics that havent "changed the game" so to speak. Thus it all depends on your definition of a classic which has widespread differences for every individual.

The Message, If I ruled the world, Street Dreams, I gave you power, little black girl lost, and of course one of my all time fav hiphop songs ever Affirmative Action.

1. The Message was the album's strongest song by far. Can't really knock that track.
2. If I Ruled The World served it's purpose but I can't say it's awe inspiring or very original. Pac had been using this formula and for that matter doing it ten times better for three years before when this was made.
3. I Gave You Power is an ok track. The beat is melophonic and NaS' flow is weak.
4. Black Girl Lost - Average.
5. Affirmative Action - Hot beat. Wack Lyrics. Wack collection of rappers. The Firm was never a good idea and it's a shame this didn't stay on the ill fated soundtrack instead of making it onto this album.

This album is fuckin amazing and nas took some heat for it not being illmatic, but a decade later we see the effect it truly had while other artists still emulate the persona nas created in It Was Written.
Your thoughts?

No one emulates anything from this album. Shit, NaS hated that persona so much he dropped it himself and that in the aftermath of 2 million odd sales. That speaks volumes. What your hearing your misinterpreting because you obviously don't know your hip hop history. If you did, you would see It Was Written was released well after it's time because NaS knew if he stayed on the Illmatic tip he would never sell. It served it's purpose for crossover appeal but commending the album with anymore than that is just foolish.

In lamens terms, NaS looked at Big, Pac and Jay Z and said "Let's make a persona out of that."

 

[CoolWaterz]

1. It had no hype to live up to. The majority of hip hop heads at the time didn't know who NaS was. Illmatic didn't even go gold.

2. How exactly was Nas' style "new" or "innovative"? He took in essence what Jay Z, BIG and particularly 2Pac were doing at the time and put his own stamp on it. That's hardly what I'd call "innovative".

Wow man...your kinda in the dark here....BIG was on some player/depressed-struggle tip for his first album Ready to Die. 2pac was uhhh not on anything being that he had just made Me AGainst the World which was a totally self introspective album and the dropped All Eyez on me which is a completely different styled album than It Was Written with the exception for the Street Dreams beat..yet the two songs were completely different in concept... Jay Z didnt have shit because Jay Z copied Nas's style.

Bullshit. The genre of ganster music was pioneered over ten years before this but a little band called the NWA. As I have already said, Nas only took what BIG and Pac had been doing because he knew it was more profitable. Shit, Mobb Deep and Pun had been on this tip for years before.

dude you think i dont know my history? Im not talking about GANGSTA rap...and what the fuck are you talking about with Big Pun? The man came out in 98....Hes nowhere in this picture....Im not talking about GANGSTA RAP im talking about GANGSTER rap...the type where blacks went around talking about their mafia ties. This type of genre orginated out of Nas's "Nas Escobar" persona along with Ghostfaces "Tony Starks" and Raekwon on Only Built for Cuban Links. It ushered in the era of "gangster-mafioso" style.

No one emulates anything from this album. Shit, NaS hated that persona so much he dropped it himself and that in the aftermath of 2 million odd sales. That speaks volumes. What your hearing your misinterpreting because you obviously don't know your hip hop history. If you did, you would see It Was Written was released well after it's time because NaS knew if he stayed on the Illmatic tip he would never sell. It served it's purpose for crossover appeal but commending the album with anymore than that is just foolish.

Nas dropped the persona because of all the negativity that was created through it... Nas wanted to go back to his roots especially because of the fact that hiphop became saturated with the imagery that he and only built for cuban links created. Jay Z followed this, every other album followed the formula of talking about fake mafia ties.....The standard was set by these 2 albums and I will argue that any day of the week.

In lamens terms, NaS looked at Big, Pac and Jay Z and said "Let's make a persona out of that."

lol Nas was around before Big made it who made a persona out of being an ugly mans player, a rapper don...Jay Z completely emulated Nas...and 2pac had his thug life image so what the fuck are you talking about man...im no fool please dont try to throw me into a class of uneducated uninformed drones.

 

[CoolWaterz]

" it was written - hay nas your whole dam style is bitten "
against all odds - makaveli .
says it all

Ya man "says it all" why dont you explain to me what exactly it says you fuckin fool. Be your own man loser...i bet you have no idea who 2pac said he was biting either do you?

 

[CoolWaterz]

Ever wonder if 2pac took the concept of Me and My Girlfriend from Nas's narraritive speaking through the view of a gun on I gave you Power? hmmmmmmmmm..If it was flipped you would argue it...

 

[Bornstruggler]

I love illmatic. I used to hate nas but then my homie started to listen to nas and so I got into nas. Nas is one of the best out there!! Pac is still my favourite but Nas is great also!!! I love illmatic!! Sorry if I talk a little bit confused?!!?! Im drunk and just expressing my feelings!!

 

[Frank Grimes]

that was the worst thing about it.

true

 

[makaveli_411]

To be honest with you guys, I never listenede to the album even though I listened to some of the tracks on that and they were sick. I'll probably get to listen to it by next week though.

Peace

 

[cm_millionaire]

Wow man...your kinda in the dark here....BIG was on some player/depressed-struggle tip for his first album Ready to Die. 2pac was uhhh not on anything being that he had just made Me AGainst the World which was a totally self introspective album and the dropped All Eyez on me which is a completely different styled album than It Was Written with the exception for the Street Dreams beat..yet the two songs were completely different in concept... Jay Z didnt have shit because Jay Z copied Nas's style.

dude you think i dont know my history? Im not talking about GANGSTA rap...and what the fuck are you talking about with Big Pun? The man came out in 98....Hes nowhere in this picture....Im not talking about GANGSTA RAP im talking about GANGSTER rap...the type where blacks went around talking about their mafia ties. This type of genre orginated out of Nas's "Nas Escobar" persona along with Ghostfaces "Tony Starks" and Raekwon on Only Built for Cuban Links. It ushered in the era of "gangster-mafioso" style.

dude you think i dont know my history? Im not talking about GANGSTA rap...and what the fuck are you talking about with Big Pun? The man came out in 98....Hes nowhere in this picture....Im not talking about GANGSTA RAP im talking about GANGSTER rap...the type where blacks went around talking about their mafia ties. This type of genre orginated out of Nas's "Nas Escobar" persona along with Ghostfaces "Tony Starks" and Raekwon on Only Built for Cuban Links. It ushered in the era of "gangster-mafioso" style.




Nas dropped the persona because of all the negativity that was created through it... Nas wanted to go back to his roots especially because of the fact that hiphop became saturated with the imagery that he and only built for cuban links created. Jay Z followed this, every other album followed the formula of talking about fake mafia ties.....The standard was set by these 2 albums and I will argue that any day of the week.


lol Nas was around before Big made it who made a persona out of being an ugly mans player, a rapper don...Jay Z completely emulated Nas...and 2pac had his thug life image so what the fuck are you talking about man...im no fool please dont try to throw me into a class of uneducated uninformed drones.

First of all let me address the spectacular wrongful perception you have of "Ready To Die". On that album, BIG Displayed both a flair for costa nostra storytelling (which incidentally NaS didn't possess and never fully managed to encapsulate as well) and a mesmerizing vocal tone that was memorable then and legendary now. Ready To Die is one of the most enduring and classic hardcore hip-hop albums of the genres entire history and it's tone cannot be summed up as being "player, depressed struggle" because those statements are for one all conflicting and secondly, the album is much more diverse than you give it credit for. This masterpiece influinced Nas so much he went and recruited the then unheard of Jean 'Poke' Oliver (TrakMasterz) to produce the majority of "It Was Written" along with the collaborative duo Norman & Digga who also handled the majority of production on "Ready To Die". Why did he do this? Because BIG sold lots of records with his debut LP and NaS with his own team of super producers on Illmatic sold next to nothing. Much of the album contains brutally honest portrayals of the "survival by any means" ethic which includes armed robbery and murder at gunpoint, themes which are perpetually replicated throughout "It Was Written" but were rarely present in the more unstrained, non cinematic "Illmatic".

"Warning" created the blueprint for much of "It Was Written"- NaS even admitted he was influinced and inspired by this track after BIG's passing. On the track BIG weaves an intricate plot of jealous rivals who want to rob him for his wealth after being "warned" by a close friend who overheard their plan at a dice game. As Biggie breaks down his planned response to the jack attempt. Sound familiar? it should do...he counsels the listeners throughout the album with words of wisdom about fame and money. NaS never even touched upon this in "Illmatic".

At time "It Was Written" dropped 2Pac was the hottest rapper on the planet. All Eyez On Me had come out five months before and was one of the fastest selling rap albums of all time. The emotive thug persona / MOB Gangster persona weaved by 2Pac changed NaS completely. He went from being an intellectual poet to a mobster within the space of two years and dropped at a time when everyone from Mobb Deep (his own homeboys) to the lesser known Made Clique were rocking the same steez...Nas introduced Mafia style Gangsterism to rap? please...cats had that locked since 1993, just listen to "Two Deuce" or "NYMB" to see that. Even then, NaS didn't touch upon it because it wasn't a proven record selling formula. He wanted to jump on the West Coast bandwagon, so what does he do? turns his back on his NY poet portrayal and starts talking about "Hennesey" and "Vegas"? sound familiar? Lesane Parish Crooks had already done it. "All Eyez On Me" was more mafisio than "It Was Written" can ever dream of being because whilst not in my opinion a superior album, it's realer because 2Pac wasn't playing an image.

"Me Against The World" influinced "If I Ruled The World" and "Black Girl Lost". That facts is unarguable. Where was this woman loving socially concious NaS before 2Pac's introspective ghetto anthems? He switched his style to sell.

And with regard to Jay Z, I didn't want to embarrass you but "Reasonable Doubt" dropped a whole month before "It Was Written" and although it was his first full-length LP he'd already made a name for himself with guest appearances on remixes for everyone from DJ Clue to Supercat. The buzz surrounding his release was about ten times bigger than NaS', why? because everyone was talking about his unique style and crazy flow? so tell me exactly how Jay Z copied Nas' style when his album dropped a month before "It Was Written"? Over the course of Jigga's career he has been a better selling rapper than NaS and unlike NaS has stuck to one persona.

GangSTER is a natural extension of GANGSTA. The mainstream bandwagon started in 1993 with the Chronic and you've seen different spectrums of it since then. It's nothing new. It's not even something I feel the culture should hold in high regard, NaS current persona is much truer to himself than the one he cultivated from every other mainstream artist back in 96'. Why should we elevate those who replicate a European culture in the face of the roots hip hop were built on anyway? So even if "It Was Written" introduced gangsterism to hip hop which as I've proved in the last few paragraphs it didn't, that element alone wouldn't make it any better of an album because primarily:

1. He used WackMasterz, oops I mean TrackMasterz, to produce his LP.
2. Considering he used to rhyme with Large Professor, Akinyele and Fatal, collaborating with Foxxy Brown and AZ is a big slide downhill.
3. Every concept on the album had already been done.
4. He couldn't even use orginal sounding beats to permeate his intended pop culture. Ie - Eurythmics and Kurtis Blow. And don't insult my intelligence, I know samples are hard and heavy in the genre but this is blatent pillage for a quick buck.

hell NaS even jacked his use multi syllabisms on the album from Del’s “No Need for Alarm” December 1994 release. Can the album be any less original or creative?

TIP: If you don't want to be thrown into a class of uneducated uninformed drones learn to punctuate, articulate, spell and debate intelligenty without constantly repeating yourself. Your diatribe was tedious enough but I thought you could have made at least some valid points. Shit, I could argue your arguement better than you and I can see all it's shortcomings.

 

[cm_millionaire]

Ever wonder if 2pac took the concept of Me and My Girlfriend from Nas's narraritive speaking through the view of a gun on I gave you Power? hmmmmmmmmm..If it was flipped you would argue it...

"I Gave You Power", steals a concept by Organized Konfusion. Get your facts right dunny.

 

[jeffm8j]

classic...well classic maybe not, but i believe "it was written" was a very solid cd, and I agree, definetely nas' best since illmatic. It was also my first Nas cd, and it inspired me to get the rest, so it reminds me of the era. But at the same time, this cd came out when Pac and Biggie were hot, so, imo it was a hard time to sell a cd with all the competetion.

 

[cm_millionaire]

classic...well classic maybe not, but i believe "it was written" was a very solid cd, and I agree, definetely nas' best since illmatic. It was also my first Nas cd, and it inspired me to get the rest, so it reminds me of the era. But at the same time, this cd came out when Pac and Biggie were hot, so, imo it was a hard time to sell a cd with all the competetion.

Exactly.
Nas has had two classic albums.
Illmatic and Lost Tapes.

 

[Frank Grimes]

It was also my first Nas cd, and it inspired me to get the rest, so it reminds me of the era..

:thumb: . me too. i loved it. still do

 

[freekygeeky]

hell nah! i neva liked nas n neva will, hes a tupac biter hard. rite in the beginning of the song mariah carey ft. nas & joe - make it last (thank god i found you) he calls himself 'killuminati' mc n 'nas the don'..? cmon man.. hu is he tryna fool?

edit; actually i used to like him faw his song i can lol, den all respect lost afta hearing make it last.