0156. Nas
Illmatic
Whose world is this?
This album helped change the scene for hiphop, getting attention to the gritty East Coast again.
The real revolution of the album is the matter-of-fact lyrics describing life in the projects, not giving any shine to the criminality, but instead instilling a sense of the pressures of an underpriviliged community.
A downside of the album is that it mostly follows the hip hop standard: a couple of represent-tracks (the most obvious is the battle raps of Represent), at couple reminiscing 'bout backinnaday (Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)) and a couple about life on the block (Life's A Bitch).
The pivotal track here (at least for me) is The World Is Yours, with it's jazzy beat and great hook, which became an instant classic.
Couple it with a delivery that was rare, if not unique, for its time and this is a damn good debut, but I'm not really sure it's as epic as it's made out to be. But then again: Whose world is this? The world is yours...
