Search - Nas :: It Was Written (Clean)

While Nas was Nasty, before Esco and Nastradamus

Matt | NJ | 10/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"People lend so much street credibility to the Illmatic CD - which it no doubt deserves. Yet "It Was Written" was an equally impressive album for the time it was released. To me, this is ALMOST as much a classic as Illmatic was.



Starting with "The Message", this album is a journey into the mind of one of the most prolific lyricists hip hop has ever known.

"Street Dreams" samples the same song sampled for countless hip hop tracks (most notably 2Pac for All Eyez On Me). No other has done it so well.

"I Gave You Power" is a DJ Premier track. Classic Primo. An extremely catchy loop used to classic Primo drumwork. Nas tells the story of a gun (from the gun's vantage point), which is an interesting and creative concept that makes for a dope track.

"Affirmative Action", with the original Firm ensemble (with Cormega), is the world's official introduction to the Firm (then Nas, AZ, Foxy and Cormega - which became Nas, AZ, Foxy and Nature). This is a great track from beginning to end, with no weak point. Tight beat, great opening from AZ to Mega Montana straight through to the extended finish by Foxy Brown.



"Take It In Blood", "Shootouts", "If I Ruled The World" and "Silent Murder" (Bonus Track) were all notable additions to the album.



As far as hip hop albums go, this is almost as good as it gets. A solid contribution to the game by Nas. If you love hip hop, you own this album."

One of the most Underrated album ever!!!

Reel Lyfe | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | 01/23/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Even some hardcore Nas fans sleep on how classic this album is. True, Illmatic is, and will always be not just Nas' greatest album, but Hip-Hop's greatest album as well. But with It was Written, Nas displays a creativity that exceeds any other album in the genre. His story-telling is flawless. Many sleep on the stories he tells throughout the album:



-2nd verse-The message, with a timeless quotable: A thug changes, and love changes, and best friends become strangers

-Of course, the brilliant extended metaphor, I Gave You Power rapped from the perspective of a gun. Also notice how the skit at the end of Street Dreams leads straight into it. Brialliant!

-last verse-watch Dem Niggaz-I slept on this story until I listened close enough. "The old timers, advise you to the drama that's ahead drama with the feds, not listnening just bobbing your head. Nas paints pictures with his words.

-The Set Up

-First verse-Suspect, which I believe is the best story he tells on the album. I can imagine a movie scene because he paints the picture so vividly.



That only tells half the story though. (no pun intended) The production is top notch. Nas was laced with beats that match his vocals almost perfectly.



2.The Message-10/10 Great beat and sick lyrics. "1 life, 1 love, 1 king

3.Street Dreams-10/10 Classic beat, with the lyrics to match

4.I gave You Power-10/10 Classic concept song

5.Watch Dem Niggaz-10/10 Slept on classic with mellow beat. "I got no game it's just some b****es understand my story"

6.Take It In Blood-10/10 Another Classic with scratches on the hook, classic beat and Nas kills it.

7.Nas is Coming-9.5/10 Not quite classic only because it seems like filler to me, but hot nontheless. The hook doesn't do it for me, but the beat and Nas' lyrics are correct

8.Affirmative Action-10/10 4 Hot verses from The firm, Nas comes with the best verse, but only because Foxy didn't write her verse.

9.The Set Up-9.5/10 Haoc laces Nas with a nasty beat and kills the hook. Nas lyrics are there like always.

10.Black Girl Lost-10/10 Great message and a great first verse.

11.Suspect-20/10 SLEPT ON!!! CLASSIC!!! HOOK IS FIRE LYRCIS ON ANOTHER LEVEL! BEAT IS PERFECT FOR THE SONG

12.Shootouts-9/10 nice song, great hook and beat but Nas flow and words fall just a little bit.

13.Live Nigga Rap-10/10 Another Classic collabo wit the Mobb. Nas murders Mobb like always but Prodigy came nice.

14.If I Ruled The Wordl-10/10 Timeless Classic, Nas kicks knowledge with great singing from Ms. Lauryn Hill.





"

Lyrically better than illmatic

stark | USA | 06/29/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"From a lyrical standpoint, this album is probably one of the best of all time, superior in that area even to illmatic (although that album probably had better production). It's a pure old school street album though, everyone will not be able to appreciate it. If you see any bad reviews of this album just look at the other things the reviewer has reviewed and see what they actually like; then you will probably understand why they didn't like this. Their either little teenage white chicks that think that jay z is the greatest rapper in the history of the world, or their fans of stuff like southern rap and the Ying Yang twins."