Illmatic

Product Information

Contains sample from "Smilin' Billy Suite Pt. II" as performed by The Heath Brothers and written by J. Heath. Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. One Time For Your Mind" produced for Paul Sea Productions, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, NYC. Hip-hop was a teenager when Illmatic dropped*.* Old enough for biblical foundation, but young enough to be embroiled in an early identity crisis. The Columbia press sheet that accompanies it opens: "While it's sad that there's so much frontin' in the rap world today, this should only make us sit up and pay attention when a rapper comes along who's not about milking the latest trend and running off with the loot."

N.Y. State Of Mind" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. Contains sample from "Mind Rain" as performed and written by J. Chambers. Gifted Pearl/Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music (ASCAP)But Nas uses Illmatic as more than a vehicle to escape. The styles and stories that formed him fuse into something that withstands outdated slang and popular taste: it is a story of a gifted writer born into squalor, trying to claw his way out of the trap. It's somewhere between The Basketball Diaries and Native Son, but Jim Carroll and Richard Wright couldn't rap like Nas. Life's A Bitch" recorded and mixed at Unique Studios and Chung King Studios, NYC. Contains sample from "Yearning For Your Love" as performed by The Gap Band and written by R. Wilson and O. Scott used courtesy Polygram Special Products, Inc. Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP)/Taking Care Of Business Music/Total Experience Music Publishing Co. (BMI) A3: Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music/Taking Care Of Business Music/ Total Experience Music/ODAR Publishing The phrases and images are so deeply rooted in rap consciousness to have become cliché. Over the last 19 years, a million secret handshakes and scratched hooks have been executed to lines from Illmatic: I woke up early on my born day; I sip the Dom P, watching Gandhi 'til I'm charged; you couldn't catch me in the streets without a ton of reefer, that's like Malcolm X catching jungle fever; I'm an addict for sneakers, twenties of Buddha, and bitches with beepers; vocabulary spills, I'm ill; life's a bitch and then you die.

NY State Of Mind" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC. Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP)/Taking Care Of Business Music/Total Experience Music Publishing Co. (BMI) A5 - Produced by The Large Professor for Paul Sea Productions, Inc.. Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, NYC. Contains samples from "Dead End,""Soul Travelin" and "School Boy Crush".A3 - III Will Music, Inc. / Skematics Music / Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP) / Taking Care Of Business Music / Total Experience Music Publishing Co. (BMI) A3 - Recorded and mixed at Unique Sound Studios and Chung King Studios, NYC. Contains sample from "Yearning For Your Love" as performed by The Gap Band and written by R. Wilson and O. Scott used courtesy of Polygram Special Products, Inc. A5 - Large Professor Music Ltd. / EMI April Music Inc. / III Will Music, Inc. / Skematics Music / Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP) B3 - Large Professor Music Ltd. / EMI April Music Inc. / III Will Music, Inc. / Skematics Music (ASCAP)