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Image via Boi-1da.com.

Image via Boi-1da.com.

Defining a Classic: 'Illmatic' at 25 (Podcast)

May 20, 2019

“Who did you make [‘Illmatic’] for?

Image via Pinterest.

Image via Pinterest.

Nas: ‘My surroundings. The hip-hop community, also, and to be Number 1 — the Number 1 MC, the Number 1 rapper. Most of us are out to be the best. So that meant I made it for other rappers, I made it for other MCs, I made it for other hip-hop groups. I made it for artists, singers, people in the arts — that's who I made it for. But it comes from the street, so my surroundings wrote that album. I made it for them. It's the theme — it's the theme songs for my surroundings when I made that album, right. These albums was all written and produced by the streets, in a large sense.’”

(NPR Interview, 2014)

25 years ago, in 1994, Nas, together with some of the greatest producers in hip hop, made his debut album, ‘Illmatic’.

Nas painted a lyrical picture of life for a young man in the Queens Bridge over the very best of “boom-bap” instrumentation, producing a piece of poetic depth that stands the test of time.

In the fourth episode of our podcast series with Zero Point Fiction, we explore the qualities that make this album a classic and reflect on its legacy and continued relevance. Listen to the episode iTunes and Spotify, or stream it.

- JG

Related: Writers Reflect on Illmatic at 25 (TIDAL)

Image via Nowness.

Image via Nowness.

In HPT Tags nas, hip hop, illmatic
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