The Illmatic impact in Hip Hop 28 years later
N
as’ Illmatic set the gold standard of what a real Hip Hop album is and how’s constructed. It gave the rise of the idea of albums consisting of multiple producers instead of the one producer format that was the standard prior to Illmatic. Illmatic was a game changer that forever transformed the landscape of Hip Hop especially on the East Coast. It raised the standard of production, lyrical style, content, technique and overall artist/MCs ambitious to be the best lyrically instead of street legend/hustler. Never in the history of Hip Hop has an album and MC been so unanimously praised and revered like Nas and Illmatic.
By Mikael Shimshon
Rap geopolitics underwent a major shift after Illmatic. The album electrified Queensbridge hip-hop and, therefore, all of East Coast hip hop. Starting with AZ’s sublime guest spot on “Life’s A Bitch,” rappers like Mobb Deep, Tragedy Khadafi, Nature, Cormega, Noreaga, Capone, Raekwon, Ghostface, and even the Windy City wordsmith Common seemed to find new inspiration in Nas’ self awareness, internal rhyme schemes, and mastery of street detail. Rappers had to step it up—think of Ghost on “Verbal Intercourse”—and the consequence was a rise in East Coast rap’s in-depth self-conscious realism.
In rap lyrics in 1994, mentioning legendary real-life criminals by name was uncommon. Hip-hop hardly ever discussed the real-life folks that lived in the streets, aside from the West Coast’s penchant for banging on vinyl. However, Nas kicked off something when he made references to legitimate street monarchs like the Supreme Team, Alpo, and Pappy Mason on “Memory Lane” and “The World Is Yours,” respectively. The recording and promotion of real-life street legends and their biographies began with the release of that song. Following were films like Paid In Full and American Gangster as well as periodicals like FEDS and Don Diva. Rick Ross came close to turning it into a career.
