Sunday, October 5, 2014

Illmatic v. Ready to Die



I started this blog three years ago while I was waiting on my bar examination results (I had to do something to keep my mind from wandering).  At that time, I had no idea The Gentleman’s Report would become a regular part of my life.  I would like to take this time to thank everyone who has supported the blog over the years.  I could not maintain this blog without friends, family, strangers, and other people who say things that inspire me to write.  This week, my boy, CTO, mentioned a topic to me that we both thought would make a great blog post.  He asked me, “which album is more influential: Illmatic or Ready to Die?”  I said, “that is a dope topic,” but I thought, “I sure as hell do not have an answer.”  I mean seriously, how can you decide between the two albums?     

Illmatic: Most Influential Hip Hop Album Since 1994?
Written by: CTO

Illmatic is the most influential Hip Hop Album in the last twenty years. Nasir Jones’ lyrical masterpiece officially came out on April 19, 1994 and once it arrived in stores, everyone in hip-hop saw the influence Illmatic has had on hip-hop/rap since. Illmatic was and still is a classic hip-hop album that transcends time and still remains relevant in the struggle today, just as it did twenty (20) years ago.

Illmatic is more than just an East Coast rap album: it is an album of daily life in the early 90s. Nas describes his life as a teenager in Queensbridge Housing Projects in a post-Reaganomics New York City. Illmatic is great because of Nas’ wit in portraying his humble beginnings in the (sadly) clandestine struggle of a neglected portion of the black/brown minority struggle in America: A struggle that still openly exists in 2014 in light of Ferguson-Missouri, Trayvon Martin, Sean Bell, Eric Garner, etc.

Illmatic begins with “The Genesis,” which is an informal discussion of the love of rap music by Nas, Jungle and AZ. Their love lives on with or without a record deal or a guarantee of a future. “The Genesis” discusses the love for the art of rap. Despite the record industry and the corporatization of hip-hop; Nas’ desire to tell his story through rap still remains.

“NY State of Mind” is a story of urban life; living in an inner city and trying to make it. It is about living in the hostile rat-race that is NYC and its housing projects. Nas thinks of crime when he is in a New York State of Mind. The term “NY State of Mind” is the dream of a young black man trying to make money in a system that is corrupt and simultaneously stacked against him. Each DJ Premier beat breaks with a stunning reminder of how difficult life can be when one is born into a struggle that can overwhelm them if they are not street smart and savvy to make it out. This song embodies the lives of many of America’s neglected people.

NY State of Mind’s underlying theme of triumph against the systematic odds is a recurring theme of 90s rap and of rap today. This transitions to “Life’s a Bitch” where Nas and AZ recant the realities of life’s struggles and the need to persevere despite obstacles in place. Nas and AZ focus on the here and now because ‘you never know when you’re going to go.’ The morality and immediacy of their lives drives them to live life “to the fullest because tomorrow is not promised”. This theme is easily transferrable to the Shiny Suit/Bad Boy era of hip hop, the current state of “hip-pop” today in which mainstream rappers toast to their constant desire to drive the best cars and buy the best clothes because the future is not guaranteed.

Illmatic immediately lightens the listener’s collective mood when Nas toasts his triumphant rise and instills listeners with a feeling of endless hope and possibilities on “The World Is Yours.” This Pete Rock produced classic has numerous lines and references to current hip-hop including the infamous “I’m out for Dead Presidents to represent me,” line used by Nas and then used by Jay-Z in creating the song “Dead Presidents” on Reasonable Doubt (1996). This sample is brought up again in the Nas-Jay-z rap battle of 2001-02.

“Halftime” is a smooth transition signifying the change in the mood of the album as Nas spits a song that sounds like freestyle more than a written production. Still, Nas works to captivate his audience with herculean lyrics in which he describes his ability to rap/flow on a track is second to none. “Memory Lane” is another DJ Premier track in which Nas tells a story about his upbringing in Queens; Nas reminisces about the world as he knew it in Queensbridge in the 80s. Some issues he tackles still persist today: marijuana use, police brutality, petty thefts, the war on drugs and the flawed justice system and flawed sentencing guidelines for drug trafficking. As Nas forays into his childhood, he explains why he dropped out of high school and how he became a rapper. At 19, Nas was an American success story but he still reminisces about the neighborhood he grew up in.

“One Love” picks up right where “Memory Lane” left off. In 3 verses, Nas writes an open letter to his friends in prison, where he explains the happenings in his hood and his loyalty to his people regardless of circumstance. One Love is an uplifting message to those that may have lost hope; Nas (and Q-Tip) offers peace and is hopeful for the future. The name of the song also pays tribute to Bob Marley’s 1977 “One Love/People Get Ready” which is a musical classic that needs no explanation.  Nas’ “One Love” is a hip hop classic that remains as relevant today as it did twenty years ago.

“One Time 4 Your Mind” is a short song where Nas returns to his top-flight lyrics in a freestyle-like rhyme fest. Nas raps about his daily routine in one verse; in his next verse he raps to the gangsters in the struggle. Both verses serve to show his lyrical excellence, hunger and talent. This song serves as a toast to the basic rap structure that has been lost on hip-hop today. Much of rap today fails to follow a simple rhyme scheme or pattern and often times lacks organizational structure; “One Time 4 Your Mind” is simplistic in beat but gets its point across through lyrical content.

“Represent” returns Illmatic to an up-tempo rap vibe as Nas rips another DJ Premier beat by explaining the fragility of life in the hood and the constant police presence within his projects. Nas diagrams the daily struggle of life in the early 1990s and most of “Represent” serves as an oral glimpse into the life of a man in the projects. It is the story of the ghetto, one’s desire to overcome it and the constant strains that such living places one in. It is a story that often goes untold in America: In “Represent,” Nas tells it in a way that is simple to understand but too complex for most to solve.

Illmatic closes with “It Ain’t Hard To Tell,” which is a neo-soul and jazz-esque sample of Michael Jackson (Human Nature) and Kool and the Gang (N.T). This Large Professor-produced track is the perfect close to an album as it gives Nas a final platform to annotate his rise to hip-hop prominence and inform everyone that he will prevail through song. This song also remains one of Nas’ most sampled songs to date; it has been sampled by greats including Big L, Mobb Deep, Rakim and Kanye.

In the twenty years since its release, Illmatic remains a pillar of hip-hop/rap. Illmatic is still referenced in pop culture as a story of an American experience that went untold. Illmatic is set to be released as a documentary in October 2014 to help others hear the story of trouble and triumph in Queensbridge and how Nas’ story is not just a story that shook the musical world in 1994; but rather, it is a story that remains relevant on how it can change the world today.

Ready to Die is the Most Influential Album of 1994.
Written by: SOM

The Backdrop

Ready to Die is the most influential album released in 1994.  Before I convince you, I need you to close your eyes so you can remember the musical landscape in 1994.  If you were a hip-hop fan back then, chances are you were listening to Dr. Dre’s classic album-The Chronic.  In 1993, the West Coast dominated the hip-hop scene.  Then, in 1994, in one fell swoop, the East Coast made a triumphant resurgence.  That year Nas released Illmatic, Outkast released Southernplayalisticcadillacmuzik and Scarface released The Fix.  On April 19, 1994, Nas released Illmatic and on September 13, 2014, Biggie released Ready to Die. Both albums are classics.  Both albums were deserving of the Source Magazine’s “Five Mic” Award.  But, in the famous words of Connor Macleod from Highlander, “there can only be one!”  Before you read further, please take note that today’s conversation is not about which album is better.  We are talking about influence, folks.  I recognize the close relationship between these two terms.  To illustrate the difference, however, I will provide the following example: Some folks would argue that Allen Iverson “influenced” the sport of basketball more than Kobe Bryant, but most would also say that Kobe Bryant was a “better” player than Iverson. 

1990s

I love the 1990s. The 1990s was a great time to grow up.  The value of the U.S. dollar was still solid; if you had $10.00, you could fill your gas tank with enough gas to ride for two weeks; and flat tops and jheri curls were actually cool!  The 1990s had some of the most influential television shows of any generation.  Do you remember Martin, The Cosby Show, A Different World, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air?  These shows helped reshape the way millions of people viewed many aspects of the African American culture.  These shows made me want to:  attend an HBCU so I could date a woman like Whitley Gilbert; achieve at the highest levels of my profession so I could live in a house like Uncle Phil. These shows certainly encouraged me, but did they influence me as well?  I guess the answer to that question depends on how the term “influence” is defined.

Influence

“Influence” is defined as: “the capacity to have an effect on the character, development, or behavior of something or somebody, or the effect itself.”  Now that we have a definition, how can that definition be applied to help us answer our question? Influential albums include songs that move people in some way.  A person could be moved to dance, or moved to dream, or moved to cry.  “Juicy” moved me.  The beats, rhythms and authenticity of the record moved me.  Biggie rapped about his struggles, which were the same in New York as they were for downtrodden, discouraged people in my hometown of Winston-Salem, North Carolina.  That song influenced me.

Biggie-The Icon

Biggie was an iconic figure.  In certain circles, he was recognized as the best rapper at a time when Nas, Tupac, and many other iconic artists were in their relative primes.  Biggie had a way with words and people wanted to know more about him.  He introduced the world to one of the biggest hip-hop artists of all time—Lil Kim.  Part of Biggie’s influence was tied to his battles—physically and on wax—with Tupac Shakur.  I won’t deny that this relationship helped Biggie become a household name, which certainly contributed to his influence.    

Crossover Appeal

Regardless of whether you are a die-hard hip hop fan, a casual listener, or a valley girl from Orange County, California, you have likely heard Biggie’s song—“Big Poppa. “ This brings me to my next point regarding his influence.  It is rather ironic that a “hardcore” rapper was able to create Ready to Die, which features songs like “Big Poppa” that touch people, from all walks of life.  His music connected with all kinds of people—that is influence.  Nowadays, looking at how many “YouTube hits” an artist has serves as a great barometer for measuring influence.  I decided to conduct a small comparison between songs on Ready to Die and Illmatic.  The results are pretty astounding and lend some objective support to my conclusion that Ready to Die is more influential than Illmatic.  To be fair, I chose two of each artist’s most popular songs from their debut albums.  Nas’ “New York State of Mind” had 11.8 million “hits,” while his song, “The World is Yours,” had 3.1 million hits.  Then, I looked at Biggie’s songs—“Big Poppa” and “Juicy.”  The former had 19 million hits, while the latter had 21 million hits. Biggie’s most popular songs received 40 million “YouTube hits” while Nas’ most popular songs only received 15 million hits.  Again, I am not trying to convince you that Ready to Die is the better album; only that it is more influential.          

Returning to the definition of influence, it is easy to see that Ready to Die influenced people like no other album released in 1994.  Ready to Die effected the character of hip hop music, it solidified that East Coast hip hop was back in a big way, and it helped people from all walks of life give hip hop a chance to thrive as a respected genre of music.  That is quite frankly the definition of influential.


Peace

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