During the early 90’s, hip hop was undergoing a civil war of East vs. West. Some of the greatest music producers to ever touch a drum machine were putting out some of the hottest albums that this world will ever see.

By the end of ‘93 Mobb Deep’s Juvenile Hell introduced the East Coast sound to mainstream music, Dr. Dre released the West Coast masterpiece The Chronic, RZA dropped the grindhouse driven Enter the Wu Tang (36 Chambers) and Snoop Dogg had presented his beloved debut showpiece Doggystyle.

It wasn’t until 1994, however, when the answer became clear as to who ruled hip hop: Nas did.

As a young teen from Queensbridge, New York, Nas began his lyrical journey of success after having a verse featured on the track “Live at the Barbecue” on Main Source’s album Breaking Atoms. This hit made big music names all over New York City take interest in the type of MC Nas was. Producers wanted to record with him and labels wanted to sign him.

Nas knew the opportunities he had, and his wits led him to seize them all.

Taking up the beat offers he received from names like DJ Premier, Large Professor, Q-Tip, and Pete Rock, Nas was able to encapture his ultimate musical vision in the debut culinary masterpiece Illmatic. Nas wanted to make sure New York was represented in this disc, as displayed through the album’s revolutionary sound that changes hip hop culture.

Illmatic took jazz samples, drum loops, and violent lyrics to a completely different level. Masterminds like DJ Premier and Pete Rock relied on obscure jazz and r&b samples to accompany the gritty and off centered “boom-bap” sound from a distorted snare and kick drum.

Everyday life in Queens is depicted vividly through Nas’ creative direction, whether it be in the instrumental mood collage of the opener “The Genesis” or the underground gangster tone of “New York State of Mind.”

In mainstream hip hop, rhymes such as “Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined
I think of crime when I’m in a New York state of mind” had never been in the norm. To many, what Nas was doing was a huge leap of faith, representing the true New York by naming off its ugly truths and glorifying its deepest faults, and producers like DJ Premier and Pete Rock showed the world of hip hop the magic of beatmaking through heavy sampling.

The attitude that Nas had heading into recording Illmatic forever rocks the world of modern day rap musicians. Recent rennaisances of “hardcore hip hop” is resurfacing, paying tribute to the choppy and stabbing flow of Nas and the reverberated B-side record samples of the producers he collaborated with. The sound Illmatic made paved the way for artists like Kanye West, MF DOOM, Playboi Carti, and more who have all cited Nas’ music as an inspiration.

Without Nas, hip hop would have died before the 2000s came, but with a new style of rhyming and revolutionary drum machine tech, the hip hop genre has been able to flourish since. None of this wouldn’t have been brought to fruition if it weren’t for some kids from Queen who took a risky leap into the music industry.