This was, in many regards, the first album of the rest of hip hop's life. It seems right that Nas would make Illmatic at the age when maturity begins to turn boys into men. His brazen ambition has become a road map for every rapper who hopes to reach an artistic peak. By constructing this persona, Nas not only laid out his own career for the next decade plus, but the careers of dozens of other rappers who were able to use their considerable skills to develop similar personas. Nas was playing a role on Illmatic, even if it was himself. The result is a brilliant engagement with and commentary upon one of the most incisive sets of songs ever laid down on wax. Glaude, Jr., and many others to confront Illmatic song by song, with each scholar assessing an individual track from the album. In Born to Use Mics, Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai have brought together renowned writers and critics including Mark Anthony Neal, Marc Lamont Hill, Eddie S. With its close attention to beats and lyricism, and riveting first-person explorations of the isolation and desolation of urban poverty, Illmatic was pivotal in the evolution of the genre. Released in 1994, Illmatic was hailed as an instant masterpiece and has proven one of the most influential albums in hip-hop history. At the age of nineteen, Nasir "Nas” Jones began recording tracks for his debut album-and changed the music world forever.
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