It Was Written
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It Was Written was the multi-platinum second album by Queensbridge rapper Nas. Primarily produced by Poke and Tone of Trackmasters Entertainment, It Was Written was a departure from the underground-styled Illmatic towards a more commercial fare.
Overview
Instead of the street aesthetics and charismatic narratives that were featured on Illmatic, Nas experimented with a theatrical Mafioso concept under the Wu Gambino-inspired alias of "Nas Escobar" (after the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar). Among the album's stand-out songs included "I Gave You Power", a creative song which depicts a narrative from the perspective of a gun. The album also features the singles "If I Ruled the World" (featuring Lauryn Hill of The Fugees) and "Street Dreams" (the remix of which features R. Kelly). The two aforementioned songs were among two of the biggest hits of 1996, promoted by big-budget videos directed by Hype Williams. The album also featured guest appearances from Mobb Deep (who went on to become regular collaborators with Nas), Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey of Jodeci, and the posse cut debut of The Firm, a supergroup which was initially composed of Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Cormega.Upon its release, It Was Written was generally well received by fans, and proved to be Nas’s best commercial success to date, selling in excess of three million copies worldwide. The album peaked at #1 on The Billboard Top 200 on July 20, 1996. Following Illmatic's disappointing sales figures, largely due to extensive bootlegging, It Was Written heralded Nas’s commercial popularity, thus making him a common household name among mainstream music fans. Nas' increased commercial success, together with the stylistic changes that accompanied his music, fostered accusations of "selling out".
Critical reception and controversy
Despite its sales success, It Was Written was criticized as not being on-par with Illmatic, Nas' landmark debut. As a result, the album became subject to much public scrutiny, and was given mixed ratings from columnists whose expectations of a second Illmatic were not met. As such, it is considered a classic example of the infamous "sophomore jinx". Yet in spite of being critically maligned, the album's reputation has recovered quite considerably with the passage of time. In fact, many rap fans, in retrospect, contest it is underrated and overshadowed by Nas' previous release.
Track number seven, Nas is Coming, began a brief collaboration between Nas and West Coast hip hop producer Dr. Dre. The alliance also resulted in the formation of The Firm, who make their debut on track number eight, "Affirmative Action". The paring of the East Coast rapper and the West Coast producer, during the period of the East Coast-West Coast rivalry, brought criticism from both sides. More controversy ensued when, during the recording of The Firm's album, Cormega was fired from the group by Nas' manager, Steve Stoute, and replaced with a young rapper named Nature. Cormega recorded an underground single, "Fuck Nas and Nature", began a rivalry with Nas that has persisted, with brief periods of reconciliation, to the present day. In addition, fellow rapper Tupac Shakur insulted Nas on a song titled "Against All Odds" on his [[Makaveli: The Don Killuminati: 7 Day Theory | Makaveli]] album, accusing Nas of subliminally dissing him on "The Message" (appearing to mock Tupac with the line "Fake thug, no love, you get the slug, CB4 gusto your luck blow..."). It is reported by Tha Outlawz and Snoop Dogg (both close associates of Tupac) that the two rappers ended their brief feud two days prior to Tupac’s fatal shooting.[link]
As result of his death, Tupac would not have the opportunity to remove "Against All Odds" from his album. Ironically, according to Young Noble (another associate of Tupac), "I Gave You Power" served as an inspiration for Tupac’s "Me and My Girlfriend" [link], a song which emphasizes a similar concept of gunplay, and even appears on the same album as "Against All Odds".
Track listing
- "Album Intro"
- "The Message" (Produced by Trackmasters)
- "Street Dreams" (Produced by Trackmasters)
- "I Gave You Power" (Produced by DJ Premier)
- "Watch Dem Niggas" (Produced by Trackmasters)
- "Take It in Blood" (Produced by Live Squad)
- "Nas Is Coming" (Featuring Dr. Dre) (Produced by Dr. Dre)
- "Affirmative Action" (featuring The Firm: Foxy Brown, AZ & Cormega) (Produced by Dave Atkinson)
- "The Set Up" (Produced by Havoc)
- "Black Girl Lost" (featuring Jo-Jo Hailey of Jodeci) (Produced by L.E.S.)
- "Suspect" (Produced by L.E.S.)
- "Shootouts" (Produced by Trackmasters)
- "Live Nigga Rap" (featuring Mobb Deep) (Produced by Havoc)
- "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" (featuring Lauryn Hill of The Fugees) (Produced by Trackmasters)
- *Samples elements of "Friends" by Whodini and "If I Ruled The World" by Kurtis Blow
Charting singles
Billboard (North America)1996 Street Dreams Hot Rap Singles No. 1 1996 Street Dreams Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 18 1996 If I Ruled The World The Billboard Hot 100 No. 53 1996 If I Ruled The World Hot Rap Singles No. 15 1996 If I Ruled The World Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 17 1997 Street Dreams The Billboard Hot 100 No. 22 1997 Street Dreams Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 18
External links
Lyrics links
- [from The Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive (OHHLA)] - includes most other Nas lyrics, including remixes and cameos, as well as lyrics of many other rappers.
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