ILLMATIC!

In the spring of 1994, April 19th to be the exact, hip-hop ushered in a new king to join the ranks of those like Afrika Bambaaataa, Rakim, KRS One, Big Daddy Kane, Run DMC, and so forth. It was on this date that Queensbridge emcee Nas (aka Nasty Nas) dropped his seminal masterpiece Illmatic.

All ten tracks on Illmatic are bangers: laced with classic lyrics over flawless production from such greats as DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip. On "It Aint Hard To Tell", which samples Michael Jackson's "Human Nature", Nas spits:

It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail
The mic is contact that I attract clientele
My mic check is life or death, breathin' a sniper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of Buddha through righteous steps
Deep like The Shinin', sparkle like a diamond
Sneak a uzi on the island in my army jacket linin'
Hit the Earth like a comet, invasion
Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man, half-amazin'
Cause in my physical, I can express through song
Delete stress like Motrin, then extend strong
I drank Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in hell
From the spliff that I lift and inhale, it ain't hard to tell

NAS - IT AIN'T HARD TO TELL (1994)



MICHAEL JACKSON - HUMAN NATURE (1982)