Matthew Gasteier - Nas Illmatic

On a basic and apparent level, this book would not have been written without Nas, in my humble opinion the greatest emcee of all time. I owe him thanks not just for Illmatic, but for a career that continues to challenge and entertain.

Huge thanks have to go to DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, AZ, and their respective managers, and a particularly strong thank you to MC Serch, who patiently and graciously dealt out his finest wisdom. This book owes a huge debt of gratitude to Adrian Covert and Etan Rosenbloom, who encouraged me when I was on the right track and steered me back when I wasnt. Thanks also to editor David Barker, who believed I could write the book I wanted to write, and Dave Park and Brandon Wall at Prefix, who gave me the freedom and support I needed to get to the point where I was.

Finally, thank you to Audrey, my co-writer and best friend, who walked me through my ideas, talked me down from the ledge, and guided me towards an infinitely better book.

This book is for Jeffrey, with whom I would have had a lot to talk about.

1. Dusty in Memphis by Warren Zanes

2. Forever Changes by Andrew Hultkrans

3. Harvest by Sam Inglis

4. The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society by Andy Miller

5. Meat Is Murder by Joe Pemice

6. The Piper at the Gates of Dawn by John Cavanagh

7. Abba Gold by Elisabeth Vincentelli

8. Electric Ladyland by John Perry

9. Unknown Pleasures by Chris Ott

10. Sign O the Times by Michaelangelo Matos

11. The Velvet Underground and Nico by Joe Harvard

12. Let It Be by Steve Matteo

13. Live at the Apollo by Douglas Wolk

14. Aqualung by Allan Moore

15. OK Computer by Dai Griffiths

16. Let It Be by Colin Meloy

17. Led Zeppelin IV by Erik Davis

18. Exile on Main St. by Bill Janovitz

19. Pet Sounds by Jim Fusilli

20. Ramones by Nicholas Rombes

21. Armed Forces by Franklin Bruno

22. Murmur by J. Niimi

23. Grace by Daphne Brooks

24. Endtroducing by Eliot Wilder

25. Kick Out the Jams by Don McLeese

26. Low by Hugo Wilcken

27. Born in the U.S.A. by Geoffrey Himes

28. Music from Big Pink by John Niven

29. In the Aeroplane Over the Sea by Kim Cooper

30. Pauls Boutique by Dan LeRoy

31. Doolittle by Ben Sisario

32. Theres a Riot Goin On by Miles Marshall Lewis

33. The Stone Roses by Alex Green

34. In Utero by Gillian G. Gaar

35. Highway 61 Revisited by Mark Polizzotti

36. Loveless by Mike McGonigal

37. The Who Sell Out by John Dougan

38. Bee Thousand by Marc Woodworth

39. Daydream Nation by Matthew Steams

40. Court and Spark by Sean Nelson

41. Use Your Illusion Vols 1 and 2 by Eric Weisbard

42. Songs in the Key of Life by Zeth Lundy

43. The Notonous Byrd Brother s by Ric Menck

44. Trout Mask Replica by Kevin Courrier

45. Double Nickels on the Dime by Michael T. Fournier

46. Aja by Don Breithaupt

47. Peoples Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm by Shawn Taylor

48. Rid of Me by Kate Schatz

49. Achtung Baby by Stephen Catanzarite

50. If Youre Feeling Sinister by Scott Plagenhoef

51. Pink Moon by Amanda Petrusich

52. Lets Talk About Love by Carl Wilson

53. Swordfishtrombones by David Smay

54. 20 Jazz Funk Greats by Drew Daniel

55. Horses by Philip Shaw

56. Master of Reality by John Damielle

57. Reign in Blood by D.X. Ferris

58. Shoot Out the Lights by Hayden Childs

59. Gentlemen by Bob Gendron

60. Rum, Sodomy & the Lash by Jeffery T. Roesgen

61. The Gilded Palace of Sin by Bob Proehl

62. Pink Flag by Wilson Neate

63. xo by Matthew Lemay

64. Illmatic by Matthew Gasteier

65. Radio City by Bruce Eaton

69. 69 Love Songs by L.D. Beghtol

In the year 1999, Nas was crucified. The emcee whose first verse on record included the claim when I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffin Jesus had done a 180, and was now wearing a crown of thorns, being taunted by peasants in the desert. It was all in the name of the video for Hate Me Now, the second single from Nass hastily reconfigured (after one of the earliest costly internet leaks) third album I Am Shifting from ancient Jerusalem to the hood and then into the hottest/most ridiculous club in town, the video was flooded with girls, large and heavy necklaces, and firelots and lots of fire.

Hype Williams, the ubiquitous hip hop music video director whose sole feature-length film Belly co-starred Nas, was behind the camera for the controversial video. Puff Daddy (as he was then known) was the guest, lurking in the background, crouched on the awning, screaming at the camera, and, ultimately, swallowed by fur. He would be edited out of the crucifixion scene in the final edit of the video; an early airing on Total Request Live on MTV had ignored his request to be purged. He had felt it would be construed as blasphemy; as a devout Catholic he felt people would believe he was inappropriately comparing himself to Jesus Christ. This indiscretion led to the now-legendary skirmish between Puffy and Nass then-manager Steve Stout, in which Puffy allegedly and poetically attacked Stout with a Champagne bottle.

Its not just the live tigers, the multiple-set shoot, and the Jesus metaphor that send the video so far over the top. Its the useless, self-important credits at the beginning, the Armageddon-like explosions on the streets of New York, and, most simultaneously hilarious and awesome, Nas and Puffy, hovering over it all on a grocery store overhang. Over the course of five minutes, the viewer must inevitably wonder how they got up there: was it a fire escape? Or were they lowered onto the awning with a crane?

The song itself, though laced with some classically Nas couplets, was similarly packed with braggadocio, down to the bombastic Carmina Burana sample that gets smacked around by doom-saying bass and stunted drums. It was, like the Champagne attack that followed it, indicative of the culture out of which it grew, where hip hop was reaching unforeseen heights and most success was being viewed through a rosy fisheye lens (again thanks to Hype). If you had said bling on The Today Show, no one would have known what you were talking about. Jay-Z wouldnt go Big Pimpin for another year. Me and Diddy, we started the bling thing, Nas told an interviewer in 2006. I called myself the Bling King. My whole thing was to put on the bigger chain, to ice out the stuff.

Out of context, Nass work on Hate Me Now seems wildly incongruent with his earlier output. The only conclusion most fans could arrive at was that the emcee had finally and completely Sold Out But within hip hop, Nas was moving with the times, reflecting realityhis realityjust as completely as he had always been. Though I Am , like every Nas album, boasted some of the emcees best workfirst single Nas Is Like, produced by DJ Premier, is still one of his finest momentsthe one-two punch of that disc and the quick follow-up Nastradamus