It Was Written
It Was Written | ||||
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It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper
The album was a commercial success, selling 270,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number one on the US
Background and recording
Following the critical acclaim of his debut album
Meanwhile, his excessive spending habits left him with little money, and Nas was forced to ask for a loan to purchase clothes to wear to
Following the recording, It Was Written was
Music and lyrics
In contrast to Illmatic, the album contains a more detailed and elaborate production,
The album opens with "Album Intro" in which a slave rebellion is heard,
The album contains the singles "
Mobb Deep's Havoc produced two tracks for the album, "The Set Up", a story about revenge, and "Live Nigga Rap", a
Critical reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Chicago Sun-Times | [15] |
Chicago Tribune | [16] |
Entertainment Weekly | A−[12] |
Los Angeles Times | [17] |
NME | 6/10[18] |
Q | [19] |
Rolling Stone | [9] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [20] |
The Source | 4/5[21] |
It Was Written was generally well-received by critics.
The album's release followed the commercial success of other mafioso-themed rap albums with similar subject matter, including Raekwon's
The album was ranked number 41 in NME's critics' poll of 1996,[28] and Jim Farber of the New York Daily News named it the sixth best album of 1996.[29] German-based magazine Spex ranked it number four on its "End of Year" list,[citation needed] while the UK-based magazine The Face named it the twenty-fourth best album of 1996.[citation needed] "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" was ranked number 29 on NME's Singles of the Year list,[citation needed] and number 20 on The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[30] It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1997.[31]
Retrospect
Leo Stanley of
While later reviews of the album were more positive, the subject matter was still criticized. Reviewers found Nas's violent, fantastical mafioso stories to lack the authentic, emotional qualities of his debut album. While Illmatic is often held as Nas's masterpiece, It Was Written deemed a case of the
Commercial performance
It Was Written was released on July 2, 1996,[35] selling 270,000 copies in its first week.[36] It peaked at number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and debuted at the top of the Billboard 200,[37] remaining on the latter chart at number one for four consecutive weeks, in the top 20 for eleven weeks, and a total of thirty-four weeks in the top 200.[36]
The album's first single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" peaked at No. 15 on the
It Was Written remains Nas's best-selling album.[36] On September 6, 1996, the album was certified 2× platinum, selling over 2 million copies. In 2001, it had reached sales of more than 2.13 million copies.[36] By 2014, the album had sold 2,595,000.[41] On June 24, 2021, it was certified triple platinum by the RIAA.[42]
Aftermath and legacy
"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".[2] The pairing of the East Coast rapper and the West Coast producer, during the period of the East Coast–West Coast hip hop rivalry, brought criticism from both sides.[43][44]
In addition, West Coast-based rapper
Influence
It Was Written has been credited, along with Raekwon's
Cause it's a classic. Like, people study—you study the masters, you know what I’m saying? Everybody that's rapping studied someone to learn how to rap. They had a rapper who was they favorite rapper that they wanted to be like and wanted to rap like, know what I’m saying? For me, I just look at it like I studied a masterpiece. I modeled my album after a master piece; and not song for song; not line for line; not beat for beat. It was more-for me it was like mood for mood. The way he set the mood on that album to me was just like incredible. And at the time in my life—like, I fell in love with ‘It Was Written’ when I was seventeen, eighteen—a very impressionable time—so I was like I love that album. That's my favorite Hip Hop album, so it's like why not base your album on ‘It Was Written’?[47]
American reggae and hip hop artist Matisyahu regards It Was Written as one of his influences as well.[48] He cites the introduction of It Was Written, in which slaves rebel against their owner, as having a major influence on him. According to The Washington Post, "Matisyahu, too, felt enslaved. By what? He didn't know. Just felt the chains. The lyrics rocked him. The beat did, too."[7] Matisyahu stated that after listening to It Was Written, "I connected with hip-hop, the hardness of it, the driving beat. It's music with space, that has gaps in every little thing that happens."[49]
American rapper Cordae has also referenced the album as a big influence to his musical career.[50] Danny Brown claimed to have quit his job in order to stay home and listen to It Was Written, inspiring him to pursue rapping full time.[51]
Subsequent work by Nas
While It Was Written earned more positive notices from critics over time, its standing also suffered from comparisons to the acclaimed Illmatic.
By 2001, Illmatic and It Was Written were both selling at a rate of over 3,000 copies a week, while Nastradamus was earning an average of little more than 2,000 copies a week, despite its relative newness.
Track listing
Information is taken from the album's liner notes.[1]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Album Intro" | L.E.S. | 4:12 | |
12. | "Shootouts" |
|
| 3:46 |
13. | "Live Nigga Rap" (featuring Mobb Deep) |
| Havoc | 3:45 |
14. | "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" (featuring Lauryn Hill) |
|
| 4:42 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
15. | "Silent Murder" |
| Live Squad | 3:24 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
15. | "Silent Murder" |
| Live Squad | 3:24 |
16. | "Street Dreams" (bonus verse) |
| Trackmasters | 4:08 |
Personnel
Credits are taken from the liner notes.[1]
- Dave Atkinson – keyboards, producer
- AZ – vocals
- Foxy Brown – vocals
- Danny Clinch – photography
- Cormega – vocals
- Tom Coyne – mastering
- Delight – keyboards
- DJ Kid Capri – scratching
- DJ Premier – producer
- Dr. Dre – producer, vocals
- Bill Esses – mixing
- Mike Fronda – mixing
- Kirk Goddy – producer
- Joel "JoJo" Hailey – vocals
- Havoc– producer
- Lauryn Hill – vocals
- Ken "Duro" Ifill – vocals, mixing
- L.E.S.– producer
- Live Squad – producer
- Aimee MacAuley – art direction, design
- Nas – vocals, producer, exec.
- J. Parker – vocals
- Poke & Tone – producer, mixing
- Kelston Rice – engineer
- Eddie Sancho – engineer
- Rashad Smith – producer
- management
- Trackmasters – producer, exec. producer
- Richard Travali – mixing
- Kurt Walker – vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
|
Year-end charts
|
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Canada (Music Canada)[79] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)[80] | Gold | 10,000‡ |
France ( SNEP)[81]
|
Gold | 100,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI)[82] | Gold | 100,000^ |
United States (RIAA)[83] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
See also
- List of number-one albums of 1996 (U.S.)
- List of number-one R&B albums of 1996 (U.S.)
- Sophomore slump
References
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Bibliography
- John Borgmeyer, ISBN 0-313-33826-4.
- Jake Brown (2006). Dr. Dre in the Studio. Edition: illustrated. Amber Books Publishing. ISBN 0-9767735-5-4.
- Mickey Hess (2007). Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists. Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-313-33902-8.
- Mickey Hess (2007). Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture. Edition: illustrated. Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-313-33904-2.
- Todd Boyd (2004). The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop. NYU Press. ISBN 0-8147-9896-9.
- Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
External links
- It Was Written at Discogs (list of releases)