Illmatic: Part I

llmatic is the debut album by rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994 through Columbia Records. Featuring production from Large Professor (of Main Source), Pete Rock (of Pete Rock & CL Smooth), Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest) and DJ Premier (of Gang Starr), as well as a guest appearance from AZ, Illmatic was immediately hailed as a masterpiece by several critics, and is today one of the most celebrated and influential albums in hip hop history.The release of Illmatic redefined the musical milieu of East Coast hip hop in the mid-1990s, resulting in a renewed focus on lyricism and in the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene, which had been latent after a period of prominence during the 1980s. In spite of this, the initial record sales of Illmatic fell below expectations.Although some criticized the album for its brevity (it contained only nine songs and one skit; unusual for a hip hop album) the general reaction to Illmatic was overwhelmingly positive—garnering notable praise from several media outlets. Publications ranging from the The Source to NME have since recognized it as one of the quintessential hip hop recordings of the 1990s. The album holds the distinction of being one of the few hip hop albums to be included in the Rolling Stone’ s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. It was one of just sixteen hip hop albums to be included in Pitchfork Media's "Best Albums Of The 90s Redux list" and was listed as one of thirty-three hip hop/R&B albums included in Rolling Stone’s "Essential Recordings of the 90s." Illmatic was voted 5 in "The Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time" and 3 in the Hip-Hop Connection Magazine’s Top 100 Readers Poll. Illmatic also was ranked 4 in Vibe magazine's "Top 10 Rap Albums", and 2 in MTV's list of "The Greatest Hip Hop Albums of All Time."Illmatic was the first rap album to be awarded with the 5 mics (out of 5) rating from The Source, a prestigious achievement given the magazine's influence within the hip hop community at the time. This was somewhat controversial, since it was unheard of for a debuting artist to receive such a coveted rating.