 |
From the Vault...
09/24/2000
#700 |
|
info
Nas
"It Was Written"
© Columbia Records
Year of Release: 1996
Rating:
|
track listing
Album Intro
The Message
Street Dreams
I Gave You Power
Watch Dem Niggas
Take It In Blood
Nas Is Coming
Affirmative Action
The Set Up
Black Girl Lost
Suspect
Shootouts
Live Nigga Rap
If I Ruled The World
(Imagine That)
|
WSVNRadio Archives
Nas related sites:
|
|
|
Nas
"It Was Written"
In 1996 Nas (Nasir Jones) released It Was Written, and it would
later reach #1 on the Album chart. For nearly ten years now, I have learned
to appreciate Rap music as a source of music that will remain to stay for
a long time, and I have given this type of music an open ear, and found
that rap music can be appreciated. Sure, there are some rap songs that
easily be an earsore, but there are others that can easily be entertaining
from a source of music where most people either like it, or hate it.
Most rap albums begin with some kind of Intro, and they are mostly
short. Nas' intro simply states the intro to the album as It Was Written.
"The Message" has some harsh lyrics (as most rap songs do), and with the
title such as "The Message," I can't help to hear a similarity to the
chorus heard on Grandmaster Flash's song of the same name.
"Street Dreams," uses the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" chorus,
with more explicit lyrics. This song has the inspiration of such artists as
Puff Daddy and Notorious B.I.G., and could easily be a contender hit on the rap
and/or pop charts. (This one gets a "thumbs up")
"I Gave You Power" has the "don't give a sh!t about anything"
lyrics, and recites about guns/crime. It has a slow beat, and fast rapping
lyrics/vocals. (To some, this one maybe an earsore) "Watch Dem Niggas"
has some very cool music, and the chorus gets you thinking:
Watch dem niggas close to you
and make sure they do what they're supposed to do
cause you know they be thinking about smoking you
never personal nowadays it's the way
Topics such as gambling and drugs are in "Take It In Blood."
Government and crime is heard in "Nas Is Coming." And with a title
such as "Affirmative Action," crime is once again featured. (This
one's got a cool beat, and Nas gets some help with The Firm: Az, Foxy Brown
and Carmega.)
Funky beats controls the music in "The Set Up," The music on
"Black Girl Lost" has a somewhat 1970s Soul sound, as it meets up with
the 1990s Rap.
"Suspect," "Shootouts" and "Live Nigga Rap" features Nas'
rapping as best as any other, with the concentration on the songs' lyric content.
The album's closing song, "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)" also
features some much better fancy rapping, and the music is just as cool:
funky, bouncy, and the chorus featuring female singers makes this song even
more enjoyable.
The typical topics in today's rap music, Sex, Drugs, Crime, and Explicit
Lyrics is all featured on Nas' It Was Written. Even though the lyrics
are as serious as the topics themselves, Nas' lyrics makes one think of how
rough it is to live with the surroundings of the S-D-C-EL topics around them.
(It Was Written does feature the lyrics for each song, and that makes
any album more enjoyable -- especially with the fast rap lyrics; it's an extra
added plus to read along the lyrics as you listen to the songs...)
The lyrics in rap music indicates that there is another world out there,
the kind we don't normally want to see and/or live in. And It Was Written
features that world, where nothing is perfect, yet Nas' lyrics tries to cope
with the realities of a "not-so-perfect" world out there.
© WSVNRadio.net. All rights reserved.
Review or any portion may not be reproduced
without written permission. Cover art is the
intellectual property of
Columbia Records
and is used for reference purposes only.
|
|
