04/19/2024
Nas Illmatic’s 30th B-Day
Somewhere between spring and fall of 1994 I heard Nas Illmatic for the first time. Specifically the song “The World Is Yours”. Despite what time of year it was I remember the sky being blue hence a sunny day. The angle from where we sat on the floor, listening to CDs, up to the window, all you could see was blue. Then the piano from the sample loop of the song hit. I had never heard anything like it, but before you could even count four measures, I already loved it. At first, we just played that song on repeat before discovering the rest of the songs on the album. Which we listened to more of later on and less of “The World Is Yours”. I don’t know if the world was mine like Nas said, but the world was changing. Developing, progressing, fun, exciting and things were lookin’ up. In the early to mid 90s was when I discovered the difference in sound between East Coast and West Coast hip-hop. I loved hip-hop my whole life but in the early to mid 90s a whole new wave of rap music was coming out. A ton of it and all at once seemed like. It was Mobb Deep, The Artifacts, Tha Alkoholiks, Organized Konfusion, Lords Of The Underground, Wu-Tang and every member in it, and too many more to remember and mention. Some stood the test of time. Some stayed in obscurity and some stayed in heavy rotation throughout the years. Again, too many to name but Nas, Illmatic was definitely one to stick around. These albums served as the theme music to my upbringing. Theme them music to my adult life… S**t, it’s the them music to my LIFE. I’m sure many others feel the same way.
I cherish those moments in 1994-95 sitting in my friend Mike’s (different Mike) appartment in his bedroom, listening to hip-hop, that I still love, for the first time. We were transplants from California to Oregon with a lifeline home through music. Hip-hop. We didn’t want to be there, we had to be there. In Jr. High we didn’t call the shots on where we lived. And we dam near ached for what we considered our true home and origin. California. For us it was Southern California. Where back then they still played some of what was brand new and tight on the radio-and the rest was discovered through word of mouth and maybe even The Source magazine.
Some other hip-hop artists to stay in rotation throughout the years are A Tribe Called Quest, Black Sheep, DAS EFX, KRS-ONE, Big Daddy Kane, Pete Rock And C.L. Smooth, and Souls Of Mischief. (Some honorable minions)
Happy 30th Birthday Nas Illmatic. Thanks for the memories.
Mike Fish,
April 19th 2024
P.S. Today also happens to be the anniversary of the passing of the great HIP HOP legend GURU. Rip. I recorded a song in honor of him in back in 2016 which I may post/soft release later today. To be continued…
