Anyone worth their salt loves hip hop and, if you love hip hop, you will know how important Illmatic is. I loved Illmatic for so many reasons. Firstly the music was perfection itself, Primo and Pete Rock in their prime plus Large Pro and Q-Tip providing classic beats. Secondly there was Nas. His lyrical content was peerless, futuristic yet humble but with insightful, almost childlike observations housed in a worldly wise shell. Thirdly, no filler tracks, no skits, no bullshit just 9 songs of joyous, golden age hip hop. The whole album could fit on one side of a C45 tape meaning I had the album in on both sides of a cassette and would just play the other side when I got to the end. Most listeners were aware of Nas before he dropped Illmatic, ever since his debut on Main Source’s ‘‘live at the BBQ’’ people were fiending for more. I got the ”Halftime” 12” based upon his one verse on the seminal posse cut and I was waiting for Illmatic to come out after again, this blazing 12’’. The first single from Illmatic was a weird promo only 12” which I got and was very slightly underwhelmed. Then Illmatic was finally dropped and I got my vinyl copy the week of its released plus all the subsequent 12” singles from the album. You could say I was a paid up member of Nas fan club. And, being honest, I wasn’t 100% blown away with the album.
