Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Sample Set #23




Nasty Nas Timeline (Mixed by Statik Selektah)

What can I say about this album that hasn't already been expounded upon by music journalists and institutional scholars alike? Illmatic is to hip hop what Miles Davis's Kind of Blue is to jazz: a quintessential centerpiece to its respective genre. Dallas Penn summed it up quite nicely: "The Sun, Moon and stars along with the spirit of Rakim Allah came together to form this rap music manifesto masterpiece." The word "manifesto" is perfectly apt for Illmatic, characterized by its solid tracklisting, compactly structured within the framework of exactly ten tracks - a psychologically-satisfying number, as George Carlin would put it - bordering on EP territory. From start to finish, Illmatic is definitively hip hop, immersed by the sights and sounds of New York City rail tracks and graffiti-bombed trains as well as dusty, claustrophobic basements. Displaying brilliance at a notably young age, QB's golden child delved into the conditions of inner-city life at a level of poetic erudition unheard of since the great Rakim. And with the backing of some of New York's heavy hitter producers bringing their A-game, the dominoes were lined up for a hip hop classic for the ages - a prophecy fulfilled and a "masterpiece" indeed.


This sample set was originally compiled back in 2008 with our homie John Q of Lyrics to Go. I'm gonna be updating sets every once in a while now (Liquid Swords is up next). This new Illmatic sample set features better artwork (see?) and a few new samples we missed out on with the original release. I've even included a snippet of the cult classic flick Wild Style, prominently sampled on Illmatic's intro track. I also threw on some samples used on two of the best Illmatic remix tracks: "One Love (One L Remix)" and "It Ain't Hard to Tell (Large Professor Remix)". Extra P did one hell of a job flipping that Biz Markie line, if I may say so myself... Anyways, I hope you enjoy this installment of our ever-expanding sample set encyclopedia. I'm always open to suggestions, corrections, additions and music nerdery (One Love to my girl Ericka who just celebrated her birthday... Leos FTW). Enjoy! And as always... Turn it up!!