Nas’ Illmatic is one of the most acclaimed albums in Rap history. The Queensbridge rapper said that he’s considered making Illmatic 2.
“[I] thought about it before,” Nas says during an interview with VIBE Magazine. “I definitely thought about that, but it has to flow. It has to be natural. I can work on that and then if I don’t like it, I’ma scrap it. I have to feel it, man. It got to be honest.”
Released in 1994, Illmatic featured the songs “One Love” and “Halftime.” During a 2012 interview, he said that the former was inspired by the letters he wrote to his incarcerated friend, something he reimagines on the song.
“When I was writing that record I had a friend who was in jail and the way he ended the letter I would be like ‘sincerely’ [or] whatever,” Nas said at the time. “[Instead] it was ‘one love.’ People were saying, ‘One love’ everywhere so it was, ‘One love’ just felt strong. And I wrote the song as letters to friends of mine that were locked up…Q-Tip produced it and Q-Tip is so talented and I’m such a big fan of A Tribe Called Quest and all they albums that I felt like he brought such a jazz, but yet another vibe to the whole meaning of a hardcore song. Yes, it was written letters to guys in jail but the vibe of [the] music was just real smooth.”
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In 2001, Nas released Stillmatic, which was deemed an unofficial follow-up to Illmatic.
RELATED:Nas Reminisces On “Illmatic,” Speaks On Two Tracks Featured On The Album
