Although Nas only won his first album Grammy Award in 2020, his full-length projects have been getting critical acclaim his entire career.
See his exhibit B, 1996’s It Was Written, which will be celebrating its 25th anniversary, on Friday (July 2).
The sophomore effort — which famously followed Illmatic, an album now resting comfortably in the Library of Congress as part of the National Recording Registry, stands as the top-selling album of Nas’ career with a triple-platinum from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
In today’s digital age and streaming era, Legacy Recordings, a division of Sony Music Entertainment has compiled an expanded 25th-anniversary edition of the album, widely known for its hit singles, the Lauryn Hill-featured “If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)” and “Street Dreams,” which classically masters the same beat as 2Pac’s “All Eyez On Me.”
The new version of It Was Written will sport all 14 original songs, as well as the bonus tracks – the previously cassette-only “Silent Murder” and “Street Dreams” with a long-lost verse attached.
Vinyl heads will be able to obtain a double-LP set featuring all the album’s lyrics encased in a custom slipcase, designed to harken back to the “old school” feel of the days when ripping packaging of albums and immediately scanning the liner notes was a tradition.
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A 7″ single of “The Message” b/w “Street Dreams” (extended version) housed and a special edition cassette are also offered in a special 25th-anniversary bundle (projected to ship in September).
Originally released on July 2, 1996 via Columbia Records, the Billboard 200-topping album also featured guest appearances from Dr. Dre, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Cormega – who would all lay the foundation for The Firm, one Hip Hop’s first commercially successful supergroup projects.
Mobb Deep rappers Prodigy and Havoc, DJ Premier, Kid Capri, Trackmasters, Illmatic producer L.E.S. and many more also contributed to the album.
Revisit the original It Was Written below ahead of its re-release. Music videos for “If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)” and “Street Dreams” will be upgraded to high-definition and will premiere on July 2 alongside the album.
Great Album
One of the greatest album ever! The song Shootouts is the best rap song ever in my opinion. That beat goes so hard with Nas’s flow.
Take it in Blood. That song is still wicked to this day! The lyricism on this album was ahead of its time
One of the best songs ever. My #2 hip hop song just below juicy.
I never brag how real I keep it cause it’s the best $€cr€+
“I get soooo Wet, listening to NAS… No, not sweating but he touches my soul with his Knowledge of Decades. -Made You Look, -If I Ruled The World, -Find My Love, Cherry Wine , & the Prolific Daughter. The Power of his Ownership in his Art. Nothing like him anywhere ever.” Pure#Strength????????Whitehaven Memphis Tn
I hope Silent Murder is on this. It’s only on the Cassette version from 1996.
That is why learning to read is essential.
It was also on the European release of the album
Still bump this in 2021…still remember being at the Cumberland Mall…they had listening stations back then when you can hear portions of the tracks…my 1st Nas album. Shit was krazy hearing Silent Murder. My Dogg had the cassette so that was my 1st listen….I gave u power, Nas is coming…SUSPECT!!! n0 sophomore jinX here…(already heard that lost Street Dreams verese… he also has an alternate 3rd verse on Watch dem ni**@$)
Cumberland Maryland?
Cumberland mall…Marietta, Ga
Cumberland mall in Cobb county?
I like most of Nas’ albums but this one is a snoozer. It obviously has great lyrics but the beats will put you to sleep. I remember people saying this album is underated and I’ll put it this way just save some time and listen to…Illmatic, Stillmatic, Gods Son, Life is Good, Distant Relatives and Kings Disease if You want Nas’ best work(lyrics with good beats)
It was written is probably Nas best work after Illmatic. Kings disease is just awful, twinkle beats by hit boy
“he beats will put you to sleep…” wow, we haven’t heard thus one before… thr ‘fact’ that it’s a worldwide ‘fact’ that he has got this ‘inability’ to choose/come w ‘hot’ beats… smh…
I Am… was the first Nas album I heard. Listened to that nonstop. Found this album a few years later. Didn’t know any of it other than If I Ruled the World. The stand out tracks on It Was Written for me are; The Message, I Gave You Power, Nas Is Coming, and Affirmative Action (AZ set the tone on the opening). Maybe not his greatest album, but still worth listening to today.
U won’t see me tonight bro and New York New York from “I am”
They should have tried to get One on One in this one and the Street Dreams Remix. One on One Wasn’t originally on the album but it’s from the same era.
One on One is from 1994 (street fighter ost) and is definitely an Illmatic era song not an IWW one.
Ah ok it was 1995 so it was in between but I respect it. I forgot about the Affirmative Action Remix too
Yeah… One on One is the first song I heard from Nas, and my favourite one. Everyone who is interested in it should go find the track on yt and scroll down to the comments section where the producer of the song (Chris Large) shares spme facts about how it came to be.. and some other amazing stories on Biggie, Shaq or 2Pac NY shooting… every 90s nerd should check it out!
I read and commented on the story on YouTube. Very dope.
Take it in blood….
suspect man!
Slightly better than Illmatic IMO, flawless album…I can do without Halftime
Bought my first new car in ‘96. Lots of memories of listening to nothing but this and ATLiens for months in that Honda Accord.
i gave u power is outrageous.. better than several top tier careers infact
Real ones know about “Life Is Like A Dice Game” (produced by Easy Mo Bee)…an unfinished track that was made during the It Was Written sessions.
This is why I was thinking about Easy Mo Bee the other day and think he might be the greatest rap producer of all time because of what he brought out of the best rappers of all time to me. In my opinion, no one did it better when you think about that he produced that song for Nas, which is dope and should have been released, , and he did a lot of work on both Ready to Die and Me Against the World, which were the best B.I.G. and Pac albums by most objective accounts. None of the songs sound alike where you know he did the beats either. He just brought out the best of these dope MCs.
Finally someone said it. Easy Mo Bee made some of the best beats for 2Pac (my block omg) and Biggie, but also for Das EFX, Craig Mack or Buster Rhymes, Lost Boyz. Great producer.
One on one was on the street fighter soundtrack.
“Blaze a 50”
Wow 31 comments on a Nas article, when these lil trap artists have no comments. Salute!
First Nas album i listened to before Illmatic and boy this really got me into hip-hop deeply and started following Nas after. Lyrically he was on another level. Nas dropped two straight classics which most rappers can’t boast of.
Illmatic was a better album but Street Dreams was the anthem. Heard that everywhere back in the day LP mix and the R Kelly version