Illmatic vs. Ready to Die which album was better?
- Thread starter Black A. Camus
- Start date
Illmatic by far. For me I can ALWAYS put that in and feel like Im in 94' NYC. It was pure and felt organic.
Ready to Die. Dope. But def saw the Puff influence and it was an ALBUM that felt marketed and deliberate. Not that its a bad thing, def saw the Pac influence as well..... Wont lie though was in Grants Tomb and dude was playing and selling Hypnotized.... Me and homeboy just stopped and looked at each other with the ugly face on.....
Love them both but Illmatic to me
Ready to Die. Dope. But def saw the Puff influence and it was an ALBUM that felt marketed and deliberate. Not that its a bad thing, def saw the Pac influence as well..... Wont lie though was in Grants Tomb and dude was playing and selling Hypnotized.... Me and homeboy just stopped and looked at each other with the ugly face on.....
Love them both but Illmatic to me
Ready To Die.
Unlike you, I'm not a dick riding fanboy. I critique even my favorite artists.
It was Written>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Illmatic.
No, it was an LP
Nas took it back to the 80's
No filler, short and sweet. Go look at rap albums from the 80's, most were 8-10 songs.
yup...if you trim some of the fat off ready to die I'd have easily chosen it over illmatic
Faggot you stay with dick on your mind don't you? Even in the mist of civil discourse, you just can't help yourself.
Ready to die was more accessible for those outside of NYC... people in Cali were bumpin it the day it dropped
I didn't "feel" illmatic until I spent some time being in NYC.
I didn't "feel" illmatic until I spent some time being in NYC.
I think the fog of nostalgia has some of you not seeing clearly. First there is a fallacy of thought. Illmatic dropped in 1994, Ready to Die, a full decade later.
Starting with the intro, it provides a glimpse into Nas at the time he realized that he could rap on Live at the BBQ, to his and AZ talking about counting money, rolling blunts, Hennessy, and then we are dropped into the first track.
We start with the birth of young Christopher Wallace, his bad behavior and the dissolution of his parents relationship, to his decision to rob a train. From there we are taken on a nihilistic ride through his life.
To compare the two is like comparing a VCR to a DVD player. The production value had changed so vastly in that decade, the subject matter became more vivid. Since we must, per the OP and Topic, for my money, Ready to Die stands tall.
Wow.... I know yall already got at him but damn..B. The album's came out 5 months apart and this person actually said this... WOW!!!
If this person is not trolling I'm a just assume they are young and looked this up on one of these software services and does not realize this is the remastered version of the album which came out later. If you notice "Who Shot Ya?" is on this version. It was not on the original..came out later.... Tupac was shot in November of 94 he wouldn't be thinking a song that was out 2 months before was about him. Even if it was really done before he got hit as Biggie always stated. Pac or anyone wouldn't be able to make the claim either way.
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Anyway Album wise it's Illmatic...as stated it was a paradigm shift and left an imprint on Hip Hop as an album itself... It brought a different feel to hip hop. Ready to Die was something special as well but it was a different feel. Album wise Illmatic can take the win in terms of it's impact and the way it was written (both albums only had one feature (not counting Q-tip on the hook of who's world is this. Just referencing AZ and Method Man))...
With all that said , if stuck on the island and I had to choose one to continue to listen to forever i would probably choose Ready to Die...it had more in versatility. Simpler in some ways but I just vibed with it... fun counts for something... the Range would just bring me more joy yet I understand the artistic value of Illmatic is greater...
For those talking "It as Written" was better than Illmatic... stop that shit. I loved It was written but it did not have the same impact it was just a great album and I'm around where I had the CD in my house but on the block we had the tape for the radio so I'm aware that song "Silent Murderer" was only on the tape version and not on the original album. I was mad at that...
Both are classic hip hop albums, but I like Illmatic better. A lot of Ready To Die sounds dated today. There's a reason why a lot of the tracks were "remixed". I also dont get the It Was Written > Illmatic talk. It Was Written was a disappointment to me when it dropped. That Trackmasters production was commercial as fuck and Nas flow wasnt as crisp on there to me. It was more commercial and that may be why its liked more, but Pete Rock, DJ Premier, L.E.S., Large Professor, & Q-Tip laced Illmatic with that boom bap over them jazz samples and Nas' flow was at its best on there. He's always brought lyrics on his subsequent releases but his flow hasn't been as concise since that CD IMO. You see the same effect with Snoop Dogg and his 1st CD, flow aint been as good since then.
I hate juicy..... everything else is outta here! ready to die was HIP-HOP... unbelieveable & 1 more chance are incredible songs & the production on the album was classic itself. That shit didnt really "teach" me anything outside of what a cinematic rap joint should look like when you listen with ya eyes closed.
Illmatic was the visual album before there was a visual album. You can light a spliff, turn off the lights, & close ya eyes & when the music starts to play you IN Queens Bridge. the only thing you cant do is smell it. Illmatic taught me a few lessons.
asking which is better is like asking which one was more new york than the other..... eventually a fight will break out!
Illmatic was the visual album before there was a visual album. You can light a spliff, turn off the lights, & close ya eyes & when the music starts to play you IN Queens Bridge. the only thing you cant do is smell it. Illmatic taught me a few lessons.
asking which is better is like asking which one was more new york than the other..... eventually a fight will break out!
lies....
unbelieveable - the illest rap tune!!!!
Live from Bedford-Stuyverson, the livest one
Representin BK to the fullest
Gats I pull it, bastards duckin when Big be buckin
Chickenheads be cluckin in my bathroom fuckin
It ain't nuttin, they know Big be handlin
With the Mac in the act all paneling
Bandaging MC's, oxygen they can't breathe
Mad tricks up the sleeve, red boxers so my dick can breathe
Breeze through in the Q-45 by my side, lyrical high
And those that rushes my cluthes get put on crutches
Get smoked like dutches from the master
Hate to blast ya, but I have ta, you see I smoke a lot
Your life is played out like Kwame, and them fuckin polka dots
Who rock the spot? Biggie!
You know how the weed yo, unbelievable
[Verse Two:]
B-I-G, G-I-E, AKA, B.I.G.
Get it? Biggie
Also known as the bon appetit
Rappers can't sleep need sleepin Big keep creepin
Bulelts heat-seekin, casualties need treatin
Dumb rappers need teachin
Lesson A - don't fuck with B-I, that's that, oh I, thought he was wack
Oh come come now, why y'all so dumb now
Hunt me or be hunted, three hundred and fifty-seven ways
To summer sautee, I'm the winner all day
Lights get dimmer down Biggie's hallway
My forte causes caucausians to say
He sounds demented, car-weed scented
If I said it, I meant it
Bite my tongue for no-one
Call me evil, or unbelievable
[Verse Three:]
Buck shots out the sun roof of Lexus Coupe's
Leave no witnesses, what you think this is
Ain't no amateurs here, I damage and tear
MC's fear me, they too near not to hear me
Clearly, I'm the triple beam dream
One thousand grams of uncut to the gut
It seems fucked up, the way I touched up the grill
Tryin to play gorilla, when you ain't no killer
The gat's by your liver, your upper lip quiver
Get ready to die, tell God I said hi
And throw down some ice, for the nicest MC
Niggaz know the steelo, unbelievable
one more chance
machine gun funk
warning
friend of mine
me & my bitch
the what - niggaaaaaaaaah stop playin ya self!
big poppa
fuugediboowdiit!
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I listened to illmatic yesterday. I haven't listened to ready to die in months.
da fuck are you smoking???????????????
Illmatic
Released: April 19, 1994
Ready To Die
Release date: September 13, 1994
The God Raekwon & Ghost Dinni would have never set it off on big poppa if he had came out wit the baby pic on the cover 1st. Both them niggaahz went in on him..... check the purple tape - shark niggahz
you dnt know what da fuk you talkin about! you must not be from nyc or nj!
It was Written - Release date: July 2, 1996
would be a much better comparison....... ijs
Fake thug, no love, you get the slug, CB4 Gusto
Your luck low, I didn't know til I was drunk though
You freak niggaz played out, get fucked and ate out
Prostitute turned bitch, I got the gauge out
96 ways I made out, Montana way
The Good-F-E-L-L-A, verbal AK spray
Dipped attache, jumped out the Range, empty out the ashtray
A glass of 'ze make a man Cassius Clay
Red dot plots, murder schemes, thirty-two shotguns
Regulate wit my Dunn's, 17 rocks gleam from one ring
Yo let me let y'all niggaz know one thing
There's one life, one love, so there can only be one King
The highlights of livin, Vegas style roll dice in linen
Antera spinnin on Milleniums, twenty G bets I'm winnin them
Threats I'm sendin them, Lex with TV sets the minimum
Ill sex adrenaline
Party with villians, a case of Demi-Sec to chase the Henny
Wet any clique, with the semi-tech who want it
Diamonds I flaunt it, chickenheads flock I lace em
Fried broiled with basil, taste em, crack the legs
way out of formation, it's horizontal how I have em
fuckin me in the Benz wagon
Can it be Vanity from Last Dragon
Grab your gun it's on though
Shit is grimy, real niggaz buck in broad daylight
with the broke Mac it won't spray right
Don't give a fuck who they hit, as long as the drama's lit
Yo, overnight thugs, bug cause they ain't promised shit
Hungry-ass hooligans stay on that piranha shit
[Chorus: samples from "New York State of Mind" (repeat 4X)]
"I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death" -[Nas]
"I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin" -[Nas]
[Nas]
I peeped you frontin, I was in the Jeep
Sunk in the seat, tinted with heat, beats bumpin
Across the streat you was wildin
Talkin bout how you ran the Island in eighty-nine
Layin up, playin the yard with crazy shine
I cocked a baby 9 that nigga grave be mine, clanked him
What was he thinkin on my corner when it's pay me time
Dug em you owe me cousin somethin told me plug him
So dumb, felt my leg burn, then it got numb
Spun around and shot one, heard shots and dropped son
Caught a hot one, somebody take this biscuit 'fore the cops come
Then they came askin me my name, what the fuck
I got stitched up and went through
Left the hospital that same night, what
Got my gat back, time to backtrack
I had to drop so how the fuck I get clapped
Black was in the Jeep watchin all these scenes speed by
It was a brown Datsun, and yo nobody in my hood got one
That clown nigga's through, blazin at his crew daily
The 'Bridge touched me up severely hear me?
So when I rhyme it's sincerely yours
Be lightin L's sippin Coors, on all floors in project halls
Contemplatin war niggaz I was cool with before
We used to score together, Uptown coppin the raw
But uhh, a thug changes, and love changes
and best friends become strangers, word up
[Chorus: first from "New York State of Mind", then "Halftime" (repeat 4X)]
"Y'all know my steelo" - [Nas]
"There ain't an army that could strike back" - [Nas]
[Nas]
Thug niggaz
Yo, to them thug niggaz gettin it on in the world you know?
To them niggaz that's locked down
doin they thing survivin yaknowmsayin?
To my thorough niggaz, New York and world wide
Yo to the Queensbridge Militia
9-6 shit.. The Firm clique, Illmatic nigga
It Was Written though
It's been a long time comin
Y'all fake niggaz, tryin to copy
better come with the real though
Fake ass niggaz yo..
(They throw us slugs we throwin em back, what?)
Bring the shit man, live man
(Fuck that son)
Nine-six shit..
would be a much better comparison....... ijs
Fake thug, no love, you get the slug, CB4 Gusto
Your luck low, I didn't know til I was drunk though
You freak niggaz played out, get fucked and ate out
Prostitute turned bitch, I got the gauge out
96 ways I made out, Montana way
The Good-F-E-L-L-A, verbal AK spray
Dipped attache, jumped out the Range, empty out the ashtray
A glass of 'ze make a man Cassius Clay
Red dot plots, murder schemes, thirty-two shotguns
Regulate wit my Dunn's, 17 rocks gleam from one ring
Yo let me let y'all niggaz know one thing
There's one life, one love, so there can only be one King
The highlights of livin, Vegas style roll dice in linen
Antera spinnin on Milleniums, twenty G bets I'm winnin them
Threats I'm sendin them, Lex with TV sets the minimum
Ill sex adrenaline
Party with villians, a case of Demi-Sec to chase the Henny
Wet any clique, with the semi-tech who want it
Diamonds I flaunt it, chickenheads flock I lace em
Fried broiled with basil, taste em, crack the legs
way out of formation, it's horizontal how I have em
fuckin me in the Benz wagon
Can it be Vanity from Last Dragon
Grab your gun it's on though
Shit is grimy, real niggaz buck in broad daylight
with the broke Mac it won't spray right
Don't give a fuck who they hit, as long as the drama's lit
Yo, overnight thugs, bug cause they ain't promised shit
Hungry-ass hooligans stay on that piranha shit
[Chorus: samples from "New York State of Mind" (repeat 4X)]
"I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death" -[Nas]
"I ain't the type of brother made for you to start testin" -[Nas]
[Nas]
I peeped you frontin, I was in the Jeep
Sunk in the seat, tinted with heat, beats bumpin
Across the streat you was wildin
Talkin bout how you ran the Island in eighty-nine
Layin up, playin the yard with crazy shine
I cocked a baby 9 that nigga grave be mine, clanked him
What was he thinkin on my corner when it's pay me time
Dug em you owe me cousin somethin told me plug him
So dumb, felt my leg burn, then it got numb
Spun around and shot one, heard shots and dropped son
Caught a hot one, somebody take this biscuit 'fore the cops come
Then they came askin me my name, what the fuck
I got stitched up and went through
Left the hospital that same night, what
Got my gat back, time to backtrack
I had to drop so how the fuck I get clapped
Black was in the Jeep watchin all these scenes speed by
It was a brown Datsun, and yo nobody in my hood got one
That clown nigga's through, blazin at his crew daily
The 'Bridge touched me up severely hear me?
So when I rhyme it's sincerely yours
Be lightin L's sippin Coors, on all floors in project halls
Contemplatin war niggaz I was cool with before
We used to score together, Uptown coppin the raw
But uhh, a thug changes, and love changes
and best friends become strangers, word up
[Chorus: first from "New York State of Mind", then "Halftime" (repeat 4X)]
"Y'all know my steelo" - [Nas]
"There ain't an army that could strike back" - [Nas]
[Nas]
Thug niggaz
Yo, to them thug niggaz gettin it on in the world you know?
To them niggaz that's locked down
doin they thing survivin yaknowmsayin?
To my thorough niggaz, New York and world wide
Yo to the Queensbridge Militia
9-6 shit.. The Firm clique, Illmatic nigga
It Was Written though
It's been a long time comin
Y'all fake niggaz, tryin to copy
better come with the real though
Fake ass niggaz yo..
(They throw us slugs we throwin em back, what?)
Bring the shit man, live man
(Fuck that son)
Nine-six shit..
My original copy of illmatic is signed.
When i heard 1st it, i was wondering
Where this had been! It spoke to me!
When i heard 1st it, i was wondering
Where this had been! It spoke to me!
Both classics but Illmatic was on some other shit. Definitely top 5.
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!!!!!!!Nas is an artist I have really tried to like...
...and I do like some of his songs, but "Illmatic" never did anything for me.
Ready To Die, on the other hand ....
I was very impressed with Biggie, because not many people can be so simplistic, and yet so interesting to listen to.
Nas coming from queens back then.... ALL them niggaahz had a VERY different nyc slang/ twist on shit back then & Nas wasnt really rhyming like them but he was @ the same time. His shit was more lyrical miracle than biggie. Nas was really sounding like an even YOUNGER version of The Rap God! Biggie, if anything was a younger version of Kool G. Rap.
Faggot you stay with dick on your mind don't you? Even in the mist of civil discourse, you just can't help yourself.
niggah on bgol like
fixed
that had to be a young'n thinking RTD came out in 04. sfmh. we shouldn't even waste our fingers to type rebuttals to whoever posted that. that being said , both are great pieces of art. i love illmatic more. i remember the hype and praise it recieved when it dropped. shit, most of nyc had the bootleg before it dropped. without one love , eminem would never make "stan" or without nas there's no em ( check the infinite album).
I played It aint hard to tell..... then I played the remix
Discover Classic Samples Used On Nas 'illmatic'
Discover Classic Samples Used On Nas 'illmatic'
I tried not to admit it.... then I played it aint hard to tell.
NAS wins.
Shit bangs but not a classic. One More Chance was hot on some pop shit. The remix is bananas. Big Poppa the only classic.
The remixes?
Both excellent albums. Certified classics. Slight edge to Nas, but it's only by a personal margin of 51-49 though.
Both albums shit on many other artists' entire discographies, to be honest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illmatic#Accolades
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_to_Die#Accolades
Both albums shit on many other artists' entire discographies, to be honest.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illmatic#Accolades
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ready_to_Die#Accolades
Trying to reflect thru years of fog...
Remembering that Big Mac tape, and remembering Craig had the bigger buz
Now thinking when that nas verse dropped- it was like rap was reborn (on pauly joint/large p)
Then waiting on that nas album to drop while getting snippets on 89.9 ...
Going with NAS...
Remembering that Big Mac tape, and remembering Craig had the bigger buz
Now thinking when that nas verse dropped- it was like rap was reborn (on pauly joint/large p)
Then waiting on that nas album to drop while getting snippets on 89.9 ...
Going with NAS...
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