It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album "Illmatic" (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for "It Was Written". Produced largely by Trackmasters, it departed from the debut's raw, underground aesthetic and embraced mafioso and gangsta themes.
The album was a commercial success, selling 270,000 copies in its first week and debuting at number one on the US "Billboard" 200 chart, while receiving mostly positive reviews. It also heralded Nas's mainstream popularity and contributed to the rise of mafioso rap. However, Nas's more commercial sound fostered accusations of selling out within the hip hop community, and its critical standing suffered with comparisons to the acclaimed "Illmatic".
With at least 3 million copies sold, and certified triple platinum, "It Was Written" remains Nas's best-selling album. In 2024, "Billboard" named it one of the 100 Greatest Rap Albums of All Time.
Background and recording.
Following the critical acclaim of his debut album "Illmatic" (1994), Nas chose to concentrate his efforts in a more mainstream direction, in contrast to the raw, unpolished and underground tone of his debut. Despite its significant impact on hip hop at the time, "Illmatic" did not experience the larger sales of most major releases at the time in hip hop, such as Snoop Dogg's "Doggystyle" (1993). This was due in part to Nas's shy personality and uninvolvement in promoting the record. Nas began to make appearances on other artists' work, including Kool G Rap's "Fast Life" on his album "4, 5, 6" (1995) and Raekwon's "Verbal Intercourse" on his album "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…" (1995), which made Nas the first non-Wu-Tang Clan member to appear on one of its solo recordings. He began to dub himself as Nas Escobar on these guest appearances.
Meanwhile, his excessive spending habits left him with little money, and Nas was forced to ask for a loan to purchase clothes to wear to the Source Awards ceremony in 1995. The success of fellow East Coast act The Notorious B.I.G. and promoter Puff Daddy at the awards show sent a message to Nas to change his commercial approach, resulting in his hiring of Steve "The Commissioner" Stoute as manager. While "Illmatic" attained gold status in the United States, Stoute convinced Nas to aim his efforts in a more mainstream, commercial direction for his second album, after which Nas enlisted the production team Trackmasters, who were known at the time for their mainstream success. Other producers for the album included DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, Havoc of Mobb Deep, L.E.S., Live Squad, and MC Serch as executive producer.
Following the recording, "It Was Written" was mastered by Tom Coyne at Sterling Sound in New York City. The artist Aimée Macauley designed the album cover, while Danny Clinch took photos for the packaging.
Music and lyrics.
In contrast to "Illmatic", the album contains a more detailed and elaborate production, while it shares similarity to the G-funk sound, relying heavily on sampled and looped funk grooves. "It Was Written" has Nas experimenting with a theatrical mafioso concept under the alias of "Nas Escobar" (inspired by the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar). The album's subject matter has been noted for its focus on materialistic excess and other mafioso lyrical themes. Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" wrote of Nas's shift in lyrical themes from "Illmatic", stating he "repeatedly cites the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and drops brand names of clothes, cars, liquor and guns." Nas also references lines from his previous material, a common element in his music that has been analyzed by one music writer as "return[ing] to his professional beginnings in those references."
The album opens with "Album Intro" in which a slave rebellion is heard, and it contains samples of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" (1964) and The Lost Generation's "The Sly, the Slick, and the Wicked" (1970). () The opening song "The Message" features production by the Trackmasters, Poke &amp; Tone, and scratching from Kid Capri. One critic described the song as a "bloody narrative", and cited it as "one of the most visually evocative songs of Nas's career". The song's title references the classic hip hop single "The Message" (1982) by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Legendary producer DJ Premier had one production credit on the jazz fusion-styled "I Gave You Power", a song which depicts a first-person narrative from the perspective of a gun. The song is accompanied by falling piano notes and stuttering drums.
The album contains the singles "If I Ruled the World", which features guest vocals from Lauryn Hill, and "Street Dreams". Music critic J.R. Reynolds wrote that the former has Nas "rapping his way to anarchy in an imagined world where he kicks discipline to the curb and good times rule." In the song, he states that he would "open every cell in Attica/send them to Africa". The latter is an account on the impact of drugs in Nas's neighborhood. The song contains smooth bass lines and frail drums, and it features an interpolation of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" (1983). The album also features guest appearances from Mobb Deep and The Firm, a supergroup which was initially composed of Nas, AZ, Cormega and Foxy Brown. The group makes an appearance on the song "Affirmative Action", a tale of robbery and three characters with mob connections. Brett Berliner of Stylus Magazine described the song's beat as "extremely mafioso, sounding straight out of "Goodfellas", with strings and crescendos", while he cited the song as "one of the best posse tracks of all time."
Mobb Deep's Havoc produced two tracks for the album, "The Set Up", a story about revenge, and "Live Nigga Rap", a freestyle performed by Nas and Mobb Deep with hard, gloomy percussion. "Black Girl Lost" is a sympathetic account on the struggle of African-American women. It features vocals by R&amp;B singer Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey of Jodeci. Music critic Krisex wrote of Nas's lyricism, stating "The L.E.S.-produced song woos heavy rotation while the MC makes the type of passionate perusals that leave lyrical aficionadeos genuflecting at his mike stand." The song's title comes from the book of the same name by pulp writer Donald Goines; his literary work has served as a popular source of reference for many gangsta rap artists. "Nas Is Coming" is a collaboration between Nas and West Coast rapper Dr. Dre. One writer cited it as "more of a gangsta, mainstream tune than anything Nas has ever recorded." The song's opening conversation, a skit, is a discussion between Nas and Dr. Dre about hip hop artists and fans over-concerned with the East Coast–West Coast rivalry, and that the two are producing a song that does not revolve around or contribute to the beef.
Critical reception.
"It Was Written" was generally well-received by critics. Marc Landas of "The Source" called it an "audio anthology of ghetto stories told by one of hip-hop's most prolific writers." "Vibe" magazine's Kris Ex criticized the album's "consistently aggressive attempts at pop music", but also wrote that Nas "shines through". Despite calling the album "adequate" and commending Nas for his lyricism and flow, Ex concluded that "It Was Written" "isn't nearly as satisfying as his first one." "NME"'s Andy Crysell wrote that "Nas's neat, considered lyrics treat the violence that surrounds him with a mixture of remorse, resignation and ebullience." Christopher John Farley of "Time" stated "The lyrics in "It Was Written" could be sharper, but the music, energetic and engaging on many tracks, helps drive his message home." "Q" magazine called Nas's performance "angry, lean and full of drive." Both the "Chicago Tribune" and "Chicago Sun-Times" were favorable of the album's sound. "Los Angeles Times" writer Cheo Hodari Coker called the album "poetic", writing that it "demonstrates a continuing lyrical maturity that makes his already potent beats and rhymes all the more compelling". "Spin" magazine preferred the "reach" of "It Was Written" to Nas's "more suavely rapped debut", praised the production, and described the songs' choruses as "grainy, pop-savvy".
The album's release followed the commercial success of other mafioso-themed rap albums with similar subject matter, including Raekwon's "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…" (1995), Jay-Z's "Reasonable Doubt" (1996) and AZ's "Doe or Die" (1995). Some critics dismissed its mainstream, R&amp;B and pop-leaning sound, as well as the enlistment of a top production unit and popular guest artists. The album's lyrics and themes were also poorly received as an attempt by Nas to follow the popularity of gangsta and mafioso rap. "Rolling Stone"'s Mark Coleman wrote negatively of Nas's themes and called it "the latest blatant example of trashy tough-guy talk", writing "Certainly he strikes a note of creepy realism in his stories of heavyweight dealing and literally cutthroat competition. 'The Set Up', 'Shootouts' and 'Affirmative Action' [...] are chilling in their how-many-grams-to-a-kilo detail and utter amorality. On 'Watch Dem Niggas', Nas cites as inspirations both the boxing coach Cus D'Amato and the murderous drug lord Pablo Escobar. What is this guy thinking?". Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" commented that he "continually shifts perspective" and called it "late-stage gangsta rap, starting to buckle under its own contradictions." "The Village Voice"'s Robert Christgau gave the album a "neither" () rating, indicating an album that "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."
The album was ranked number 41 in "NME"'s critics' poll of 1996, and Jim Farber of the "New York Daily News" named it the sixth best album of 1996. German-based magazine "Spex" ranked it number four on its "End of Year" list, while the UK-based magazine "The Face" named it the twenty-fourth best album of 1996. "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" was ranked number 29 on "NME"'s Singles of the Year list, and number 20 on "The Village Voice"'s Pazz &amp; Jop critics' poll. It was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance in 1997.
Retrospect.
Leo Stanley of AllMusic later praised Nas's lyricism and ghetto-themed vignettes, along with the album's detailed production. For "Stylus Magazine"'s "On Second Thought" publication, critic Brett Berliner re-examined the album, discussing its initial impact, and cited it as "one of the first hip-hop albums to straddle the critical and commercial divide successfully." While comparing "It Was Written" to "Illmatic", Berliner stated "It's a seriously good album with a bit of filler, worth of almost all of the praise "Illmatic" got. This is Nas's second classic, and should be considered one of the best albums of all time." About.com later ranked "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" number 24 on its list of 50 Great Hip Hop Songs, while it also named the song the fourth best R&amp;B/Rap Collaboration.
While later reviews of the album were more positive, the subject matter was still criticized. Reviewers found Nas's violent, fantastical mafioso stories to lack the authentic, emotional qualities of his debut album. While "Illmatic" is often held as Nas's masterpiece, "It Was Written" deemed a case of the sophomore slump and the first of his subsequent work to be scrutinized in comparison to the former. However, "It Was Written" was also viewed as his commercial breakthrough, enhancing the rapper's image in the mainstream and attracting a much larger fanbase. In contrast to the popular consensus, rappers Royce da 5'9" and Schoolboy Q have opined that "It Was Written" is superior to "Illmatic".
Commercial performance.
"It Was Written" was released on July 2, 1996, selling 270,000 copies in its first week. It peaked at number one on the Top R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Albums and debuted at the top of the "Billboard" 200, remaining on the latter chart at number one for four consecutive weeks, in the top 20 for eleven weeks, and a total of thirty-four weeks in the top 200.
The album's first single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" peaked at No. 15 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, No. 17 on the Hot R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Singles &amp; Tracks chart and No. 53 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 singles chart. The second single "Street Dreams" hit No. 1 on the Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart, as well as No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles chart, while it peaked at No. 18 on the Hot R&amp;B/Hip-Hop Singles &amp; Tracks and No. 27 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.