Tag Archives: nas

Around 1993, Nas — then a hotly tipped teenage rapper assembling a murderers’ row of producers for his debut album — showed up to Pete Rock’s basement studio in Mount Vernon, New York, and the pair started mapping out a song. Rock, whose pioneering boom-bap beats had helped create a …

Nas will celebrate the 25th anniversary of his 1996 album It Was Written with a new reissue that includes the original LP alongside a pair of rare bonus tracks. The follow-up to his landmark debut Illmatic, It Was Written boasted his hits “The Message,” “Street Dreams” and “If I Ruled …