Nas - It Was Written

Illmatic made Nas the best writer in New York and sold modestly. Two years later he decided those two facts should not have to coexist. It Was Written, released in July 1996, brought in Trackmasters, sharpened the hooks, leaned into mafioso imagery, and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 270,000 copies in its first week. It went double platinum inside two months and eventually triple. It remains his best-selling album.

Purists called it a sellout at the time and have spent thirty years quietly walking that back. "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)," with Lauryn Hill on the hook, and "Street Dreams" are the crossover singles, and both are constructed with more care than the accusation allowed for. "I Gave You Power," narrated entirely from the perspective of a gun, is as good a piece of writing as Nas has ever done and would have fit on Illmatic without adjustment. "Affirmative Action" introduced The Firm. DJ Premier, Havoc and Dr. Dre all turn up on the boards alongside Trackmasters, which is a production roster that no reasonable person would call a compromise.

The argument it started, about whether commercial reach costs an artist their credibility, has never really ended in hip-hop. This is the album that made the case for the other side, and it made it well enough that most of the people who disagreed in 1996 have changed their minds.

Double LP reissue in a gatefold sleeve. On Columbia.