It Was Written

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It Was Written
Studio album by Nas

Publication
(s)

2nd July 1996

Label (s) Columbia Records

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

East coast hip hop

Title (number)

15th

running time

53 min 33 sec

production

chronology
Illmatic
(1994) 		It Was Written I Am ...
(1998)

It Was Written ( English for it is written, is) the second official Music Album of from Queensbridge coming rapper Nas . The album was mainly produced by Samuel "Tone" Barnes and Jean-Claude "Poke" Olivier ( Trackmasters ); it was supposed to be the exact opposite of the previous album Illmatic . Inspired by Raekwon , Nas changed his image at the same time from "boy from the projects" to Mafioso and from now on is called Nas Escobar (after the Colombian drug dealer Pablo Escobar , who led a drug cartel for a long time).

The song I Gave You Power tells a story from the perspective of a gun to the beat produced by DJ Premier with a piano sample . The album also includes hits like If I Ruled The World with Lauryn Hill of the Fugees , Street Dreams and The Message. A generous budget was available for the singles' music videos ; they were shot by Hype Williams . On It Was Written are also guests such. B. Mobb Deep represented, also it was the debut of the hip-hop group The Firm with the members Nas, AZ , Cormega and Foxy Brown .

After its release, It Was Written was well received by fans and became Nas' most commercially successful album to date. Over three million copies were sold worldwide, and it sat at number one on the American album charts for four weeks. Nas' popularity continued to grow and he became known among mainstream music listeners.

The rapper Lupe Fiasco from Chicago said in an interview that It Was Written was the biggest inspiration in his youth for him.

Track list

  1. Album Intro (produced by Nas & Trackmasters) - 2:24
  2. The Message (produced by Poke & Tone) - 3:54
  3. Street Dreams (produced by Poke & Tone) - 4:40
  4. I Gave You Power (produced by DJ Premier) - 3:52
  5. Watch Dem Niggas (produced by Poke & Tone) - 4:04
  6. Take It In Blood (produced by Live Squad, Lo Ground & Top General Sounds) - 4:48
  7. Nas Is Coming (produced by Dr. Dre) - 5:41
  8. Affirmative Action (feat. AZ , Cormega and Foxy Brown ) (produced by Dave Atkinson) - 4:19
  9. The Set Up (produced by Havoc ) - 4:01
  10. Black Girl Lost (feat. Jo-Jo) (produced by LES, Poke & Tone) - 4:23
  11. Suspect (produced by LES) - 4:12
  12. Shootouts (produced by Poke & Tone) - 3:46
  13. Live Nigga Rap ( feat.Mobb Deep ) (produced by Havoc) - 3:45
  14. If I Ruled The World (Imagine That) ( feat.Lauryn Hill ) (produced by Poke & Tone, Rashad Smith) - 4:42
  15. Silent Murder (produced by Live Squad, Lo Ground & Top General Sounds) - 3:24

success

It Was Written debuted at number 1 on the US Billboard 200 charts in 1996 . The album stayed at number 1 for four weeks. The singles If I ruled the world and Street Dreams were also able to occupy chart positions in the United States. If I ruled the world reached # 53 and Street Dreams # 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts.

In Germany, Nas Album rose to number 86 in the album charts in the 32nd calendar week of 1996. It Was Written rose in the following weeks and eventually reached position 16 on the charts. In total, the record was placed in the list of the 100 best-selling albums of the week for 18 weeks. Furthermore, the single If I ruled the world celebrated successes in Germany. The song reached positions in the German charts in 20 weeks, eight of which can be found in the top 10. The highest ranking of the single was number 4.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Billboard.com: Chart positions of the albums by Nas ( Memento of October 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Billboard.com: Chart positions of the singles by Nas
  3. ↑ Musicline.de: It Was Written ( Memento of the original from January 4, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musicline.de
  4. ↑ Musicline.de: If I ruled the world ( Memento of the original from January 1, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musicline.de