It Was Written

1 July 199614 tracks, 59 minutes

Conscious hip hop, east coast hip hop, boom bap

Critic score distribution

00 to 212 to 414 to 646 to 848 to 10

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.

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.

Genres: Conscious hip hop, east coast hip hop, boom bap
Length: 14 tracks, 59 minutes
Released: 1 July 1996
Label: columbia

Themes

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Critic reviews

Entertainment Weekly9.0 Los Angeles Times8.8 Chicago Sun-Times8.8

Tracks

1Album Intro2:24

2The Message3:54

3Street Dreams4:39

4I Gave You Power3:52

5Watch Dem Niggas4:04

6Take It in Blood4:48

7Nas Is Coming5:41

8Affirmative Action4:19

9The Set Up4:01

10Black Girl Lost4:22

11Suspect4:12

12Shootouts3:46

13Live Nigga Rap3:45

14If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)4:42

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Credits

Produced by Dr. Dre, Nas, Havoc and DJ Premier and others. Recorded by Eddie Sancho. Mixed by DURO, Poke and Tone, Rich Travali and Kelston Rice and others.