Wikipedia:Today's featured article/August 18, 2006

Illmatic is the debut album by rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994 through Columbia Records. Featuring production from Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip and DJ Premier, as well as a guest appearance from AZ, Illmatic was immediately hailed as a masterpiece by critics, and is today one of the most celebrated and most influential albums in hip hop history. The release of Illmatic redefined the musical milieu of East Coast hip hop in the mid-1990s, resulting in a renewed focus on lyricism and in the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene, which had been latent after a period of prominence during the 1980s. Upon its release, Illmatic attracted a significant amount of attention within the hip hop community and caused an instant sensation within hip hop's underground circuit. In spite of this, the modest record sales of Illmatic fell well below expectations, partially due to bootlegging. A remastered commemorative edition of Illmatic was issued by Columbia for the album's tenth anniversary in 2004, with a bonus disc of four remixes and two previously unreleased tracks. (more...)

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