| It Was Written | 
 enlarge | Artist: Nas
Label: Columbia
Category: Music
List Price: $11.98
Buy Used: $2.13
You Save: $9.85 (82%)
New (46) Used (29) from $2.13
Avg. Customer Rating:  196 reviews
Sales Rank: 11144
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 67015
UPC: 746467015224
EAN: 0746467015224
ASIN: B000002B1M
Release Date: July 2, 1996
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Complete with original disc(s), case, and manual. In stock and ships right now!
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| Tracks:
| • | Album Intro - Nas, Nas | | • | The Message | | • | Street Dreams - Nas, Lennox, Annie | | • | I Gave You Power | | • | Watch dem Niggas | | • | Take It in Blood | | • | Nas Is Coming | | • | Affirmative Action | | • | The Set Up | | • | Black Girl Lost | | • | Suspect | | • | Shootouts | | • | Live Nigga Rap | | • | If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 191 more reviews...
 While Nas was Nasty, before Esco and Nastradamus October 28, 2005
18 out of 18 found this review helpful
People lend so much street credibility to the Illmatic CD - which it no doubt deserves. Yet "It Was Written" was an equally impressive album for the time it was released. To me, this is ALMOST as much a classic as Illmatic was.
Starting with "The Message", this album is a journey into the mind of one of the most prolific lyricists hip hop has ever known.
"Street Dreams" samples the same song sampled for countless hip hop tracks (most notably 2Pac for All Eyez On Me). No other has done it so well.
"I Gave You Power" is a DJ Premier track. Classic Primo. An extremely catchy loop used to classic Primo drumwork. Nas tells the story of a gun (from the gun's vantage point), which is an interesting and creative concept that makes for a dope track.
"Affirmative Action", with the original Firm ensemble (with Cormega), is the world's official introduction to the Firm (then Nas, AZ, Foxy and Cormega - which became Nas, AZ, Foxy and Nature). This is a great track from beginning to end, with no weak point. Tight beat, great opening from AZ to Mega Montana straight through to the extended finish by Foxy Brown.
"Take It In Blood", "Shootouts", "If I Ruled The World" and "Silent Murder" (Bonus Track) were all notable additions to the album.
As far as hip hop albums go, this is almost as good as it gets. A solid contribution to the game by Nas. If you love hip hop, you own this album.
Classic May 16, 2001
11 out of 20 found this review helpful
Nas, what happened? "It was written" is hands down the best Nas album ever and one of the top rap albums ever as well. Everything in this CD is great, but Nas seemed to stop being Nas after this album, mostly because of his beat changes. Nas's lyrics aren't anything without Nas's beats, and this and Illmatic are the only album where that shows.
One of my favorite rap albums March 24, 2004
7 out of 17 found this review helpful
This is in my personal opinion one of nas's best/every song on this cd is good
1.intro
2.the message- great song 5 out of 5 stars
3.street dreams- 5 out of 5 stars
4.i gave you power-catchy/4 stars
5.watch dem n****s-3.5 stars
6.take it in blood- 4 stars
7.nas is coming-3 stars
8.affirmative action-4 stars
9.the set up- 4.5 stars
10.black girl lost-3.5 stars
11.suspect-4 stars
12.shootouts-3.5 stars
13.if i ruled the world- 5 out of 5 stars
Great rap album/recomended
Another Classic by Nas August 2, 2004
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
When this album first came out in 1996, there were negative reviews about this LP because they claimed it was not better than his 1994 debut album "Illmatic". They are completely wrong. I gotta say this album is simply amazing, a CLASSIC! People who thinks this album is wack probably listens to Eminem, 50 cent or Nelly. This album is just dope. Anywayz, I feel that this album should deserve more credit as being a CLASSIC, cuz there are no albums in the last couple years that could actually match the brilliance of Nas' lyrics and unorthodox flow. Nas has one thing that many rappers these days lack, and that is substance. When all the other rappers are rappin about girls, money and sex. Nas raps about deep essential things such as life, street stories and knowledge. This album is little more mafioso than his other releases, it's still AMAZING! Everyone get this album.
1. Intro- Worth listening to. It's aite.
2. The Message - Amazing song, some consider this song to be a diss towards Tupac, however still amazing. A+
3. Street Dreams- Pretty cool song, kinda commerical for my taste, stil amazing though. B+
4. I gave you Power- WOW!!!!...Just AMAZING!!!...Possibly the most creative rap song ever. Nas raps about his unique perspective as a gun. WOW! A++
5. Watch Dem Niggas- Kinda boring track. Foxy's chorus is kinda annoying, good lyrics though. B-
6. Take in Blood- Another good track. I love the beat in this song. A
7. Nas is Coming- A song that attempted to stop the east coast vs. west coast rap war. It has an annoying chorus. i don't really like this song. B-
8. Affirmative Action- The Firm's first song. Sick verses by AZ, Cormega, Nas and even Foxy makes this song hot. A+
9. Set Up- This song is cool. Nice lyrics and a cool beat. B
10. Black Girl Lost- Nas tells a story about how girls shouldn't act like hoes and try to get the better things in life. A
11. Suspect- An average track. B-
12. Shootouts- Sick track. Sick street story. B+
13. Live Nigga Rap- SICK TRACK. This song features Mobb Deep. B+
14. If I Ruled the World- SICK!!!!!...One of the best songs in the album. A+
Still the poet.... December 10, 2001
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is Nas' second album "It was written" and as probably averyone agrees, it's not an "Illmatic" but I can't believe all those people who've rated this album low 'cause of that! I give this album 5 stars 'cause it's still a classic... For instance, take Jay-Z or any other MC and take out his best album and compare it to this, I'm sure of it that this cd is still better than all that other! Nas' lyrics are real, on all his albums, and they always will be real and I'm sorry to all Jay-Z fans out there but I can't say Jay-Z is real... Anyway, back to this album, This album is still thight and the best tracks are "The message" of course, "Street dreams", "Take it in blood", "Black girl lost" and "If I ruled the world" wich you probably all know... All the others tracks are thight to, exept for the bonus track "Silent murder" wich has a pretty wack beat... So people, if you want a good hip hop album, this is an excellent choice, no doubt but please, do yourself a favor and don't compare it to "Illmatic"....
Still the poet... Still the prophet... Stillmatic...
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