Illmatic: A Journey Into Nas's State of Mind
This is a throwback essay from 2005 about Illmatic, written during my junior year of college, that tries to understand the different layers of imagery that coexist in the album. I also really tried to explore how the album's instrumentation converses with & informs the lyrics. Looking back on it, I think I found it hard to sincerely discuss possible meanings behind the music while keeping the lameness & pretension in my writing to a minimum. (Not saying I succeeded! But I did try.)
