Nas - It Ain't Hard To Tell (1994)

Today I'm revisiting Nas' masterpiece debut Illmatic before I go to a showing of the movie about its creation "Time Is Illmatic".

In truth I could have picked any track off the album - every one is a 10/10 stone cold classic - but I've gone for the final track because I want to delve highlight Nas' performance a little bit.

The beat features a sample flip of Michael Jackson's Human Nature, but producer Large Professor does such a great job that while it has a familiar sound and nostalgic vibe, it also completely has its own identity. This probably makes the track the most accessible on the whole album, but don't think for a second that means that the lyrics are watered down.

Arguably this song features Nas' most technically impressive performance on Illmatic and even his while career. The way he flips multi-syllable rhyme patterns with a non-stop ridiculously smooth flow is incredible. It's this kind of rhyming that you imagine Big L, Eminem and the like took a lot of inspiration from.  The second verse is a particular standout:

The buddha monk's in your trunk, turn the bass up
Not stories by Aesop, place your loot up, parties I shoot up
Nas, I analyze, drop a jew-el, inhale from the L
School a fool well, you feel it like braille
It ain't hard to tell, I kick a skill like Shaquille holds a pill
Vocabulary spills I'm Ill
plus Matic, I freak beats slam it like Iron Shiek
Jam like a tech with correct techniques
So analyze me, surprise me, but can't magmatize me
Scannin while you're plannin ways to sabotage me
I leave em froze like her-on in your nose
Nas'll rock well, it ain't hard to tell

The song is all about a young and hungry Nas desperate to show the world that he's the best to ever do it. One of my favourite lines in the history of hip hop makes a pretty strong case as Nas brags that he will not only stare Medusa right in the face, he'll turn the tables and get her stoned.


I drink Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in hell
From the spliff that I lift and inhale, it ain't hard to tell

After dropping this kind of debut, it's hard to argue with Nas' position as one of the greatest.