By “important” I mean that it didn’t just become hugely popular, but it also changed a music genre or launched an entirely new one, or otherwise made a huge impact on music in general.
By “important” I mean that it didn’t just become hugely popular, but it also changed a music genre or launched an entirely new one, or otherwise made a huge impact on music in general.
While I can guess why, I’m not experienced enough with rap, hip, hop, or any combination of the three to be an authority on this, so could explain what makes the album hugely important?
Oh man, that is tough to put in words, but let me try. First of all, the lyricism. The way Nas rhymed and structured his verses was practically unheard of. Rakim could do it, Big Daddy Kane could do it. Not many others. So just in terms of rhyming skill and storytelling, he was up there. It was also one of the first (cohesive) street albums, with Nas just acting as the observer, with vivid storytelling about what he saw around him. You can clearly hear his influence in Mobb Deep’s albums, for example.
Musically, it is quintessentially 90s East Coast rap, and it came out at a time where the focus was more on the West Coast (think NWA, Snoop Dogg). It has a cohesive sound despite having many different producers (Pete Rock, Premier, Large Professor, etc) on the album, something that wasn’t really done before that time.
Also, there’s not a single bad track on the album. 10 tracks, no filler.
I’ve never been huge on hip hop, but Illmatic was one of the ones that slipped through my metal net. Wonderful record.
My guess was that it started the east coast rap scene with the kind of sound I later would recognized from some other artists.