It was 25 years ago today that Nas unleashed It Was Written upon the hip hop landscape!
The album was produced mostly by Trackmasters, but also featured production from DJ Premier, Dr. Dre, and Havoc and pushed Nas in a more mainstream direction.
It worked.
The album was Nas’ most commercially successful release, debuting at #1 on the US Billboard 200 chart, and Is viewed by music critics as one of Nas’ strongest records, with over four million copies sold in the U.S. alone.
The album’s standout single, “If I Ruled the World,” featured Lauryn Hill, who was riding the wave of her recent success with Fugees. Others included were Foxy Brown, Dr. Dre, and Mobb Deep, and marked the first appearance of Nas's short-lived supergroup The Firm, featuring Brown, AZ, and Cormega.
Happy Anniversary