Nas – Illmatic

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Label:	Columbia – 475959 1, Columbia – COL 475959 1
Format:	Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue
Country:	Europe
Released:
Genre:	Hip Hop
Style:	Conscious, Boom Bap

Tracklist

	40 Side North
A1	The Genesis Written-By [Conceived By] – Faith N.*, Nas	1:45
A2	N.Y. State Of Mind Written-By – C. Martin, N. Jones	4:53
A3	Life's A Bitch Co-producer – Nas Engineer – Jason Vogel Featuring – A.Z.* Producer – L.E.S. Trumpet – Olu Dara Written-By – A. Cruz, N. Jones, O. Scott, O. Dara, R. Wilson*	3:29
A4	The World Is Yours Engineer – Jamie Staub Performer [It's Yours] – T La Rock Producer – Pete Rock Written-By – N. Jones, P. Phillips	4:50
A5	Halftime Engineer – Kevin Reynolds Written-By – G. Byrd, N. Jones, W.P. Mitchell*	4:20
	41st Side South
B1	Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park) Engineer [Assistant] – Luis Tineo Written-By – C. Martin, N. Jones, P. Barsella, R. Wilson	4:07
B2	One Love Engineer – T. Latham* Producer – Q-Tip Written-By – J. Heath, J. Davis, N. Jones*	5:24
B3	One Time 4 Your Mind Engineer – Kevin Reynolds Engineer [Assistant] – Jack Herscha* Written-By – N. Jones, W.P. Mitchell	3:18
B4	Represent Engineer [Assistant] – Luis Tineo Written-By – C. Martin, N. Jones	4:13
B5	It Ain't Hard To Tell Engineer – Stan Wallace Engineer [Mix] – Diego Garrido Tracking By – Anton "Sample This" Pushansky* Written-By – N. Jones, W.P. Mitchell	3:22

Companies, etc.

Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Copyright © – Sony Music Entertainment Inc.
Distributed By – Sony Music
Produced For – Works Of Mart Productions
Produced For – Mecca And The Soul Brother Productions, Inc.
Produced For – Paul Sea Productions, Inc.
Produced For – A Tribe Called Quest, Inc.
Recorded At – D&D Studios
Recorded At – Unique Recording
Recorded At – Chung King Studios
Recorded At – Battery Studios, New York
Recorded At – Power Play Studios
Mixed At – D&D Studios
Mixed At – Unique Recording
Mixed At – Chung King Studios
Mixed At – Battery Studios, New York
Published By – Gifted Pearl Music
Published By – Ill Will Music, Inc.
Published By – Skematics Music
Published By – Minder Music (USA)
Published By – Taking Care Of Business Music
Published By – Total Experience Music Publishing Co.
Published By – Hit & Hold Music
Published By – Pete Rock Publishing
Published By – Large Professor Music Ltd.
Published By – EMI April Music Inc.
Published By – EMI Unart Catalog Inc.
Published By – MJQ Music, Inc.
Published By – DJ Premier Publishing
Record Company – Sony Music Entertainment
Pressed By – Sony/CBS, Haarlem – 01 475959 20

Credits

Art Direction – Jo DiDonato*
Design – Aimée Macauley
Engineer – Eddie Sancho (tracks: A2, B1, B4)
Executive-Producer – Faith N.*, MC Serch
Photography By – Danny Clinch
Producer – DJ Premier (tracks: A2, B1, B4), Large Professor (tracks: A5, B3, B5)

Notes

02-475959-20 International Nice Price issue.

The inner sleeve has a straight opening
Labels look slightly different compared to the pressing of Illmatic:
- On label B, the tracklisting is completely below the spindle hole,
- No dot after "INC" in rim text.

"NY State Of Mind" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC.
Contains a sample of "Mind Rain" as performed and written by J. Chambers.
Gifted Pearl/Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music (ASCAP)

"Life's A Bitch" recorded and mixed at Unique Studios and Chung King Studios, NYC.
Contains a sample of "Yearning For Your Love" as performed by The Gap Band and written by R. Wilson and O. Scott. Used courtesy Polygram Special Products, Inc.
Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP)/Taking Care Of Business Music/Total Experience Music Publishing Co. (BMI)

"The World is Yours" produced for Mecca And The Soul Brother Productions, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Battery Studios, NYC.
T La Rock courtesy of Warlock Records. Published by Hit'n'Hold Music (ASCAP)
Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Pete Rock Publishing (ASCAP)

"Halftime" produced for Paul Sea Productions, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, NYC.
Contains samples of "Dead End", "Soul Travelin'" and "School Boy Crush".
Large Professor Music Ltd./EMI April Music, Inc./Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Minder Music (USA) (ASCAP)

"Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC.
Contains sample of "We're In Love" as performed by Reuben Wilson and written by R Wilson and P. Barsella.
EMI Unart Catalog Inc./Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/Gifted Pearl (ASCAP)

"One Love" produced for A Tribe Called Quest, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Battery Studios, NYC.
Contains sample from "Smilin' Billy Suite Pt. II" as performed by The Heath Brothers and written by J. Heath.
Ill Will Music, Inc/Skematics Music (ASCAP)/MJQ Music, Inc.(BMI)

"One Time For Your Mind" produced for Paul Sea Productions, Inc. Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, NYC.
Contains sample of "Walter L" as written by G. Burton.
Large Professor Music Ltd./EMI April Music Inc./Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music (ASCAP)

"Represent" produced for Works Of Mart Productions. Recorded and mixed at D&D Recording, NYC.
Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music/DJ Premier Publishing/Gifted Pearl (ASCAP)

"It Ain't Hard To Tell" produced for Paul Sea Productions, Inc. Initial Tracking at PowerPlay Studios, Long Island City, NYC. Recorded and mixed at Chung King Studios, NYC.
Contains samples of "Human Nature" as performed by Michael Jackson and written by J. Betties and J. Pocaro; and "N.T." as performed by Kool & The Gang and written by G. Redd, Sr., G. Redd, Jr., R. Handy, C. Horne, R. Bell, R. Bell, R. Mickens, D. Thomas, G. Brown and C. Smith.
Large Professor Music Ltd./EMI April Music Inc./Ill Will Music, Inc./Skematics Music (ASCAP)

℗ & © 1994 Sony Music Entertainment, Inc.
Made in Holland

Distribution Sony Music

Catalog numbers:
475959 1 on spine and labels.
COL 475959 1 above barcode on back cover.
02-475959-20 in lower left corner on back cover.

Barcode and Other Identifiers

Barcode (EAN-Code, Scanned): 5099747595912
Other (Sony Haarlem code): 02-475959-20
Matrix / Runout (runout side A, variant 1, stamped): 01 475959 20 3A1
Matrix / Runout (runout side B, variant 1, stamped): 01 475959 20 2B1
Matrix / Runout (runout side A, variant 2, stamped): 01 475959 20 1A1
Matrix / Runout (runout side B, variant 2, stamped): 01 475959 20 1B1
Rights Society (Publishing): ASCAP
Rights Society (Publishing): BMI
Rights Society: BIEM
Rights Society: SACEM SACD SDRM SGDL
Label Code: LC 0162

Other Versions (5 of 103)

View All

	Title (Format)	Label	Cat#	Country	Year
Recently Edited	Illmatic (LP, Album)	Columbia	C 57684	US	1994
	Illmatic (Cassette, Album, Wide Window, Grid Bottom Panel, White Tape Guide)	Columbia	CT 57684	US	1994
Recently Edited	Illmatic (CD, Album)	Columbia	CK 57684	Canada	1994
Recently Edited	Illmatic (CD, Album, Club Edition)	Columbia	CCK 57684	Canada	1994
Recently Edited	Illmatic (CD, Album)	Columbia	758.206/2-475959	Brazil	1994

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Reviews

sixsixonerecords Jan 12, 2022
the inner tracks (Halftime and It Ain’t Hard to Tell) are distorted. All other tracks sound very dynamic.
Confederate Jun 26, 2021
Edited 3 years ago
Without any doubt one of the very best hip hop albums of all times. Every track is pure gold. Bought this particular release more than twenty years. I can however confirm that my copy has distortion on Halftime and It Ain't Hard To Tell, too. Halftime is still acceptable but It Ain't Hard To Tell is worse. Full of sibilance which is strange because the track before that "Represents" sounds just fine. Otherwise this is a very good pressing with punchy drums and bass. It is almost perfect in my opinion. Represent, for example, has those nice punchy drums. Wonderful. [ Playing this using an Ortofon 2M Black cartridge ]
VINYLSHACK-USA Oct 19, 2018
How can you tell the difference between the re-issue and the original?
ruderoy121 Nov 10, 2017
Edited 6 years ago
Have others noticed that the album cover picture is based on two negatives overlayed with the face picture being the top with the street and houses as the bottom.
This was copied from the Howard Hanger Trio "A child is born" album cover from 1974?
Redlove73 Sep 22, 2016
Hip Hop in its purest form. Dope production and NaS spits flames. Absolute classic.
black150 May 15, 2016
Some distortion on Half Time mars what otherwise be a great sounding pressing.
ChickenringNYC Aug 29, 2014
Was thrilled to find a sealed copy of this '94 EU pressing in Buffalo, NY! Sounds beautiful. Amazing and important album. Queens represent!
Techdiesel Jul 28, 2003
Uplifting, piece of WORLDS History... seriously this is a sick blend of poetry, beats, and smooth production that will never fade away...