The year is ‘94! Imagine Jay-Z getting pulled over by the cops possibly doing some real jail time while Nas & Biggie are preparing to drop some of their best work of their careers. Puff attempted to sign Nas & Mobb Deep, B.I.G. felt Puff was taking too long with the deal money, and Russel Simmons passed on Nas at Def Jam. Fate would have it that Jay-Z and B.I.G. would become great friends as Nas & Hov would become frenemies.

In Episode 3, Icy Johnson and I discuss the longevity of Ready to Die vs Illmatic. Illmatic is critically acclaimed as arguably the best Hip-Hop album of all time. We cannot take that from Nas AT ALL!!! What we can do is asses how good Ready to Die matches up against Illmatic. We thought about Outkast & Raekwon’s first albums but it is unfair to compare their albums to Nas’ first album which only had one feature. 

This podcast is no knock to Illmatic. This podcast is not saying it Ready to Die was better. This podcast is saying both albums are the first display of work from both artists. Illmatic reached the plateau of the golden years of hip-hop which embodied Jazz, Boom-Bap, and Witty Lyricism while Puff wanted the East Coast back with the same sounds that built the West Coast. Using Funk with heavy baselines Puff found a way to create the backdrop of Bad Boy along with Easy Moe Bee. 

The next time you listen to Illmatic remember Ready to Die came out the same year. Then, when you listen to Ready to Die listen to Doggystyle to see how it mirrors Doggystyle. Episode 3 is here!!!