It Was Written

by Nas

It Was Written cover art

Following his legendary debut, Nas shifted towards a grander, highly cinematic mafioso rap persona on 'It Was Written'. The album balances deeply conscious, rhythmic street poetry with aggressive gangsta rap narratives, supported by polished boom-bap and dense soul sampling.

Genres

  • Boom Bap
  • Gangsta Rap
  • Mafioso Rap

Tracklist

  1. Album Intro
  2. The Message
  3. Street Dreams
  4. I Gave You Power
  5. Watch Dem Niggas (feat. Foxy Brown)
  6. Take It In Blood
  7. Nas Is Coming (feat. Dr. Dre)
  8. Affirmative Action (feat. AZ, Cormega & Foxy Brown)
  9. The Set Up (feat. Havoc)
  10. Black Girl Lost (feat. JoJo Hailey)
  11. Suspect
  12. Shootouts
  13. Live Nigga Rap (feat. Mobb Deep)
  14. If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) (feat. Lauryn Hill)