Rewind: Nas 'It Was Written' (Part 2)

Continued from out last post, this is the second half of my examination of Nas' 'It Was Written'.

The Firm's first official appearance landed on 'It Was Written''s mid-album track 'Affirmative Action'. Although the ill-fated team-up of Nas, AZ, Cormega, and Foxy Brown was one of hip-hop's most talent squandering fiascos, the beat jacked from Otis Redding's 'Hard to Handle' courtesy of the Trackmasters and Dave Atkinson is a killer. 'Life's a B----' producer L.E.S. joins the Trackmasters for 'Black Girl Lost', which plunders 'Starlight' by Stephanie Mills. L.E.S. also produced 'Suspect', using a sample from Chuck Mangione's 'El Gato Triste' from his album 'Land of Make Believe'.

The shining star on 'It Was Written' appears at the very end. Nas and Lauryn Hill scored a major hit with 'If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)', produced by the Trackmasters and Rashad Smith. Lauryn's chorus takes cues from 'If I Ruled the World' by Kurtis Blow and 'Walk Right Up to the Sun' by the Delfonics. The best is jacked from Whodini's electro single 'Friends'. When all of these sources came together, 'If I Ruled the World' sounded both dated and brand new. The track still stands the test of time as one of Nas' finest mainstream moments.

The Lowdown:

Nas 'Affirmative Action', 'Black Girl Lost', 'Suspect', and 'If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)'
from 'It Was Written' (1996) (MP3/CD)
Clean Edits: 'Affirmative Action', 'Black Girl Lost', 'Suspect', and 'If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)'
Otis Redding 'Hard to Handle'
from 'The Immortal Otis Redding' (1968) (MP3/CD)
Stephanie Mills 'Starlight'
from 'Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin'' (1979)(MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
Chuck Mangione 'El Gato Triste'
from 'Land of Make Believe' (1973) (MP3/CD)
Kurtis Blow 'If I Ruled the World'
from 'America' (1985) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
The Delfonics 'Walk Right Up to the Sun'
from 'Tell Me This is a Dream' (1971) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)
Whodini 'Friends'
from 'Escape' (1984) (MP3 unavailable/CD unavailable)