6 Degrees Of "Illmatic"

1. Illmatic's album cover features a picture of Nas as a child. The picture was taken by Nas' father and jazz musician Olu Dara 2. The album image was allegedly inspired by a fellow jazz act, Howard Hanger Trio and the cover of their album A Child Is Born 3. The Illmatic album cover has gone on to inspire album covers by the likes of: • The Notorious B.I.G. - Ready to Die • Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III/IV • The Game - Doctor's Advocate, The Documentary • Tech N9ne - Vintage Tech • Kendrick Lamar - good kid, m.A.A.d city • Drake - Nothing Was the Same 4. Chart topping rapper Drake, has dubbed newcomer J. Cole as the "next Nas." 5. J. Cole wrote the track "Let Nas Down" after hearing that his idol was disappointed in some of his work 6. "Let Nas Down" includes lyrics borrowed from "Nas is Like," which is featured on the album I Am... 7. 2 Chainz has said his favorite Nas album is I Am..., particular because of its "teaching" and "concepts." 8. Sean 'Diddy' Combs collaborated with Nas on the track "Hate Me Now," which is featured on the I Am... album 9. Nas threw a jab at Diddy on the track "Purple" and inferred that he is the 'King of New York rap.' 10. On the Big Sean track "Control," Kendrick Lamar calls himself the 'King of New York.' 11. Fellow TDE member Schoolboy Q called himself a cross between Nas, Biggie and 50 Cent on the track "Brand New Guy." 12. 50 Cent dissed Nas' Kelis tattoo on "Piggy Bank" 13. Nas also had a high-profile beef with Jay Z 14. Jay Z would later go on to record "Empire State of Mind," the distant cousin of Illmatic's "N.Y. State of Mind." 15. "Empire State of Mind" was a collaboration with Alicia Keys, someone highly influenced by Nas and who would later record "Warrior's Song" for his album God's Son 16. Nas has the words 'God's Son' tattooed across his belly 17. Rick Ross has his childhood nickname Chill Will tattooed on his belly 18. Irv Gotti once said that Rick Ross should have signed with him instead of Jay Z 19. It Was Written features "Silent Murder," a song produced by Irv Gotti from Hollis Queens 20. Gotti would later launch the record label Murder Inc., famous as the home of Ja Rule 21. Ja Rule, like Nas, hails from Queens and had a long-running feud with fellow Queens native 50 Cent 22. Additional Queens native Q-Tip (Front man to A Tribe Called Quest) produced the track "One Love" on Illmatic 23. Two years before Illmatic, the album track "Halftime" appeared on the Zebrahead soundtrack 24. Zebrahead stars Michael Rapaport, who would go on to direct Beats, Rhymes & Life, a documentary about A Tribe Called Quest 25. The video for "Street Dreams" was directed by Hype Williams. He also directed Nas in the film Belly 26. One of the most influential films for Nas and countless rappers is Scarface 27. Nas references the film twice on Illlmatic, including with the title of his song "The World is Yours." 28. "The World is Yours" was featured on the soundtrack to the film Antwone Fisher 29. The film's director Denzel Washington has named Nas his favorite rapper of all time 30. Nas worked with actor Frank Vincent on the music video for "Street Dreams." Vincent worked with Robert de Niro on Raging Bull, Casino and Goodfellas 31. Robert de Niro praised the Nas documentary Time is Illmatic at the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival