Dem Vinyl Boyz EP 29 - Illmatic

Dem Vinyl Boyz are back diving straight into Nas' debut studio album "Illmatic". This album was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records, produced by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and Nas himself. Nas, who was twenty years old when the album was released, focuses on depicting his own experiences, creating highly detailed first-person narratives that deconstruct the troubled life of an inner city teenager. Nas said in an interview in 2001: “When I made Illmatic I was a little kid in Queensbridge trapped in the ghetto. My soul was trapped in Queensbridge projects.” Styled as a hardcore hip hop album, “Illmatic” features internal rhymes and inner-city narratives based on Nas' experiences growing up in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York City. In a 2012 interview, Nas explains what he wants the take away from his album to be, he says "I want you to know who I am: what the streets taste like, feel like, smell like. What the cops talk like, walk like, think like. What crackheads do — I wanted you to smell it, feel it. It was important to me that I told the story that way because I thought that it wouldn't be told if I didn't tell it." The album debuted at number 12 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 63,000 copies in its first week. However, its initial sales fell below expectations and its five singles failed to achieve significant chart success. Despite the album's low initial sales, “Illmatic” received rave reviews from most music critics, who praised its production and Nas' lyricism. Thanks for tuning in to Dem Vinyl Boyz, like and subscribe!!

DEM VINYL BOYZ

Before music lived in the cloud, it lived in our hands.

It came wrapped in artwork big enough to study, tucked inside a paper sleeve, and carried the faint smell of cardboard, dust, and time. You lowered the needle, heard that first warm crackle, and for the next forty minutes, the album had your complete attention.

For years, vinyl lovers were told they were stuck in the past. While the world raced toward CDs, downloads, and endless digital playlists, Dem Vinyl Boyz kept moving at 33⅓ RPM—saving the records, protecting the sleeves, and never forgetting that music was meant to be experienced, not skipped.

Turns out, vinyl never died. It was only waiting for the rest of the world to slow down and listen again.

Each week, Dem Vinyl Boyz pull a classic album from the crates and take you back to the moment it entered the world. From the opening note of Side A to the final groove of Side B, they explore the songs, the artists, the studio stories, the cultural impact, and the little-known details that transformed a collection of tracks into a legendary album.

This isn’t just a review. It’s a musical time machine.

It’s the sound of sliding a record from its jacket. The anticipation before the needle drops. The lost art of listening to an album in the order the artist intended. And the memories that return the moment an old song begins to play.

So put on your headphones, pull up a seat beside the turntable, and rediscover the greatest music ever pressed into wax.

DEM VINYL BOYZ. DROP THE NEEDLE. HEAR THE HISTORY. RESPECT THE TECHNIQUE.