Illmatic

Illmatic is the debut album by rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994 through Columbia Records. Featuring production from Large Professor (of Main Source), Pete Rock (of Pete Rock & CL Smooth), Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest) and DJ Premier (of Gang Starr), as well as a guest appearance from AZ, Illmatic was immediately hailed as a masterpiece by several critics, and is today one of the most celebrated and influential albums in hip hop history.

The release of Illmatic redefined the musical milieu of East Coast hip hop in the mid-1990s, resulting in a renewed focus on lyricism and in the revival of the Queensbridge rap scene, which had been latent after a period of prominence during the 1980s. In spite of this, the initial record sales of Illmatic fell below expectations.

On December 11, 2001, Illmatic was certified Platinum by the RIAA, and as of that month it was selling 3,000 copies a week in the U.S. A remastered commemorative edition of Illmatic was issued by Columbia for the album's tenth anniversary in 2004, with a bonus disc of four remixes and two previously unreleased tracks.