Customer Reviews

Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I try to write reviews that I would have found helpful when I was shopping.
The following info has already been mentioned in other reviews, but is important:
This is a collection of essays connected to the tracks off of Nas' classic album "Illmatic." There is an essay for every song, including the intro, plus bonus commentary, interviews, and the original 5 Mic review from the Source. If one wants a "making of" version of Illmatic, then definately buy the 33 1/3 book for Illmatic.Nas' Illmatic (33 1/3 series)

If you are thinking of buying this book, answer these two questions:
1. Do you think a fair interpretation of the second line in "The World Is Yours" ("writin in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin") could be "The margins also serve as a metaphor for urban youth relegated to the margins by being forced to work within clearly defined legal, economic, social, and political parameters (i.e., margins)."?
2. Would you agree that "N.Y. State of Mind" is "a bird's-eye view, a series of close-ups and cutaways that not only allows us to imagine the land-mine littered landscape of the globe under American power - but also to see the connections between the forces that have devastated urban centers in the United States and those that are destroying lives throughout the Third World"?

If the answer is "Yes," definitely buy the book. If you answered, "No" or "I'm not sure" then this book might not be for you. Personally, I found these connections very clever, but I kept thinking, "I don't think this was on Nas' mind when he wrote this." My recommendation, look at the library first or borrow from a friend. The additional essays and interviews are very good. Nas' interviews are insightful, dream hampton writes about sharing Illmatic with Tupac, and Jon Caramanica writes an excellent essay putting Illmatic in historical context. He also includes a line that pops out in contrast to other writers: "(Illmatic) became what the listener wanted it to be as much as, if not more than, what Nas intended it to be."

I thought the Book was more a comprehensive review of each song on Illmatic but it borders between that, and a essay "on what this song means to me" type of book in some chapters.

Not real impressed with this one. Still a huge nas fan but didn't really feel the commentary. And the sister that obsessed over the mysogony in the "I Can" video is really reaching.

If you have ever wondered what the best way to write a review for a monumental CD while explaining its socioeconomic as well as political significance, I believe Michael Eric Dyson and Sohail Daulatzai have created the prototype. Incorporating essays from some of the top hip-hop intellectuals and writers in the game, including Mark Anthony Neal, Imani Perry, Kyra Gaunt, Mark Lamont Hill, Greg Tate, Dream Hampton, Guthrie Ramsey to name a few, to create what can only be described as a masterpiece. Be it its' track breakdown, its' lyrical analysis, or simply the way it captivates the mind--this book is a must read for cultural scholars as well as the layman.

First and foremost, I have always been a fan of Nas, since Illmatic. If you dont own Illmatic, you need to get it before you attempt to read this book. Each track is broken down, essay style by a hip hop academic personality. The subject matter gets pretty deep in this book and it's a conversation peice among other true hip hop heads. This book is thought provoking, you may have to put it down a few times to say "Dam!" and scratch your head. Don't be surprised if you need to get your dictionary out a few times. I highly recommend this book to people who enjoy a good discourse on the sociological perspectives of early hip hop. After you read this book you will have a lot more to talk and argue about.

First, just so people don't get it twisted - bear in mind that this book is NOT a break down of how the music was made and does NOT have input from Nas or any of the people who worked on the album, which I thought it might have.

Some Hip-Hop books have a LOT of input from MCs/producers like Check the Technique: Liner Notes for Hip-Hop Junkies, How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC, DJ Shadow's Endtroducing... (33 1/3), and Making Beats: The Art of Sample-Based Hip-Hop (Music Culture)... but this isn't one of those kind of books.

Born to Use Mics is essentially a series of essays written on Illmatic, so don't be disappointed if you buy it expecting MC/producer quotes and stories like in the above books, because that isn't what this book is about.

So judging it on what it is - a collection of academic analyzes of various themes in the subject matter of Illmatic - it does this extremely well, with some of the most insightful break downs of the socio-political aspects of Hip-Hop that I have seen, from some of the best academic writers.

Each essay is themed around one of the tracks on the album, and they touch on a lot of the references in the lyrics and go in depth to cover the intricacies that Nas put into the subject matter. Even people expecting more on the making of the album will be pleasantly surprised by how much you learn and the level of research into the themes and topics that are brought up.

A good book on a great album, and also a good companion to the other recent book on Illmatic - Nas' Illmatic (33 1/3 series).

i found this book to be educational and informative. it highlights Nas' first album as a product of the broader sociological context in which it was released. I found certain chapters to be more interesting than others (there were a few i really didn't care for). but if you want to take a deeper look into Nas' lyrics and why it is that Illmatic touches on the subjects that it does, this book helps break it down.

I didn't finish this book. After reading a few chapters of Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Lamont Hill spout off about how the whole world revolves around race and everything we experience today is EXACTLY as it was in the days of colonialism, I put the book down. Really I just can't read that crap, it's nauseating. Also, creating stupid words like "geo-socio-political context" and using them to describe how a guy tilts his hat does not make said hat a political statement. It's just a hat.

I love Nas as an artist. The analysis of his lyrics, etc was great.