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IllmaticReleased: 1994NasNas avatar

LINER NOTES: Nas, Illmatic (1994)

By: Tommie Shelby

Born September 14, 1973, a black youth named Nasir (which means “helper and protector” in Arabic) grows up in the notorious Queensbridge Housing Projects in Queens, NY. He is raised largely by his hardworking mother Ann Jones, who provides a loving and stable household despite the ghetto’s oppressive social environment. Though highly intelligent, desirous of knowledge, and bursting with creativity, the young man becomes disillusioned with school, losing all respect for his teachers, and drops out after only eight years of formal education.

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