Nas- “NY State of Mind”
“NY State of Mind” is a song by one of hip hop’s most influential artists, Nas. In 1994, Nas released his debut album, “Illmatic” and “NY State of Mind” second track in the album. What makes Nas such a legend in hip hop as well as New York City is that “Illmatic” was his debut album and at only the age of 21, he created the most influential hip hop albums of all time. In his album, many tracks reflect on the struggles he has experienced growing up in New York City. In “NY State of Mind” specifically, Nas takes on a more critical expression of New York City and the increasingly dangerous streets in which he was brought up in.
The very first verse talks about an encounter he has had with people in his neighborhood.
“Holding an M16, see with the pen I’m extreme, now Bullet holes left in my peepholes I’m suited up in street clothes, hand me a 9 and I’ll defeat foes.”
Although his lyrics are explicit and right from the beginning he raps about guns and gun violence. He also mentions how the danger and violence in New York City taught him survival skills unique to New Yorkers.
“The city never sleeps, full of villains and creeps That’s where I learned to do my hustle Had to scuffle with freaks”.
What initially attracted to me to Nas first was just listening Illmatic with the mindset that this is has influenced so many rappers and is always mentioned in any rap discussions. What also appealed to me about Nas was the fact that he was born and raised in Queens as well. Aside from the the similar background Nas has, his music itself has grown on me so quickly. The old school style in his music and the mastery in the delivery easily makes Nas my favorite hip hop artist. Nas has always been known for his storytelling and the rhyme scheme he uses in his rap music and that is definitely very apparent in this song dedicated to the city of New York.
When I hear “New York State of Mind,” I automatically think of the famous Billy Joel song. The song was released in 1976 well before the similarly titled song by Nas “NY State of Mind.” While Billy Joel’s song reflects on his own feelings of missing New York and its many glories, Nas seeks to establish quite the opposite in his song. Nas raps about the many dangers and horrors on the streets of New York. Referencing weapons and drugs frequently, Nas paints a scary picture of New York. From Nas’ point of view, New York City is a place to avoid. Contrastingly, Billly Joel misses the very same location in his song. With such similar titles yet polar meanings, I wonder if Nas’ song was a response to the older Billy Joel song.
Interesting that you chose to focus on the 1994 song by Nas as opposed to Jay Z’s more recent rendition, “Empire State of Mind,” which is what I think of when I hear the name of the song. Nas’ perspective on the song is different from Jay Z’s, and that’s probably because of the nature of the historical context of their release. Nas released his song in the 1990s, when urban crime rates were at record highs. Thus, his song portrays gang violence and street crimes occurring at the time. Contrastingly, New York was the center of the financial downturn that occurred in 2008, when Jay Z released his song. Thus, this newer song is meant to unify New Yorkers around their city, and holds a much more optimistic and upbeat style.
It was interesting to listen to Nas- A Queen’s Story because the song’s content was familiar yet foreign to me at the same time. I connected with Dil’s interpretation of A Queen’s story where he recounts that Queen is regarded as the underdog borough because most of the important highlights of New York City happen in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and sometimes Bronx. Although, Queens is the acknowledged but unimportant member of the borough group, Nas celebrates his hometown for it’s special treasures that only he sees. I relate to this celebration of this underdog borough because I live in Staten Island and despite being a part of New York City, it is usually forgotten by the other boroughs.However, like Nas I see the the hidden treasures of Staten Island and I celebrate this borough for it’s uniqueness and it’s importance to me. Furthermore, this song was an interesting choice because I would have thought as a New Yorker, Nas would have sung about New York city since it is more recognizable than Queens but instead he chose to celebrate his specific hometown and neighborhood over the city. I don’t really visit Queen but this song makes me curious enough to visit this borough and see it from Nas’s eyes.