It Was Written

"If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)"
It Was Written
	It Was Written
Álbum de estúdio de Nas
Lançamento	2 de Julho de 1996
Gravação	1995-1996
Gênero(s)	hip hop
Duração	53:33
Idioma(s)	Inglês
Formato(s)	CD
Gravadora(s)	Columbia Records
Produção	Trackmasters, DJ Premier, Havoc, Dr. Dre, L.E.S., Live Squad, Dave Atkinson, Rashad Smith, Lo Ground, Top General Sounds
Cronologia de Nas
	Illmatic; (1994)
I Am...; (1999)
Singles de Illmatic
	"If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)"; Lançamento: 28 de Maio de 1996; "Street Dreams"; Lançamento: 22 de Outubro de 1996; "The Message"; Lançamento: 1996;

It Was Writen (em português: Foi Escrito) é o segundo álbum solo do rapper americano Nas, lançado em 2 de Julho de 1996 pela Columbia Records nos Estados Unidos. Depois do número de vendas moderado do seu aclamado álbum de estreia Illmatic (1994), Nas escolheu focar-se em uma direção mais comercial. Primeiramente produzido pelos Trackmasters, foi uma mudança do tom cru e underground de sua estreia para um som mais polido e comercial. O álbum apresenta temas de gangsta e mafioso, e marca a primeira aparição de seu supergrupo The Firm, que incluía os rappers Foxy Brown, AZ e Cormega.

Críticas profissionais
Avaliações da crítica
Fonte	Avaliação
Allmusic	^[1]
Chicago Tribune	^[2]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[3]
Los Angeles Times	^[4]
The New York Times	(mista)^[5]
NME	6/10^[6]
Rolling Stone	1996^[7]
Rolling Stone	2004^[8]
The Source	^[9]
Vibe	(favorável)^[10]

O álbum provou-se ser o lançamento de maior sucesso comercial de Nas, estreando no primeiro lugar da Billboard 200 com 268,000 cópias e chegando a vender mais de 3 milhões de cópias mundialmente, com 2,494,000 só nos EUA.^[11] Também anunciou a popularidade de Nas, apesar de seu apelo ter sido prejudicado pelo sucesso de outros álbuns de mafioso rap como Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... (1995) e Reasonable Doubt (1996). Porém, suas mudanças de estilo e aumento de sucesso no mainstream promoveram acusações de se vender dentro da comunidade do hip hop. It Was Written também recebeu críticas mistas por não estar em par com Illmatic, servindo como um exemplo de queda do segundo álbum.

Faixas

#	Título	Duração	Compositores	Produtor(es)	Intérprete(s)	Sample(s)^[12]
1	"Album Intro"	2:24	N. Jones	Nas & Trackmasters	Nas & AZ (não creditado)	Contains sample from "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke Contains sample from "The Sly, the Slick, and the Wicked" by The Lost Generation
2	"The Message"	3:54	N. Jones, S. Barnes	Trackmasters	Nas	Contains sample from "Shape of My Heart" by Sting Contains sample from "Woman" by Neneh Cherry Contains samples from "NY State Of Mind" by Nas Contains sample from "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers
3	"Street Dreams"	4:40	N. Jones, S. Barnes, A. Lennox, D. Stewart	Trackmasters	Nas	Contains an interpolation of "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" by Eurythmics Contains sample from "Never Gonna Stop" by Linda Clifford
4	"I Gave You Power"	3:52	N. Jones, C. Martin	DJ Premier	Nas	Contains sample from "Theme Bahamas" by Ahmad Jamal
5	"Watch Dem Niggas"	4:04	N. Jones, S. Barnes	Trackmasters	Nas & Foxy Brown	Contains sample from "Sponge" by Bob James & Earl Klugh
6	"Take It in Blood"	4:48	N. Jones, R. Walker, C. Horne, J. Pruit, J. Epps, W. Childs	Live Squad, Lo Ground & Top General Sounds	Nas	Contains sample from "Ease Back" by Ultramagnetic MCs Contains sample from "Mixed Up Moods & Attitudes" by The Fantastic Four
7	"Nas Is Coming"	5:41	N. Jones, A. Young	Dr. Dre	Nas & Dr. Dre	Contains sample from "Synopsis Two: Mother's Day " by 24 Carat Black
8	"Affirmative Action"	4:19	N. Jones, I. Marchand, C. McKay, A. Cruz, S. Barnes, J.C. Olivier	Dave Atkinson, Trackmasters	Nas, AZ, Cormega, Foxy Brown, (The Firm)	Contains sample from "Hard to Handle" by Etta James
9	"The Set Up"	4:01	N. Jones, K. Muchita	Havoc	Nas & Havoc
10	"Black Girl Lost"	4:23	N. Jones, L. Lewis, J. Mtume, Lucas	L.E.S., Trackmasters	Nas & Joel "Jo-Jo" Hailey	Contains sample from "Starlight" by Stephanie Mills
11	"Suspect"	4:12	N. Jones, L. Lewis	L.E.S.	Nas	Contains sample from "El Gato Triste" by Chuck Mangione
12	"Shootouts"	3:46	N. Jones, S. Barnes, J.C. Olivier	Trackmasters	Nas	Contains sample from "I Wish You Were Here" by Al Green Contains sample from "Theme from 'The Avengers'" by Laurie Johnson
13	"Live Nigga Rap"	3:45	N. Jones, K. Muchita	Havoc	Nas & Mobb Deep
14	"If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)"	4:42	N. Jones, S. Barnes, J.C. Olivier, K. Walker	Trackmasters & Rashad Smith	Nas & Lauryn Hill	Contains sample from "Friends" by Whodini Contains an interpolation of "If I Ruled the World" by Kurtis Blow Contains an interpolation of "Walk Right Up to the Sun" by The Delfonics
*15	"Silent Murder" (Versões em CD Japonesas e Européias & Faixa Bônus da Versão em Cassete Americana)	3:24	N. Jones, M. H. Browne, B. T. Romeo	Live Squad, Lo Ground & Top General Sounds	Nas	Contains sample from "You're Getting a Little Too Smart" by The Detroit Emeralds Contains sample from "Get a Life" by Soul II Soul
*16	"Affirmative Action St-Denis-Style Remix" (Faixa Bônus da Versão em CD Européia)	4:04	N. Jones, I. Marchand, A. Cruz, S. Barnes, J.C. Olivier	Dave Atkinson, Trackmasters, Adapted by Joey Starr & Kool Shen (NTM)	Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown & NTM (Joey Starr & Kool Shen)

Paradas

Álbum

Parada (1996)	Posição de pico^[13]
US Billboard 200	1
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	1
UK Albums Chart	38

Singles

Ano	Single	Posições de pico^[14]
Ano	Single	Billboard Hot 100	Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks	Hot Rap Tracks	UK Singles Chart
1996	"If I Ruled The World"	53	17	15	12
1996	"Street Dreams"	22	18	1	12

Procissão e sucessão nas paradas

Precedido por Load de Metallica	*Álbuns número um na Billboard* 200 de 1996** 20 de Julho – 16 de Agosto de 1996	Sucedido por Beats, Rhymes and Life de A Tribe Called Quest

Bibliografia

John Borgmeyer, Holly Lang (2006). Dr. Dre: A Biography. Edition: illustrated. [S.l.]: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-33826-4
Jake Brown (2006). Dr. Dre in the Studio. Edition: illustrated. [S.l.]: Amber Books Publishing. ISBN 0-976-77355-4
Mickey Hess (2007). Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists. [S.l.]: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-31333-902-3
Mickey Hess (2007). Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture. Edition: illustrated. [S.l.]: Greenwood Publishing Group. ISBN 0-313-33904-X
Todd Boyd (2004). The New H.N.I.C.: The Death of Civil Rights and the Reign of Hip Hop. [S.l.]: NYU Press. ISBN 0-814-79896-9
Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. [S.l.]: Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-74320-169-8

Referências

↑ Stanley, Leo. Review: It Was Written. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-08-01
↑ Kot, Greg. "Review: It Was Written". Chicago Tribune: 6. July 25, 1996. Archived from the original on 2009-09-04. (Transcription of original review at talk page)
↑ Ehrlich, Dimitri. Review: It Was Written. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-02-22.
↑ Coker, Cheo Hodari. Review: It Was Written. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-07-09.
↑ Pareles, Jon. Review: It Was Written. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-03-09.
↑ Review: It Was Written. The New York Times.
↑ Coleman, Mark (1996-09-19). Review: It Was Written. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
↑ Hoard, Christian. "Review: It Was Written". Rolling Stone: 568–569. November 2, 2004.
↑ Shortie. "Review: It Was Written". The Source: 73. April 1994. Archived from the original on 2009-08-03.
↑ Krisex. "Review: It Was Written". Vibe: 201–202. September, 1996.
↑ http://books.google.com.br/books?id=gRQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
↑ Track listing and credits as per liner notes for It Was Written album
↑ It Was Written: Charts & Awards. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-08-01
↑ It Was Written: Singles charts. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-02-22.

Ligações externas

It Was Written em Discogs
Letras e samples de áudio em Yahoo! Music

[Stanley-1] Stanley, Leo. Review: It Was Written. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-08-01

[Kot-2] Kot, Greg. "Review: It Was Written". Chicago Tribune: 6. July 25, 1996. Archived from the original on 2009-09-04. (Transcription of original review at talk page)

[Ehrlich-3] Ehrlich, Dimitri. Review: It Was Written. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 2009-02-22.

[Coker-4] Coker, Cheo Hodari. Review: It Was Written. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on 2009-07-09.

[Pareles-5] Pareles, Jon. Review: It Was Written. The New York Times. Retrieved on 2009-03-09.

[6] Review: It Was Written. The New York Times.

[Coleman-7] Coleman, Mark (1996-09-19). Review: It Was Written. Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2008-08-01.

[Hoard-8] Hoard, Christian. "Review: It Was Written". Rolling Stone: 568–569. November 2, 2004.

[Shortie-9] Shortie. "Review: It Was Written". The Source: 73. April 1994. Archived from the original on 2009-08-03.

[Krisex-10] Krisex. "Review: It Was Written". Vibe: 201–202. September, 1996.

[11] ttp://books.google.com.br/books?id=gRQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false

[credits-12] Track listing and credits as per liner notes for It Was Written album

[billboard-13] It Was Written: Charts & Awards. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2008-08-01

[singles-14] It Was Written: Singles charts. Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-02-22.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]