Illmatic

Illmatic is the debut studio album by the American rapper Nas, released on April 19, 1994, through Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Recording, Battery Studios, and Unique Recording Studios in New York City. The album's production was handled by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and Nas himself. Styled as a hardcore hip-hop album, Illmatic features multi-syllabic internal rhymes and inner-city narratives based on Nas's experiences growing up in the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York.

llmatic was released on April 19, 1994, through Columbia Records in the United States. In its first week of release, Illmatic made its debut on the Billboard 200 at number 12, selling 59,000 copies. While initial sales were low, the album was eventually certified gold in sales by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 17, 1996, after shipping 500,000 copies; the RIAA later certified Illmatic platinum on December 11, 2001, following shipments in excess of a million copies. Charting together with the original Illmatic (according to the rules by Billboard), the twentieth anniversary release, Illmatic XX, sold 15,000 copies in its first week returning to Billboard 200 at number 18, with an 844% sales gain. As of April 20, 2014, the album sold 1,686,000 copies in the US. It was certified gold by the Canadian Recording Industry Association in April 2002, for shipments in excess of 50,000 copies in Canada.