I feel you on the "If I Ruled the World" thing, man. Today, I can appreciate it for how catchy it is, but at the time I was pretty put off. I was working at Musiplex back then and got to borrow a promo copy of the album, and I was crazy disappointed after listening to it.
I listened to the 12” single a few times while writing that. It is catchy for sure. I still am not a fan of it. It just lacks all the elements that made Nas, Nas on Illmatic.
I feel you on the "If I Ruled the World" thing, man. Today, I can appreciate it for how catchy it is, but at the time I was pretty put off. I was working at Musiplex back then and got to borrow a promo copy of the album, and I was crazy disappointed after listening to it.
I listened to the 12” single a few times while writing that. It is catchy for sure. I still am not a fan of it. It just lacks all the elements that made Nas, Nas on Illmatic.