Nas - Understanding [Vinyl Quality] [Track 1]

[y0uknowmysteez]

This shit is like my favorite album/demo whatever you want to call it all time. This still sounds like the best shit ever today. I can't understand why people like new commercial gay shit and don't like this. Just smoke a blunt, listen to this shit, and chill...

[snipersLock]

"The beast smell the L cause I travel long distance"

Thats a sick N.Y. state of mind connection he made.

[1phreshprince1]

what songs are post illmatic and which ones are pre?

[exkimo64]

@1phreshprince1 Post: Understanding, Life is Like A Dice Game and Deja Vu. everything else pre

[XxXtramikk]

1991>"Killmatic", 1994>Illmatic, 2001>Stillmatic

I might not be accurate on the year when the album came out

[izelkay]

This beat is bananas

[WorldWideEpicFails]

which album is this from and what year

[freedfighter96]

Nas makes better songs while he is high, because his mental state isn't what it used to be.

[amarvalous]

This joint came out way before 96. This and other freestyles such as" on the real" came out after illmatic but way before it was written.

[jelloman17]

damn they bring the funk with this one, can't help but be bobbing my head to this one!

And these verses are fire! Wooo! too much fun with this one Nasir.

[Big187Dog]

who sings understanding in this song?

[Genesism7]

/watch?v=WYWyyymImiI

[nomibe2911]

This could have not been pre-illmatic because AZ and Nas first collaborated on Illmatic and therefore AZ would not have been on this track had this song been made in 92.

[wodgerd]

JIGGGGGGEEEEMAEEAYASIZZZZ  fuck bk17

[bizzythekid77]

grover washington jr. rest in peace!

[Yewell81]

! DOPE !

[icon73291]

WHEN THIS DROPPED!!!!!!!! NOBODY WAS FUCKIN' WIT THE WORD PLAY OR FLOW ( TRY AND DISS IT WHILE MY FINGERS ON AN IRON BISKIT)

( CHOP SHOP HIP HOP, BURN A BLOCK INTRO) CMON SON!!!

AZ SHOULDA BLESSED SOMETHING THO

[Wirbelwing]

Спасибо центру за это

[snipersLock]

"The beast smell the L cause it travel long distance" wow

[charlesrwilson]

This shit bumps the hardest...ever...period!!! I wanna be like the guy from Office Space except I want 12's in the back!!! Thumbs up if you know what it is!!!

[fonkyninjaproduction]

street disciple

[crowner85]

dis is a great demo no stdio can refuse or deny

[nomibe2911]

I got the proper diction/my competition bleed words-Nas soul was here before to come up with some shit like that.

[michaelmcpoet1]

Was this really made on Earth? Nas was on a higher level on this recording.

[Gemberland2004]

Is that biz markie in the beginning?

[808KORRUPT]

1 person dislikes this song, AND HE'S A FUCKIN FAGGIT!!!

[DarkChildMuzik]

what year is this '93?

[ShallahJupiter7XL]

@DarkChildMuzik early 1996

[realmusicrealtalent1]

Lost tapes volume 2 is coming out as a deluxe to nas's new album this year, although I agree, how about lost tapes vol 3?

[12guageINDIANAboy]

I think this whole mix tape should be released on CD. Be called the lost tapes vol. 2

[thejanitor6166]

mandatory

[chuckieboy1988]

@thejanitor6166 Damn str8

[Hiphophead1904]

On joints prior to illmatic, Nas recycled his rhymes and dropped one of the illest hip hop albums in history. The entire illmatic is basically a remake of his demo tape. Hahaha, smh. Nas is like.......

[bigddagenius]

@RelaxednCaIm no it isnt. its his demo that came out around 92.

[RelaxednCaIm]

@bigddagenius

this song isn't from his demo. neither is deja vu, or dice game.

[bigddagenius]

@RelaxednCaIm then where are they from?

[RelaxednCaIm]

@bigddagenius

dice game and understanding were recorded in 94, after illmatic. deja vu was recorded in 95.

[ShallahJupiter7XL]

@RelaxednCaIm how do u figure it was recorded in 94, this surfaced on a dj s&s tape in early 96 (s&s had tracks straight out of the studio on his tapes)..deja vu was recorded in 95 and dice game late 94 i know this for a fact-but this joint here i thougt was early 96-he even sounds pre it was written era vocally.

[RelaxednCaIm]

@ShallahJupiter7XL

it leaked in 96 maybe, but it was recorded before then, possibly 95. by 96 nas was on his "don" shit.

[ShallahJupiter7XL]

@RelaxednCaIm yeah i would say 95 too as it was leaked in early 96, he didnt have his illmatic voice but yeah like you said-wasnt quite his mafioso steez yet.peace.

[SittinCrookyd69]

@Hiphophead1904 TO DEATH JUST BULLSHIT! lol

[assman1245]

holy shit this is like gold. now i can download like a new nas album form the nast nas days :D

[exkimo64]

@assman1245 Well not al of it is from the Nasty Nas days as it says in the description.

[assman1245]

@exkimo64 why do you have to poop on my parade

[exkimo64]

@assman1245 A man's got to poop somewhere... might as well make it on a parade. =P

Some of it is Nasty Nas era but some not, though all of it is awesome.

[michalslahor]

@assman1245 No one is pooping, just enjoying Nasty Nas, the shit is ill cause it travels long distance. :-)

[Urmusic100]

@assman1245 more like platinum

[spideymayne]

VINYL QUALITY. Wow. Yo, thank you for adding this.

[boombapswag92]

yo...wat is this from??? be4 illmatic? holla at me people

[Dooke80]

@boombapswag92 Yeah this Pre Illmatic.

[quantumdude]

WOW !! Thx so much for this !

[oschino03]

nas i can truly say is a real rapper the goat

[lyricsfromsweden]

MAN! me and my friends created a cypher and i beatboxed this beat, it was genius!

[pryme]

YOO who starts a song off better than NASTY NAS?!

[mookeychase0907]

Yo Nas is that dude sun...

[dalrekantarah]

I BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS SONG FOR 11 YEARS SINCE I LOST MY DJ S&S MIX CD NAS MURDERED THIS TRACK

[gbliss88]

"It's Buddha 'til we spark, it's consistent

The beast smells the el because it travels long distance

Cruising in his Chrysler, perusing niggas in my ciphers

Thoughts wilding like insane asylum on Rikers Island" "resurrection international hoes, I'm sexing

Or you'll be fucking one section, question?

Does a lonely mic give me an erection?, yes, son"

[UMKOZI]

@gbliss88 good

[blew6]

classic



[bG3aZu3bLaZe3]

raekwon uses this beat on immobilarity

[cricka09]

that right there is hip hop

[EvH920410]

i swear it says farron at 1:03 bthats my girlfriends name

[SoapfaceKillah]

that second verse sounds like Raekwon wrote it.

[spideymayne]

This shit is ridiculous. Nobody puts together rhymes like Nas. GOAT

[keilyngodson26]

lol @ white people actin' like they "understand"

[Streetztalkin1]

Nas raped this beat

[mookeychase0907]

@Streetztalkin1 "He sure did"

[msnikish1]

anyone know why none of these joints made it on illmatic????

[eckopnb]

if anyone tried steppin to this theyd get straight murdered

[MetaversalSouljah]

Russell Simmons deserves to be slapped and spit on for denying this demo tape. WTF was he thinking?

[insanityrecordings]

@MetaversalSouljah he denied this tape? that was a dumb ass move, in my opinion this whole demo tape is fire id have signed nas if i was a producer and heard this back in the day

[icjay1990]

holy shit!!!!! one of the best of all fuckin time 4 sure!!

[godson856]

this classic material before the classic illmatic word up

[EntaDetroit]

''illmatic shit so what have you''

[Mr10Sharks]

this feels so good to me...

[tpriest1914]

What about the Gap band sample? What song is it from?

[SittinCrookyd69]

Nas is to hiphop, what Ali was to boxing.

the G.O.A.T.

[MarshBlumpkinXXL]

burnin that mic. damn nas did it again.

[chyna316]

i cant believe russell simmons turned down this demo tape, that nigga fronted.

dont get no more real than that!

[chyna316]

850 tempo but rugged like a pinto/

chop shop hiphop , burnin block intro/

high priests release voodoo, dejavu and this taboo, illmatic shit and what have you.

the dopest demotape ever heard by mankind

[RelaxednCaIm]

this actually wasn't on his demo tape, it' post illmatic.

[JustBlaze234]

Everytime AZ and Nas get on a track its gauranteed to be ember

[ryoma22454]

HE Murdered This shit!!!

and im not even a hardcore nas fan

[BeaverDamRecords]

Straight Hip Hop No Strings Attached

[JaysLit1]

Mind blowing

Nas my G.O.A.T. Period

[LupeF0rLife14]

See man this shit right here is a plain example of a smart ass nigga. thats why Nas and Az are my favorite rappers because every song you listen to by them they'll have you on froze. Word To mother man this shit real man no playplay

[itsmeinthe603]

this is hip hop..... straight up hip hop.....

[rahulinho]

his new albums aren't far from hip hop, hip hop has evolved either ways, but his latest LP Untitled is really classic material, such a good cd from start to finish!

[DaProlifik1reaLyrics]

devolved

[charlyblues]

I remembre whe I heard this for the first time! I listened this tape after I listened(for seriously more then a thousand times ) to Illmatic.

Here's where you really can see the difference between other MC's and also Jay-z. i know a lotta folks lke jay-z , but how Nas has so many different flows, which you can especially admire on this tape right here. Its abnormal.

[westsideforlife0]

i love this stuff

am 17 but i love old school

i wish they played this on b.e.t.

[ballla98]

i feel u man (no homo)

but yeah.. dey should play more "real rap" on b,e,t.... someting for da yute dem dese days

[dollarmentary]

THIS IS PART OF MY HISTORY

[hahayoumad1]

nas is the best rapper to ever do it the end

[jonnyfitz6618]

so much better than his new stuff man! he got it so right in the begin'in wiv illmatic, with lyrical style and production, i just feel his newer albums are so far from real hiphop

[1139307]

go and listen to his new song's "film" and "i have to"

[THEGODPOSTAOW]

classic one of my fave nas freestyles of all time i remember when hot 97 use to bang this..i miss the 90s

[Yorhymes1]

So young when he was spitting this! It's incredible...

Btw, check my channel! Two tracks off of up coming mixtape!

(click my channel!!). Upcoming MC!!

Appreciate it!

[poetryselite]

Nas' lyrical abilities are second to none. Nas is indeed the G.O.A.T. Only thing that would've made this illa would be havin AZ spit ill flow afta droppin the knowledge at the beginnin.

[danieldominguez102]

@poetryselite amen 

[dynastyofduce]

speak his words

[raphiphopppp]

le seul album a l'ancienne de nass que j'adore que mon frere me faisait ecouterz oh lala le rap a l'ancienne la nostalgie koi

[exkimo64]

Black Thought is incredible lyricist and Poet.

Besides All of those thoughts are relative to how the artists and their music has influenced you

[DynastyLuminous45]

if by HOV you mean Jigga, then he's far from GOAT, the GOAT is Rakim.

[wtcmagictrick]

u put Rakim in his prime facing Hov in his prime wit a mic in da middle the jigga man would destroy!

[exkimo64]

.... I don't think even Jay-z would ever say something like that.

But hey that's opinion and that's kool but I'm pretty sure that there are great MCs who would disagree very much.

[DynastyLuminous45]

yeah but Rakim never brought out bad shit and the jigga fell of because of his basic rap style (which he brought into the commercialized shit) and the fact that he jacked line after line, so you tell me who fails harder.

[hennylo68]

Thats the silliest thing I ever heard, it sounds like you even are having a hard time believing that.

[DaProlifik1reaLyrics]

@wtcmagictrick hell mothafuckin no, Jay-Z, in his prime, was powered by beats. Rakim now is better than Jay-Z ever was or will be, and I wouldn't say he's in his prime. But he's still dope.

[fuzzylemur14]

@DaProlifik1reaLyrics

You fools are to busy complainin about how much better this nigga is than the other. You think Nas was intending for you fools to hop on his dick like a bunch of bitches. You defend him as if you know the nigga. Just enjoy his music son. Do what you gotta do to chill and enjoy. Thats what this shit is for.

[DaProlifik1reaLyrics]

@fuzzylemur14 I didn't say shit about Nas. I don't like Jay-Z, I have a right to voice my opinion of Jay-Z and my opinion of who's better beetween him and Rakim if somebody brings the subject up. So yeah, do what you gotta do to chill and enjoy, that's what this shit is for but voicing opinions is what the comments section is for. So if you don't like reading people's opinions, don't read the comments. Calling people dickriders for having an opinion on music is retarded.

[bigboidumpsta]

@wtcmagictrick you are a luuuuuunatic. nothing jigga has every done/will do can compare to Rakim at his prime

[itsmeinthe603]

@wtcmagictrick .....did you see wat nas did to jay z? check yourself son!

[batman05655]

@wtcmagictrick considering Hov took his flow from jazz-o and recycles B.I.Gs rhymes...i doubt it...i got respect for jigga buuut hes not destroying rakim sorry

[lalaman288]

TRU DAT MY NIGGA!!!!

From new york to cali japan and I-taly I'm known as the microphone muhammad ali

[ndowney]

thought is mad underrated...not sure if he's the goat, but he'd give anyone a run for their money

[dazeofreality]

Rakim, Big Daddy Kane, and Kool G Rap are the G.O.A.T.s. Without them there'd be no Nas, Biggie, Jay-Z, etc.

[stevomil]

this is fucking nice. listen to that beat!!

[brownsugar976]

I was thinking the same thing....

[alivenawake1]

damn Nas murders it

[sooloubombi]

Nas is the GOAT, nuff said

[tacticaldeathstrike]

and not Fat Joe but I think JOSE too.

[Ashotz69]

i got the whole mixtape,holla at me if u want it.ill upload it 4 u

[91erazor]

dam man id love to have it this shit is sick

[AnXchi1]

yall make no sense he says the beast smells the l cuz it travels long distance

the cops were out to arrest niggas ridin around smokin

cruisin in the chrysler who else but the pigs

[totaldipshit]

Nah... He says,,, The beat smells the el cuz it travels long distance... I'll fukkin metaphor!!!!... This song came at one of the hungry moments for him as an M.C.!!!...

[47trerock]

DAMN I WANNA BUY THIS WTF DIS IS HOT

[DJDinnerRoll]

i swear i end up listing to this everyday and still my shit

[hennylo68]

Damn nas is nice...............

[walkemskies]

man these tracks are fire, about to get me that tape, thanks for the up

[exkimo64]

no prob.

[totaldipshit]

The beat swells the EL cause it travels long distance-WOW!!! lol. Nas got Crazy Metaphors out the azz!!!.

Da God MC foreelz!!!!!!

[outdaboxtv]

I think he says... .there's budah to be sparked with persistance. the beast smells the l because it travles long distance... Crusin in his crylsler persuing niggas in my cypher..start wilin like insane assylum on rikers island.

I could be wrong... Let me spark and listen again. Peace fam 100.

[shibby1423]

Epic Props for this

[midway51]

When ya listen to this ya better be smokin' some ll's...classic Nas at his best!

[DJDinnerRoll]

haha i was rolling up when i read this

[trackspin]

this off Black Frost by Grover Washington... off Mister Magic

[exkimo64]

actually it's the song "Magic Man"

[trackspin]

I'm sorry

[BluesRockRevival]

its actully the title track, "Mister Magic," awesome song tho.

[jacob0809]

Rea and Ghost for jus pure gully hip hop nas & az r jus lyrical legends they both sick mcz i rate em for different reasons

[Jran007]

Nas and AZ, best borough connection!

[Jonny89718]

nah, they are the best combo ever! in my opinion at least.

[Jran007]

no question! Ghost and Rae are the only two who come even close. What do you think?

[Jonny89718]

i like rae and ghost, but i never liked their style quite as much.

[Jran007]

True, Nas and AZ are more intellectual where Rae and Ghost are more of a flow of conscienceness if you know what I'm saying. They will talk about things that dont make much sense, but are funny as hell, and more ruthless than the latter. All in all, I love Hip Hop!!

[mctroll89]

omg...fuck yes! this is fucking fire! it's like i'm listening to a continuation of illmatic even though it came before!

[LHR90101]

this track is fucking immense. if this was on illmatic!

[VITHYM]

Classic Track right here!!!!!!!!!! Check out the Instrumental Version on my page

[exkimo64]

did, I'm the one who asked for the download link

[KyleCW18]

Verbal assain imagine Nas blastin yo body in a casket resurrected in this hip hop game but its  full of lames who you gonna blame Nas will prevail hail and desend on the same place where he thought he would end. QB Feins on the street drinkin juice and gin. Hearin' the crowd sayin we love you friend. 15 years ago his building 40-16 is where he would've been... Word up!

[Jran007]

haha...real talk.

[wukillalogic]

Illsick. This should be released as an official album. if anyone wants to check out some real hip hop check out my page. I got some unreleased Benefit songs and other sick shit.

[igorladyjensky]

mad props for this

[briannloo]

NASTY nas

[SonnyTBNYC]

nas' unsigned demos are better than most rapper's albums. sad.

[CowboyKilla89]

Nasty NaS In your area about to cause MASS hysteria

[Dawn0564]

this sounds like the beat to soul 4 real candy coated rain drops

[tpriest1914]

IT IS B!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[GreenLantern2xXx]

lol!!...

[insidejerk]

word this album is fire. this is the only song ive previously heard from this tape but all these tracks are dank as hell. we need more of this music around.

[kashmo11]

damn people! this joint is fat and dope as hell! i can't believe my 13yrs of listening to nas, i never heard this!

[23frankiee23]

i herd AZ name is Anthony Cruz

is it true?????

[McQKnights72]

yeah

[MuhammedAminLaher999]

I am doing a collabo with nas :) Joke.

[jacknewyork]

each one teach one my dude just look up any hiphop from the 90's and you will get real hiphop from the heart from B.R.I.M BX/WASH HTS

[speeches]

Motherfucker. This shit makes me want tell my boss to go duck himself and go cop a beer.. Smack the manage and give daps to the other Paralegals.. Naw chill....i have to pay rent next week but the thought is all that !

[akreeee]

I can't believe I didn't know about this tape until now.. thanks a bunch for posting this

[CaribbeanRyda]

not instrumental?