nas-nas will prevail

[ClainDoleBoy]

This is like the demo to It Aint Hard To Tell... fuckin ill

[risingpauler]

this versions better. matter fact this song is why nas is my favorite rapper

[risingpauler]

im still bumpin this shit!!

[sophboxx12]

AZ found his book and became a rapper

[FiltheeTipz37]

Sound quality is legit!

[risingpauler]

one of my favs

[NorthOaklandHiway50]

GREAT SONG

[play889]

it ain't hard to fucking tell..

with a way smoother beat ,,

lovin it....a fucking cop must of disliked this!

[MrReskyyy]

@play889 worddd

[unique74muzik]

siiiiiick!!!!!

[leljr86]

dis is ill i always luv listenin 2 nas bcuz hes educated but still keep it street rhymes on point anybody who dont like dis song should not say im a hiphop fan even if u dont like as a person 4real

[MrPlatano10100]

im 17 and i know this is the real fukin hip hop. all this new faggot shit like wack-a flacka and lil wayne are pathetic and selfish as suck. making shitty music just to make money

[THEEFRESHPRIINCE]

tru hip hop!!

[MrCombine]

Damn I got chills...

[TYPO58]

almost some 93' till shit

[cripbuddz]

shit quality

[LadyJay114]

@cripbuddz : the quality is crap because these songs were on cassette tape. Anyone that still has cassettes know that the sound quality declines over time.

[itsmeinthe603]

dont hate on the rough draft this is raw genius while he refined it in illmatic it is still FUCKIN DOPE right here..... listen to that third verse especially man ....unreal

[wizard1995]

G.O.A.T for real

[scinnyc]

i love to write to this song. a true classic....as is It Ain't Hard to Tell.

[PrinceJbz]

OMG is all you can say to this track. Nothing touches it.

[47trerock]

@PrinceJbz this gives me the same feeling as when i listen to eminems-infinite

[Sqweewoot]

i thought i heard this loopp on a tribe track

[THEEFRESHPRIINCE]

"a black man caught by the clan couldnt hang wit this" damnn juss classic

[ooPaXeRoo]

i think this is one of my all time best !

[ilmadsick]

It would take so long to comprehend everything in this song like all the punchlines. There's so many...Nice that's illmatic... beyond ill

[ilmadsick]

only 15,000 views this should have like 1,000,000's this is his sickest song on tape track. Nothing short of Illmatic. This guy is a str8 up scientist. He's using science. Genius

[Mrslidesit]

i exucute raps like im swingin an axe around --this is a mic shut down. word.

Notify the president!!

[TYPO58]

1:13-1:15 he says "...you might  as well be a singer but aint harmonised-(harmin-nas)".Enoug­h said he is half man amazing.

[Strictly4Underground]

fucken ill

[detumus]

this almost brings a tear 2 my eyes this is so dope!!

[hiphopdiedin2000]

Miles Davis ain't the original, MJ was.

[TheQpNigga]

hip died sliped in june 13 1996 and tyhen march 6 1997 and 20 some but nas and common going to try to prevail and keep it alive

[12815923]

@TheQpNigga you mean september 13, 1996 and march 9, 1997?

[ZeroBacK00]

a legend..no doubt..NAS is a Legend..this tape make History (Illmatic)...every other and new "modern" Rapper has "looked" on this shit..

for me the best of the best...

If NAS die...RAP Die too...........

[wonderataoldotcom]

id jizz my pants if i found that notebook back then, it would be worth a fortune today.and think its straight from nas' brain. the guys a genius, the 2ND best ever. big l was the best but nas is the best alive (RIP BIG L)

[urzadek]

miles davis released his own rendition of human nature but jackson's came first

[Radaral2]

It has minor frequency issues but they should have added it as an extra unlisted track. Either way is very hypnotizing.

[tacticaldeathstrike]

ZOMGZOMGOZOMOAOGASMOAGMS

DA BEAT IS MUTHADFASUCASANJCIOASDAID"!!!!­!!

I CANT HANDLE!! THIS lS DA BEST BEAT EVAA BITTTTTTCH!!!

[rametep100]

I miss battle rhymes in song format!

[laolu91]

tru

[RealspitHiphop604]

fuck j love

[mellbox]

yea i think this more lyrical

[midway51]

Thiz should had been in da "illmatic" it would had been even sicker than it already was! A classic Nas 10/10 it's tha ultimate 4 realz yo!

[201outlaw]

Classic.

[Liago4]

This shit is ill as hell

[arya721]

i used to listen to this everyday and here it is wooooooooot

[shaamshaam]

classic

[rapado10908]

close ur eyes.imagine the voice deeper.sounds just like big daddy kane.onli difference is nas has more lyrical genius

[HoCAhrensburg]

who made the beat/s from nas/this song ?

[bootysmacker1]

where can i download this?

[Young7Money]

i like the it aint hard to tell track better,

but this is still heroin on a spoon

[Eweezie415]

Woulda liked to here the it aint hard to tell verses on this beat...Bcuz he is saying hard shit but hes kinda not on one topic just rambling ill lines...Unlike it aint hard to tell illmatic version were he just rips it..But i have to say i love how smooth the beat is...i dont like large pros better.

[Hiphopisntdead1]

sampled from michael jackson - human nature

[ThaNsaneOne]

Haha this was the root of nas's original flow.. Nice and simple but creative.

[Vinsanity15814]

you wont find shit like this ever again. anyone know the original sample for this one?

[carlydaboss07]

Human Nature- Michael Jackson

[streetstruck]

wow...he said " A black man caught by the klan couldn't hang with this...holy shit Nas is fucking animal...one of the best to pick up a mic..period

[rellik4life]

Nas is the best

[jonnyt0833]

love this track.  reminds me of fall in NYC. you cant find beats like this today, or ever again for that matter.

[beck284]

On this song Nas sounds similar to Large Professor's flow on Breaking Atoms.

[Infamous256]

Yeah true but Large Pro and Nas are both disciples of Rakim. It all adds up.

[tlplayor]

nas is one of the top 5 rappers of all time

[WWFanation4]

this is the original version of the song "it aint hard to tell"

[bigsweet2go]

nas definalty improved on illmatic

[charlyblues]

@bigsweet2go

no offence but i odnt understand someone saying he improved on illmatic.First of all lyracally there's almost no difference.

Second: this so much more raw, its his demo g!he pulled it all out on this one, and at the same time you here that its came natural to him.. I prefer this track to the one on illmatic.. but to each his own. it doesnt get rawer then this, especially if you have it on tape and play it on your walkman.

[hhessense]

@charlyblues

thats pretty much exactly how i feel the original raw hunger is more there being polished can sometimes be just an ok thing

[JoeyCrackization]

@charlyblues Look, I like this, but to say you prefer this to Illmatic tracks is fuckin crazy. Illmatic is a polished effort, and one of the best lyrical albums of all time, this ain't their yet. Reading comments like that, it just sounds like you are pulling the ultimate hipster douchebag card and prefering this because it isn't popular and Illmatic is. You just got called out.

[sadistcobra]

@JoeyCrackization Or, music is a subjective experience and preferences depend on the person to the point that making the assumption that a person is a hipster douchebag for preferring what you don't shows that you yourself are a douchebag. You just got called out.

[bG3aZu3bLaZe3]

@JoeyCrackization I personally like this better than any song on Illmatic but as far as a whole work Illmatic has it hands down cuz all the tracks on there are classics. this song goes super hard tho... way ahead of his time

[Mjunior65]

Dude what do you mean that Nas lost his book

of rhymes I never heard that in his biography

where did you get that info?

[oneluv24]

in the source magazine nas said he lost his notepad on the train had to do illmatic over

[BigRice21]

Really?? I never saw that coming. What would of happened if he didn't lose his notepad, how will the illmatic sound and would it still be a classic?

[samualmonte]

It probably would of been better then it already was, if he would of never lost his notepad.

[Mjunior65]

Nas is dope in this song "Your style is fake snake well dramatize you might be a singer but you ain't harmonize/harming Nas" Man this shit is dope and fucking crazy!

[donholla]

i named this joint it ain't hard to tell remix on my ipod lol nas is a legend

[Pgcboi07]

im so Glad Nas lost his book of rhymes on the train lol.....or illmatic would of never happen he lost his rhymes to his songs i luv the original songs but i dont think it would of got the response it got if these songs where on the album sumtimes bad things turn to good things ..............

[theinfamouscamXXII]

I know, it's just like how John Steinbeck's dog ate the original "Of Mice And Men".

[controll27]

@Pgcboi07 lool i wish i found his book of rhymes

[shaamshaam]

You may be a singer but an't harminize (harmin' Nas) WHAT THE FUCK! mad eliteness

[newyorkowner]

dick who this sound like from back in tha days???

[shaamshaam]

you smoke crack

[newyorkowner]

tell him i was sent by his master...i never heard anything like this!!

[AftensmadIF]

sounds way more like other mcs back those days

so it ain't hard to tell as released on illmatic is way more of a standout to what rap from 93/94

[elsnoke]

This is the shit i think its better version than it a'int hard to tell

[haider22122]

yeah but thats not to say it ain't hard to tell wasn't good :/