Track 4, and the third true song on Illmatic would be a classic to follow two classics. In my book, The World is Yours completes one of the best three song sequences in Rap album history. Nas would enlist another all-time great, Pete Rock to lay the beat and help with production. Together they would mesh classic cinematic and Hip-Hop concepts and their superior creative talents to craft a timeless anthem.
Life’s A Bitch was Nas prognosticating about the promise of his own future. Channeling the all-time great rapper, Slick Rick’s 1988 hit, Hey Young World, The World Is Yours is him telling you, your sister, and all the kids that their futures can too hold promise. Also inspired by the phrase being featured in a frequently cited movie in Hip-Hop, Scarface, Nas takes the line from the Rick the Ruler classic to title the song and tags up with Pete Rock to develop the idea into an inspirational call-and-response anthem that became an undeniable classic in its own right. It was an anthem that resonated with those who wanted to chant the infectious hook, while also grabbing the attention of those still wanting to hear Nas deliver timeless poetics.
The World Is Yours doesn’t feature a beat that drives as hard as N.Y. State Of Mind, and it doesn’t quite have the laid-back Funk-R&B feel of Life’s A Bitch. The tempo picks up a bit from the latter, but the groove is just as smooth, and the transition between the two tracks feels seamless and natural. What The World Is Yours ultimately sounds like is a display of artistic talent that epitomizes the depths of the artists’ inspirational foundations.
To compose this beat, it seems too appropriate that Pete Rock would make the sample selection he chose for an artist like Nas. It wasn’t uncommon at the time for Hip-Hop to sample classic Jazz and Blues songs recorded by some of the greatest musicians ever heard. It’s a style of sampling that may be most attributable to Q-Tip, who’s also featured on Illmatic. The songs sampled, however, were usually the more notable songs from the genre, or songs recorded by the more notable artists. Those songs and artists may have mostly been novel to fans of Rap music, but those names and titles were titanic within Jazz culture and the genre. 
For Nas’s The World Is Yours, Pete Rock digs in the crates a bit to take a small piece of the Ahmad Jamal Trio song, I Love Music and turns it into an infectious piano riff that would become one of the most recognizable piano samples ever laid in Hip-Hop. That every song on Illmatic will induce you to bob your head is something I can’t say enough, and the bass line Pete lays on this sample will do just that. Hearing the sample in an existing song is also a huge part of what makes great Rap producers who sample great. Here, Pete Rock not only presents the keenness of his ear, but also the ability to grow and refine the sample into a great composition in whole. Few would’ve had the artistic vision to see that such blue notes could turn into an uplifting anthem.
The track leads in with a few of those poignant sounding piano notes before the ear-grabbing hook comes in to kick off the track’s vocals with, “It’s Yours;” the classic refrain that would inspire other great Hip-Hop songs soon to come (Wu Tang’s It’s Yours on Wu-Tang Forever), and inspire millions of listeners and fans in crowds across the country and abroad to start singing along with Pete Rock and Nas…”It’s mine, It’s mine, It’s mine/Whose World is this? The world is yours; the world is yours!”
It’s as if Nas knew when he wrote this hook that when he said, “It’s mine, it’s mine, it’s mine,” the whole crowd and anyone listening would be compelled to sing out loud or to themselves, “Whose world is this?” It’s still one of the most jubilant moments to be a part of at a Nas show to this day, and he was correct in choosing Pete Rock to lead the hook’s singing vocals. PR’s vocal tone was perfect for his parts.
I wish I could explain exactly what it is, but there’s something about this hook that just makes you feel connected; at least that’s what it does for me, and what it seems to do for others, from what I’ve observed and experienced. Something about it makes you feel a connection with the song, with Nas, with his fans, and with the rest of the crowd if you’re at one of his shows; especially when you actually sing it. Though I can’t pinpoint why, I can tell you that it’s an evident effect that I believe has probably elevated the popularity and stature of this track significantly. Just about everyone who loves Nas or this song loves singing, “Whose world is this?” Maybe it’s the sentiment; maybe the “The world is yours” is a bit of an affirmation; even for a bunch of very grown adults. 
Before the hook even fades out, Nas comes in with his lyrics as if he’s running toward the track, and opens with, “I sip the Dom P, watching Gandhi ‘til I’m charged/Then writing in my book of rhymes, all the words pass the margin.” When I hear these lyrics, I can envision Nas sitting in front of a television watching Gandhi, while drinking and writing rhymes. Not only can I perceive this in my head, but I can mentally put myself in his place; first person, as if I’m perceiving through his lenses. Not only can I see what Nas is saying, not only do I feel that I can put myself in his place, but I feel like I can see the things he’s saying as if I were him.
It’s lyrics like these that make Nas the generational MC that he turns out to be. He can paint a picture as clear as a portrait with words, and make you feel as if you’re one of the subjects at the same time. Not only are you looking into the world of the art, but also seeing the world outside of it from within. Not only is Nas’s ability to write vividly evident in these opening bars, but also that he’s different; his interests aren’t typical for Hip-Hop, yet he lives it. Gandhi and the words passing the margin are a personification of Nas the artist and person; the street’s poetic disciple.
When he gets into his flow on this track, as with several of the songs on Illmatic, his words seem to weave themselves so seamlessly into the beat that they almost seem tailored for each other. On this track, however, if you listen word for word, you can hear what has been a criticism of Nas’s lyrics through the years. His message seems a little removed from the concept of the song. The lyrics he’s delivering don’t exactly jive with “the world is yours” theme. Nevertheless, the flow and delivery are so pristine that you’re left caring less about that misalignment than what does match, and that’s Nas’s energy. Regardless of what he’s saying, his flow and delivery do suggest that he feels the world is his, and make you feel that it can be yours too.
The World Is Yours is littered with classic bars and lyrical concepts that lived on in Hip-Hop through this song, and from this song into other great and classic recordings that followed. There has always been a line in this song that stood out as most resonant for me, however.
The bar is as poignant as the piano notes Pete Rock lays on this track, and as profound as any phrase you could name when in verse 3 Nas raps, “I need a new nigga for this black cloud to follow/‘Cause while it’s over me it’s too dark to see tomorrow.” Almost anytime I feel down or challenged by trials of life, this line plays in my head, and I can soon be reassured by saying or thinking to myself what comes soon after; “whose world is this?” It’s yours.
As previously mentioned, The World Is Yours is a part of an exquisitely sequenced series of tracks, and the artful sequencing would continue as Illmatic moved on to track 5; the centerpiece for this 10-track work. 
The previously released Halftime didn’t only serve as an effective solo intro to Nas for the music world, but it also served as a very appropriately placed and titled mid-point for the album. If you’d heard, it may have immediately just come off as the dope track you’d already heard; but in the grand scheme of the complete work, it’s masterfully placed directly in the middle of Illmatic, furthering the album’s artistic quality and appeal.
Large Professor and Nas are in lockstep with each other on this track. Large Pro pushes the busy beat extra hard for Nas’s lead single, and Nas still manages to stay on top of it and deliver his vocals with crystal clear clarity. He’s saying a lot in these Halftime raps, but the vigor in Nas’s approach and the palpable hunger heard in his voice say one thing; I’m here to stake my place at the top of the MC game.
If you were familiar with Nas’s pre-Illmatic career, it may be easy to tell Halftime was written during that period. A lot of his lyrics then were almost purely meant to grab attention. Shock Rap became its own style of rapping at a point, and some would argue that prior to Illmatic, Nas himself was a bit of a Shock Rapper. He was sure to insert a few (or more) outlandish sayings or claims that people always told you shouldn’t be said to leave the listener wondering, “did he really just say that?” Like it or not, it worked. Whether you thought his bars were wrong, polarizing, blasphemous, distasteful, or great, they definitely served their purpose; he most certainly got your attention. Lyrically, if his prowess wasn’t evident to you, Nas was determined to be compelling, if nothing else.
When he introduces himself and Halftime by saying, “Check me out y’all/Nasty Nas in your area/About to cause mass hysteria,” I don’t think he knew then that he’d be talking to an audience that would still be listening to him and this song 30 years later. In verse 2, Nas raps, “…I’m an intellectual/ Of Rap, I’m a professional and that’s no question, yo/These are the lyrics of the man, you couldn’t near it, understand?” He made sure it was understood.
Nas was clearly announcing himself as a significant arrival in the business, and the message was effectively delivered. He anoints himself as “King Poetic” in these bars; a tall claim for such a new artist at the time. Again, this was technically his first solo track. By the end of Halftime, however, you’re left knowing that it’s stamped. Nasty Nas, a new legitimate force in Rap; in greatness, has arrived.
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