Happy 30th Birth-Year, Illmatic: Pt. 6, One Love

One Love, track number 7 on Illmatic was not only a continuation of the great sounding music that is the album, but it was also a landmark in Hip-Hop song concepts. The concept may not have been completely original, but it can be considered innovative due to the level of execution and precise construct that result in it being so effectively delivered and impactfully received.

Few can or have been able to pull off this type of song concept the way Nas does. It’s another trip; another view inside the phenomenally ingenious young mind of Nas. One Love is another venture into the world as he and many (especially young Black men) close to him were forced to see it, think it, and feel about it by virtue of the reality of being affected by incarceration, limited opportunity, and the ills both caused on their immediate environments.

Nas was looking to execute upon a concept he’d ideated, but he was also still competing. At this point in his career, Nas’s drive to be acknowledged as one of (if not the) best was evident by the way he tackled beats lyrically; almost as if the beat was another competitor he had to win against. He utilizes his signature direct and deliberate, yet fluid style on One Love to display his profound storytelling ability; an ability now known to be rivaled by few rappers who’ve ever recorded.

Nas teamed up with a future hall-of-famer to master the feel, construct, and sound of this track that would become an all-time classic in the genre. Q-Tip, the most notable name on the album at the time, from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group, A Tribe Called Quest, joined Nas on One Love to lend his superior production skills and even serve up one of the most recognizable voices in the game for vocals on the song’s iconic hook.

Tip was also one of the most notable utilizers of Jazz in his beat samples, and for this one, he and Nas merged parts of the 1986 Rap song by Whodini, also titled One Love, with Smilin’ Billy Suite Pt. II by the Jazz band, The Heath Brothers. It was a song sampled on several occasions in Hip-Hop, and Nas again sampled Whodini, and the beat from their version of the song on his next album for the biggest hit of his career (Imagine That f/Ms. Lauryn Hill from the 1996 album, It Was Written).

Utilizing pieces of the soundscape created by The Heath Brothers, Q-Tip created a mystical and melodic beat that, on its face, may’ve seemed to counter the direct, sobering, and somewhat gritty reality of the street tales Nas is narrating in his lyrics. Jazz is often viewed as music of escapism, but some would argue that the feelings and emotions it can invoke make it as real and impactful as any type of music from any other genre. Tip and Nas capture this confluence of escapism and reality perfectly in this song. Instead of the merging of the two sounding like they meet in an oxymoronic clash of concepts, they sound like the perfect coupling to capture the sobering messages and vivid imagery Nas is conveying in words.

Following track 6, One Love comes in with a head-bobbing bare-boned bass and snare that sound like Q-Tip is literally putting his foot through the bass and slapping the snare. Tip utilizes those to establish a hard Hip-Hop bassline to match Nas’s straight-forward lyrical approach, before bringing in The Heath Brothers’ sample to add the jazzy, mystical overlay.

The beat builds as an incarcerated friend comes into fray enthusiastically letting his fellow inmates know that he just “got a letter from [his] man Nas,” and in turn one of the fellows, equally as enthusiastic, asks him what it says. Once the dialogue plays out, Nas’s lyrics come in, on cue, as the words of the letter he’s written to his friend. The sequence plays out in a fashion that I’d call a masterful execution of concept and timing.

The letter Nas has written metaphorically captures what many who’ve been in the situation of having to write to an inmate know to be the reality of doing so; especially if that inmate was a friend or peer. Those correspondences tend to involve a greeting, the check-in on how that person’s doing inside, a report of what’s going on outside with those common to both parties, and an ending of reassurance; “you’ll be ok getting through your bid,” “we’re holding you down out here while you’re in there” or “you’ll be home soon,” in essence. Nas definitely captures this well, but it isn’t just the relatability or the fact that it’s evident that this is a matter of life he’s truly familiar with and close to that make verse 1 on this song so great. Here again, it’s the execution of the idea within the concept that makes the verse such great art.

While listening, it’s hard not to wonder how someone of such a young age could be talented enough to rap an entire verse as if reading a letter, while not breaking form once throughout. He doesn’t just pull off the idea either, he does so while still rapping at a level that could rival any other artist of the genre, then or now.

As poetically fluent as seemingly possible, Nas, via the metaphorical letter, greets his friend with remorse regarding the friend’s current circumstances, congratulates him on having a son while inside, asks him why his lady doesn’t write him more and even gives his opinion of how she’s conducting herself outside and toward his friend, to whom she’s expected to be loyal. He then goes into the happenings on the streets of Queens, asks him if there have been any chance encounters with friends in common, and even sends messages to others inside through his friend before ending his message with, in essence, I left you some money because you’ve been such a good friend. Somehow, Nas fits all of this into 20 bars of pure lyrical art before making his exit from the letter by signing out, very appropriately, with the track title and a question from Q-Tip; “One what?” To which Nas replies, “One Love.” Again, the verse is simply a masterclass in lyrical proficiency and concept execution.

Verse 2 is more of the same. This time, the metaphorical letter Nas has written and is narrating has much more to do with what’s going on in the Queens streets and reassuring his compadre that he will be supported throughout his trying time. Nas, while narrating us through the letter, is narrating his friend through the street affairs, and street business going on while he’s inside. Nas voices concern for his friend’s safety and mental state, but confidence in that he’ll be okay and make it through to get back to his life, loved ones, and things as they were. Nas even touches a bit on his spite for seeing his friend’s mom grieve the temporary loss of her son to a system meant to oppress and hinder those who find themselves sucked in. In the meantime, however, Nas reassures his less fortunate friend that he’ll see to it that the affairs and people he holds dear will be taken care of properly.

Here again, the ability to deliver the level of duality that Nas gives the listener, while remaining so fluid and profoundly poetic is a thing of marvel. Through the art, Nas is able to express a level of sympathy and humanity that almost any observer could relate to, while displaying a level of skill that seems almost out-of-realm. He’s down to earth and relatable yet gifted to a level that seems nearly unapproachable, or unreachable.

After Q-Tip’s classic four bar hook, verse 3 comes in as the only verse on the song in which Nas is not reading a letter. This time he starts out speaking on his own self-reflections. He provides the listener a little insight into the things he ponders, wonders, and worries about when he’s pensive and in solitude.

Nas starts out talking of the stresses and perils of the world from his perspective, for himself and others, and how those matters and circumstances can bog down the capabilities and potential within a mind and body. As he puts it, and as we all know, these matters can have a susceptible person significantly hampered, and in some cases, institutionalized, criminalized, or worse; hence Nas’s tendency to try to get away from it all, as he has for the two-day period about which he’s written.

Nas then goes into an example of how the ills he’s trying to escape can affect a person or persons when he describes an encounter with a neighborhood associate, young Shorty Doo-Wop, who he come across upon his return to Queensbridge. With Shorty, the nature of the conversation changes from peer to peer and self-reflection, to Nas taking on the role of elder statesman to Shorty, who’s only twelve years old at the time, but already a crack dealer encompassed by violence.

The scene set in the conversation with Shorty actually does effectively get delivered that way, like a scene from a show or movie that the listener can watch play out in their own mind. It actually did inspire a scene in the movie, Belly, which Nas starred in with DMX and others from the urban music industry in 1998. In my opinion, the conversation with, and story of, Shorty Doo-Wop is one of the greatest moments of artistic expression on the album, and one of the most poignant.

As Nas sits down with Shorty for a session, Shorty lets him know that he was recently on a building roof carrying out a shooting at rivals, but he missed his target or targets and was identified by one or more of the foes at whom he was aiming. Now he wears a bulletproof vest and carries a black .32 caliber pistol for defense in anticipation of retaliation.

At this point, one might think that the reply from Nas would be more so a show of concern for the twelve-year-old Shorty, who’s clearly gotten himself into a perilous situation; especially at such a young age. Though the body posture that Nas describes himself taking in reaction to the news from Shorty suggests that he’s concerned for him, the advice he offers in words actually voices more concern for what he considers to be reckless actions carried out by Shorty.

What may be even more surprising to some, is that Nas doesn’t excoriate Shorty for shooting at people at twelve years old either. Instead, Nas advises him to be more calculated about these things going forward, so as not to harm innocent bystanders. It’s the concern about direct and collateral damage caused in the potential loss of an innocent, likely young, life that Nas expresses; the effects that loss can senselessly have on an undeserving person and family.

The parts of this dialogue and the elements surrounding it that may be confusing, alarming, or even shocking to some, are also part of what makes the art so great. Yes, Shorty is a twelve-year-old drug dealing shooter, who Nas sits down with to smoke cannabis and talk about committing crimes, and there’s a lot to unpack there. All the potential causes and effects and underlying meanings in the Shorty Doo-Wop story are a whole separate piece to be written, but, here, Nas doesn’t tell the listener how to feel about his actions or Shorty Doo-Wop’s. Instead, he only epitomizes the truth of these scenarios.

What Nas effectively delivers in verse 3 and in this song in general is reality, leaving the listener, as great art does, to come to their own interpretations and judgments of the rest. When you add the fact that Nas and Q-Tip’s efforts merge to form a classic mix of undeniable lyrical and sonic excellence, you get exactly what One Love is in my opinion, a timeless masterpiece.