JAYFORCE

Interesting share from Revolt TV, appropriately timed with the release of “Illmatic XX” – Nas’ 20-year commemoration of his legend-establishing album “Illmatic.” Taking us back to 1994 with talk about the classic’s release, MC Serch and Faith Newman tell us how far bootleggers and music fans would go to get their hands on the eventual G.O.D.MC’s LP.

Newman – a former A&R at Columbia Records and the executive producer responsible for wrapping up “Illmatic” and releasing it to the world ahead of schedule – explained, “We would’ve liked to record more stuff, but we had to get it out in a hurry, because there were so many bootleg copies. Like so many.”

MC Serch goes on to admit, “We were breaking into garages in the Bronx, because counterfeiters had 70,000 cassettes of “Illmatic,” with a drawing of Nas on a cross, crucified…And Donnie Einer, who was the chairman of Columbia, calling me like, ‘Yo, we’re pushing up the release date.'”

These are stories behind the story of an album, that took nearly two years to record, rushed out to beat back the bootleggers already in the marketplace with copies.

Today, leaks and copies (digital quality, of course) in the hands of the masses… well, that’s just what is… but back then when there was barely an Interweb and no mp3’s… This was insane!

READ AND VIEW INTERVIEWS: MASSIVE BOOTLEGGING OF NAS