Released in 1996, It Was Written had the unenviable task of following Nas’s universally loved hip-hop classic Illmatic. It succeeded partly on the basis that it didn’t try to emulate or imitate its predecessor, veering away from its gritty, urban aesthetics and embracing gangsta and mafioso rap. It actually remains Nasir Jones’ best-selling album to this day, spawning the hit singles If I Ruled The World (Imagine That) and Street Dreams.