Songoftheday 7/15/20 - My man put me up for the share one-fourth of a square, headed for Delaware with one change of gear...
from the album It Was Written (1996)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #22 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 11
Today's song of the day comes from rapper Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, who records under the moniker Nas, who was born in Brooklyn and grew up in Queens, New York City. Discovered by MC Serch of the blue-eyed hip-hop duo 3rd Bass, Nas released his debut album Illmatic in 1994. The record was critically heralded, sold over two million copies, peaking at #12 on the Billboard 200 sales chart. The second single from the set, "It Ain't Hard To Tell", went to #57 on Billboard's R&B chart, and was a minor hit on the American pop chart at #91 and in the UK at #64. Two years later, Nas returned with his sophomore effort, It Was Written. Lead single "If I Ruled The World", which featured chorus vocals from the Fugees' Lauryn Hill, landed the rapper in the top 40 on the R&B chart at #17, and got to #53 on Billboard's Hot 100 pop list. Another track from the album, "Affirmative Action", got enough urban radio love to get a week on the R&B Airplay chart at #75. It would be his third radio release from the record to give the artist his first big hit. "Street Dreams", laid on a foundation of a rework of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)" on a sample of disco singer Linda Clifford's "Never Gonna Stop", was familiar enough for mainstream radio to take notice. The video cribs a bit of Mickey & Sylvia's "Love Is Strange" to start the show...
"Street Dreams" scored Nas his first top-40 pop hit in January of 1994. The song also climbed to #18 on Billboard's R&B chart, and topped their Rap Singles list for a week. Internationally, the single was a top-40 hit in the UK (#12) and New Zealand (#39). The It Was Written album went to #1 on the Billboard 200 as well as the R&B Albums chart, going on to sell over 2 million copies. The last release from the record, "The Message", went to #19 on the French Singles chart, where "If I Ruled The World" hit #4 earlier that year. Also in that country, a remix of "Affirmative Action" featuring the French group Supreme NTM was pretty big, landing at #2 there.
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There was a separate music video filmed for the remix of "Street Dreams" done by R. Kelly, which sampled the Isley Brothers' "Choosey Lover"...
Next up is Nas on the American Music Awards performing "Street Dreams" and "If I Ruled The World"...
And lastly, Nas doing the remix of "Street Dreams" on the kids sketch show All That...
Up tomorrow: The Material Girl goes to Buenos Aires.
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