Nas “Silent Murder”
Gotta keep a lid on your tongue.
I’m gonna stay in ‘96 today—cool? And I’m gonna pick up where I left off yesterday with another Nas song.
The story of “Silent Murder” for me starts with this Nas Is Coming sampler/mixtape that came bagged up with the July 1996 issue of The Source. I was a subscriber, so when this arrived in the mail, I was fired up. Props to Steve Stoute for developing this marketing tactic, which he spoke about as part of Complex’s The Making of It Was Written article.
Steve Stoute: Another thing I did was take three classic beats and put Nas freestyles over them for a mixtape called [Nas Is Coming]. I inserted the mixtapes into a subscription of The Source, and so everyone who subscribed to it got the mixtape too. I was trying to set the market up. Just because we have Lauryn Hill singing doesn’t mean that Nas is not still on his llmatic shit.
The freestyle at the beginning of the tape was already making noise on underground mix shows and mixtapes, and I’m pretty sure both singles were poppin’ by then too. But getting to hear exclusive snippets of album cuts “Silent Murder” and “Watch Dem Niggas” was a real treat.
Nas ft. Kid Capri “Source Freestyle”
Quick sidebar—I always loved the follow-up to this freestyle, which was labeled “The Foulness” on mixtapes and white labels. The last verse on the third beat switch was especially a favorite of mine.
Nas “The Foulness”
Anyway, so when I went to cop the It Was Written CD the day it came out, I was disappointed to find that “Silent Murder” was nowhere to be found. Turns out it was only included on the cassette at the end of Side 1. European imports of the CD had it as a bonus track, but for some reason it was left off the U.S. vinyl and CD pressings of the album.
That disappointment mostly stemmed from the fact that “Silent Murder” was so fucking fire. I was a fan of It Was Written right off the bat—even as some folks seemed to struggle with the shift in production styles—but I was boggled as to why they’d leave one of the dopest Nas songs ever off the CD. And it wasn’t until 2021 that is was made available on DSPs as part of the 25th anniversary It Was Written (Expanded Edition).
IP’S PICK OF THE DAY 3/25/26: Nas “Silent Murder”
Okay, let’s dive a little deeper. “Silent Murder” was produced by Live Squad, a rap group/production team out of Hollis, Queens. They also produced “Take It In Blood,” another standout off It Was Written. Even those who questioned the more commercialized Trackmasters-produced stuff on the album couldn’t say shit about these two songs—both beats were hip-hop to the core and took Nas’ rapping to another level. They were undeniable.
Sadly, Stretch from Live Squad, who was also a close affiliate of 2Pac (Stretch was with Pac the night he got shot at Quad Studios), was murdered before It Was Written was released. Here’s Nas with more, courtesy of the same Complex piece quoted above.
Nas: I met Stretch [of Live Squad] by some dangerous cats that I was hanging with. Stretch became my brother immediately; we hung out all the time, almost every day. He wasn’t really recognized for the great work he was doing with 2Pac and the hardcore records he did with his group Live Squad, with his brother Majesty.
Stretch was really hurt by 2Pac. I would hear him talking about how ‘Pac was so mad at him because Stretch was with 2Pac when he got set up and robbed in the lobby of Quad Studios in Manhattan, in Nov. 1994. ‘Pac was mad at everyone after that. I felt bad for Stretch because he really had a lot of love for ‘Pac and couldn’t believe that ‘Pac thought he had something to do with it.
Stretch dropped me off at home, then went home and was killed [in Dec. 1995, in Queens]. That was a real great guy. He produced “Take It in Blood” and “Silent Murder”—the irony. It was just a messed up moment for me. It was the last work he did.
It took a few years after It Was Written for this to surface, but here’s an alternate version of “Take It In Blood” with different Nas lyrics that was unearthed by DJ Whoo Kid on his Kid With The Golden Arm Part 2 mixtape. Crazy.
Nas “Blood (New Version)”
Back to “Silent Murder.” That sample comes courtesy of British collective Soul II Soul. Peep the music video.
Soul II Soul of course is best known for their hit “Back To Life (However Do You Want Me),” the acapella of which was famously used during the intro to Belly. How’s that for another Nas connection? Belly’s been getting decent burn on IP’S PICKS lately!
The other bonus track on the It Was Written France import CD was a “Saint-Denis Style Remix” of “Affirmative Action,” which featured French rap group Suprême NTM. I never knew they made a video for it. Here’s a dope clip of Nas’ verse.
And finally, two very special DJ Clue mixtape cuts from 1996, where Nas continued his “The Foulness” series and introduced us all to his QB compadre Nature over It Was Written instrumentals. These are legendary.
Nas ft. Nature “The Foulness Pt. 3”
Nas ft. Nature “The Foulness Pt. 4”
Damn, should I stay in the same year tomorrow for a nice ‘96 hat trick, or take us somewhere else? I’m not sure. I’ll have to wake up and see how I’m feeling. In the meantime, shout to all my fellow Class of ‘96ers out there. Hope you enjoyed this.
Peace!
IP on a heater with this one. Lots of mixtape gems.
Silent Murder was one of the first songs [redacted] downloaded from Napster. Might have to go dig up the CD it was burned to.