It Ain’t Hard to Tell Lyrics

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About

Genius Annotation

Following the 1992 release of “Halftime” for the Zebrahead soundtrack, “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” was released as the lead single for Illmatic. Large Professor produced the track around a sample of Michael Jackson’s 1982 hit single “Human Nature.” Large Professor also produced a popular remix of the track, which was initially released on the single but later included on the 2002 EP From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes.

An alternate version of “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” was titled “Nas Will Prevail” and featured on Nas' demo tape.

Nas provided some background information on “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” in the following video:

Nas also breaks down “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” with Harvard Poetry Professor Elisa New:

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

What did Nas say about "It Ain't Hard to Tell"?
Genius Answer

Nas had this to say to XXL about the song:

We did the original version in Large Professor’s apartment. And once there was a deal in place, we were able to use a real mic & a real studio [to re-record]. After me, SWV did “Right Here” with the same sample [from Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”]. I felt like I was responsible for that record, but the reality is that “Human Nature” was such a beautiful-ass song that people wanted to replay that. When the SWV record came out, I was pissed, because if I was to have a record for the radio, that was the perfect one. And when SWV took the shine, it was like, “Oh no!” Of course, it was my 1st album. I was like, Wait, how am I gonna get Michael Jackson to clear this? And then I realized, Oh shit, we’re label mates! So we made it happen.

We had an in-store [at Tower Records at Fourth and Broadway]. And I’d never been to one. I expected to sign maybe 40 autographs at the most. [Before we left,] my record company kept telling me what a scene it was down there. I had no idea what they were talking about. It was me & the crew. We were excited, happy, celebrating. And we went to the in-store, and when I saw the crowd, it really let me know that this is gonna be something. This is not a tape that comes out & they just play it for a little while. When we left, it was kids screaming, crying & chasing the car. It was like ‘N Sync. And this is my first album. It was a mob scene. That’s when I knew. I was like, Yo, this is gonna be all right. I looked around, & I was like, This is gonna be all right.


Producer Large Professor said:

Credits
Produced By
Written By
Phonographic Copyright ℗
Engineer
Mixing Engineer
Mastering Engineer
Recorded At
Chung King Studios (New York City)
Release Date
January 18, 1994
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