I remember when I got my first copy of Illmatic. It was a blank cassette tape…and it was about 4 weeks before the album was released. I had a friend who had a friend in NYC and, apparently, bootleg copies were rampant. MC Serch and Faith Newman (who signed Nas to Columbia) speak on the impact of those bootlegs, including the fact that the album may have had more songs. Check out the video.

Related: Nas Performs One Love & The World is Yours with The Roots & Q-Tip (Video)