Limited gold & black marble colored vinyl. It Was Written is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, originally released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album Illmatic (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for It Was Written. Produced largely by Trackmasters, it departed from the debut's raw, underground aesthetic and embraced mafioso and gangsta themes. The recording also marked the first appearance of Nas's short-lived supergroup The Firm, featuring the rappers Foxy Brown, AZ, and Cormega. Album Tracks 1. Album Intro 2. The Message 3. Street Dreams 4. I Gave You Power 5. Watch Dem Niggas (Album Version) 6. Take It in Blood 7. The Set Up 1. Black Girl Lost 2. Suspect (Album Version) 3. Shootouts 4. Nas Is Coming 5. Affirmative Action 6. Live Nigga Rap (Album Version) 7. If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) 8. Silent Murder