It Was Written "Illmatic", the album contains a more detailed and elaborate production, while it shares similarity to the G-funk sound, relying heavily on sampled and looped funk grooves. "It Was Written" has Nas experimenting with a theatrical mafioso concept under the alias of "Nas Escobar" (inspired by the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar). The album's subject matter has been noted for its focus on materialistic excess and other mafioso lyrical themes. Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" wrote of Nas's shift in lyrical themes from "Illmatic", stating he "repeatedly cites the Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Escobar and drops brand names of
Loving Pablo, Hating Escobar a political scandal in Latin America and the Hispanic television channels in the US, due to Vallejo's description of the relationship of Pablo Escobar and the Medellin and Cali cartels with several presidents - like Alvaro Uribe, Alfonso López and Ernesto Samper - and Colombian enforcement agencies. Thanks to Vallejo's revelations, the Colombian government reopened the so-called "cases of the century": the siege of the Palace of Justice, followed by a massacre of more than 100 people, including eleven Supreme Court Justices, committed by the army; and the assassination of Luis Carlos Galan in 1989. Vallejo's book was commented by