Nas Album: “Stillmatic [Edited]”

Description :

Contains the bonus track "Every Ghetto," which follows "What Goes Around." Personnel includes: Nas, Mary J. Blige, Az. Producers include: Nas, Ron Browz, Large Professor, DJ Premier, Salaam Remi. Contains the bonus track "Every Ghetto," which follows "What Goes Around." Personnel includes: Nas, Mary J. Blige, Az. Producers include: Nas, Ron Browz, Large Professor, DJ Premier, Salaam Remi. In 1994, Nas dropped his debut ILLMATIC. More than just a classic, it's perhaps the definitive East Coast street hip-hop record, bereft of cliche, rife with rich, inventive rhymes. His early coronation proved both blessing and curse, as his three follow-ups, while shining next to most platinum peers, never reached the ingenious heights of his introduction. Just by the title, STILLMATIC makes obvious its yearning to recapture that feel, a ridiculously tall order if not impossible, but it comes dangerously close, which merely makes it one of the top albums of its year. At times it feels like half of STILLMATIC consists of shots at Jay-Z, ex-cohort Prodigy, and others, at times thinly veiled, other times not veiled at all (the opening two words of "Ether"). Out of the mouths of others, this game would be old and boring. What allows Nas transcendence is that he is not your average hater posturing to sell records, he's earnestly responding to a slander with his supreme, unwavering lyrical style. Nas has an insane arsenal of words and an acute sense of incongruity, best illustrated on "Destroy and Rebuild," where he reverses the guns of KRS-One's blistering attack on Nas's home Queensbridge ("The Bridge Is Over") to both glorify his beloved hood and deny the MCs he believes have fallen off. In 1994, Nas dropped his debut ILLMATIC. More than just a classic, it's perhaps the definitive East Coast street hip-hop record, bereft of cliche, rife with rich, inventive rhymes. His early coronation proved both blessing and curse, as his three follow-ups, while shining next to most platinum peers, never reached the ingenious heights of his introduction. Just by the title, STILLMATIC makes obvious its yearning to recapture that feel, a ridiculously tall order if not impossible, but it comes dangerously close, which merely makes it one of the top albums of its year. At times it feels like half of STILLMATIC consists of shots at Jay-Z, ex-cohort Prodigy, and others, at times thinly veiled, other times not veiled at all (the opening two words of "Ether"). Out of the mouths of others, this game would be old and boring. What allows Nas transcendence is that he is not your average hater posturing to sell records, he's earnestly responding to a slander with his supreme, unwavering lyrical style. Nas has an insane arsenal of words and an acute sense of incongruity, best illustrated on "Destroy and Rebuild," where he reverses the guns of KRS-One's blistering attack on Nas's home Queensbridge ("The Bridge Is Over") to both glorify his beloved hood and deny the MCs he believes have fallen off.

After putting out the bonafide rap classic Illmatic in '94, one would think - why on earth would Nas try to cross-over on his next 3 albums? Unfortunately, that was the case with Nas. It Was Written was great, I Am... was decent, and Nastradamus just didn't cut it. I guess all Nas needed was some motivation to get back on track, and all thanks to Jay-Z, Nas put out this 2001 rap classic, Stillmatic.

As you may already know, Jay-Z dissed Nas a lot on his album, The Blueprint, saying that Nas had an average of one hot album per ten years. Obviously, Stillmatic was meant to shut Jay-Z up. After listening to the intro of Stillmatic, you already know this album's hot 'cuz it's the only intro I've heard that's worth listening to. After the intro is "Ether", the infamous Jay-Z diss track, keeping the beef between Jay-Z and Nas alive. The first single, "Got Yourself A..." is a great song where Nas pays homage to 2Pac and Biggie, and the second single, "One Mic" shows Nas still had more heart than any other rapper in the business - it's terrific. "You're Da Man" and "Rewind", both produced by Large Professor are great tracks as well, where in "Rewind", Nas tells a story from end to beginning, truly a fine moment in the album.

But without a doubt, the finest moment in the album is "2nd Childhood." Nas can never go wrong with the type of storytelling he displays here, and it's backed by a signature DJ Premier beat. Other standout tracks include "Destroy & Rebuild" (Nas comes off sounding a bit like Slick Rick here), "The Flyest" featuring AZ, and "Rule", an epic track that sounds a lot like it could very well be If I Ruled the World Part 2.

In the end, Stillmatic is probably the closest he'll ever come to his masterpiece Illmatic, Stillmatic is extremely enjoyable and Nas fans will not be dissapointed one bit. Watch for Street's Disciple, Nas' new LP out Nov. 30. Until then, enjoy Stillmatic.