Nas - Stillmatic

Nas's 1994 debut, Illmatic, is hands down one of the greatest rap LPs of all time. Open to debate is why he ditched his lyrical genius and raw, gully beats to go pop on his next three albums. On his fifth solo LP, Nas returns to his grimy, hardcore roots. On "Ether," Nas disses Jay-Z mercilessly (a response to Jay-Z's anti-Nas stabs on "Takeover" from The Blueprint). Nas then proceeds to dis Prodigy of Mobb Deep and a whole slew of other Queensbridge-based MCs on "Destroy and Rebuild." When he's not busy tearing into fellow New York-based MCs, Nas pulls a politico routine on "My Country," questioning the blind patriotism of many African Americans, flips rhymes with former Firm compadre AZ on "The Flyest," and pays homage to Tupac and the Notorious B.I.G on "Got Ur Self a...." However, the albums finest artistic moment comes on "Rewind," where Nas crafts a sexploit and murder-filled 'hood narrative in which the story and wordplay are recited in reverse (think Tarantino's Pulp Fiction on celluloid). With beats supplied by DJ Premier, Large Professor, and Swizz Beatz, Nas has arguably reclaimed his throne as the MC king of New York. --Dalton Higgins Amazon.com

 Stillmatic is Still one of the best
Nas is in my opinion one of the greatest emcee of all time, he is one of very few that stays true to the real Hip Hop and has never went commercial unlike some artists. I see some negative reviews and it interested me cuz how could this be a mediocre album, and the reason why there are negative reviews is because people are comparing to this his landmark debut album "ILLMATIC". People should not compare this album to Illmatic because no one can top that album not even Nas himself, and he knows it, just listen to his lyrics in the Intro ("They thought I'll make another "Illmatic"
But it's always forward I'm moving
Never backwards stupid here's another classic") just because this is Stillmatic (a supposed sequel to Illmatic) does not mean it will be the same as Illmatic and people have to get over that. So I'm gonna review this album as a totally different album not comparing to Illmatic.

Nas's albums always starts with intro but this is the first where he actually raps in the intro and this is his best intro out of all his albums in my opinion. There are 14 tracks on the album (including bonus track) and all of them are different with a different concept different feel and all of them are top-notch songs. As always Nas's lyrcicsm is as sharp and precise as razor sharp sword cutting into paper, compared to Jay-Z (his old rival) he is a mile ahead always creating imaginary visuals creating a story for your listening pleasures. This album is probably his third best 1)Illmatic 2)It Was Written and this should not be missed go and cop this album.

TOP 5 TRACKS

1) One Mic - in my opinion this is the best song Nas has done of all time, he really puts people in the times of what he is rapping as if you were really there, his lyrics are as deep as they can get going from everywhere to personal, political or metaphorically he raps his heart out on this song and you can feel it.

2) Ether - the classic diss record to Jay-Z. This diss record is probably one of the best of all time and completely destroys Jay-Z's diss record to Nas (Takeover from the Blueprint Album) he completely kills Jay with this record which is probably why Jay-Z decided to call off the beef because he knew he lost. LOL

3) 2nd Childhood - a classic record with DJ Premier productions and there last collaboration, he raps about how it would be if he was reborn all over again, a great example of Nas's storytelling ability.

4) The Flyest feat. AZ - an underrated song, this is a homage to there first collaboration which was "Lifes a Bitch" which was on Illmatic and this is one of the best beat wise and chemistry wise between Nas and AZ, 1000% entertaining listening two great rappers exchaning words and verses and also a very catchy hook.

5) What Goes Around - this is a hard track with Nas goin back to his socio-political rhymes rapping about all of the bulls*** and blasphemy in the world, this is Nas going back to form and it is always nice to hear. March 25, 2008

 All I need is One Mic
Now this is a great return to form from one of the best MC's that this world has ever seen. This is his best album since It Was Written in my opinion. Skip Nastradamous and even I Am and pick this up, great album.

Highlights
Ether (F*** Jay Z)
Got Urself a...
One Mic November 14, 2007

 Still a classic
This is a great album from Nas I have this album and it's always nice to listen to it when i'm sick of hearing the radio with all this garbage nowadays. October 2, 2007

 The Return of NAS!
I always refered to this albums as "Nas' Return" although he never left, lyrically he had been gone since It was Written. This album was his comeback to political, poetic, storytelling lyrics. This was defenitly one of his best albums. Many people think(including myself) that his "beef" with Jay-z revitalized his career. The beef with Jay gave him the publicity he needed to get his name back into the industry and his diss tracks showed people that he was one of the top lyricists in the rap game. September 27, 2007

 Finally
A nas album is suppost sound like stillmatic even doe he still doesnt have that hip hop sound he had wit it was writtin & illmatic ? It still surpass "i am " , " nastrasdumas" , and the awfull album "gods son" with no question. Go copy it! June 12, 2007

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