Classics Discussion: Nas

[Inspect Her Deck]

Illmatic: 176/178 - 99%
It Was Written: 141/172 - 82%
Stillmatic: 130/173 - 75%

 

[Piff Perkins]

I'm sorry...Nas Stillmatic is a classic. This was the album that propelled Hip Hop's golden boy...the man that crafted Illmatic before he turned 20 years old...back into the Hip Hop consciousness. It was acclaimed then within the hip hop community and still is. Let's take a look at the tracks:

1. Stillmatic - Beautiful intro and one of the best intros of any post 2000 album. The beat is bombastic and signals the triumphant return of the God. From there, you knew it was over.

2. Ether - I don't even have to say sh!t...YA'LL ALREADY KNOW. Camel never been the same after this track.

3. Got Ur Self...- Not a standout track on the album but still a very catchy track and Nas kills it. "I'm the N-the A- to the S-I- R, and if I wasn't, I must've been Escobar"

4 - Smokin - Never understood any lil hate this track received. Nice coasting beat and absolutely ideal for those times you wanna sit back and light one up.

5 - You're the Man - Quite possibly my favorite Large Pro beat ever. Extra P sampled Rodriguez' Sugar Man to perfection. And Nas showed why he still is the GOAT MC. "Your arms to short to box with God...don't kill soloists, only kill SQUADS"

6 - Rewind - Contender for Top 3 most creative tracks the GOAT ever made. Who you know pulling this off better than Nasir? And that LP beat is beautiful. Nice and funky, but subdued...perfect for the concept.

7 - One Mic - This track is what anyone should direct someone to as indication that Nasir Jones is the greatest lyrical poet in hip hop history. Nuff said.

8 - Second Childhood - One of my favorite tracks of all time. Made me know that I couldn't, and wouldn't, end up being some bum, broke ass, living in my mom's crib, like @SirBiatch . Great lyrics. Great beat. Classic.

9 - Destroy and Rebuild - Nas catches the spirit of the Great Slick Rick and verbally tongue lashes his fellow Queensbridge artists. Like a father letting his children know they playing themselves and need to get their sh!t together.

10 - The Flyest - Nas and AZ get together for their trademark trade offs and we get spectacular results, as per usual.

11 and 12 - Admittedly not great tracks, but that's been well established. Braveheart Party is one of my least favorite Nas tracks. Rule isn't as bad as some like to make it, but in no way, shape or form a good Nas track.

13 - My Country. "My country sh!tted on me, she wants to get rid of me...cause the things I seen. Cause the things I SEEEEEN". I like My Country. Nas and Millenium Thug do capable jobs. Not a bad track.

14 - What Goes Around - Like what the big homie @mobbinfms said, if you say "The n!gga Ike with the Iverson Jersey..." n!ggas will know immediately what you're talking about. An iconic Nasir song. Fvck that...an iconic HIP HOP song. You call it Thanksgiving, I call your Holiday Hell Day

15 - Every Ghetto - the track that made EVERYBODY ask "Who the hell is that dude rhyming with Nas? He killed it!" Blitz killed it. "Hear the sounds of the babies cry, still I'm saying why, do we reside, in the Ghetto, with a million ways to die". O yea...Nas killed his two verses. But that's expected.

I'd say one wack track on the album, and two ok ones. And the album was hailed as a classic by hip hop media then and still to this day. Nas came back and took back his crown as the best MC. In the process he damaged Hip Hop's biggest MC at the time. It commercially did very well, Nas has a bunch of memorable, classic verses and tracks on it, and the beats were so dope that MCs were freestyling over alot of them for years. Stillmatic not being a universally hailed classic is fallacy.

I disagree about it being classic but you make a good argument breh. Got me hyped to give it a spin again.

 

[ISO]

I think that Illmatic is the only tier 0 classic in every sense of the word.

IWW is a stellar album though, clearly Nas 2nd best album. If someone else thinks its a classic I wont argue.

I love Stillmatic too, but I cant put it in the same league as IWW, much less Illmatic, thats Hip Hop crown jewel shyt.

Those 3 are Nas best albums though.

Lost Tapes better than Stillmatic IMO

 

[mobbinfms]

1st rapper to bring 2 #coliclassics back to the projects
Son of God
Son of Man
Son of Marcus Garvey
The only rapper with 2 #coliclassics Sade dated
#tpc

 

[smitty22]

1st rapper to bring 2 #coliclassics back to the projects
Son of God
Son of Man
Son of Marcus Garvey
The only rapper with 2 #coliclassics Sade dated
#tpc

 

[UpAndComing]

Illmatic = goat
IWW followed a classic with a classic
Stillmatic = they thought he'd make another illmatic, but its always forward he movin, never backward, coli stupids here's another classic
God Son for me is classic

5 star post

 

[UpAndComing]

Nah. Only "weak" or outta place joints were Dr Knockboot and KISSING. Go song for song and you'll see

Ironically, I love both of those songs

 

[big_controversy]

I think most of the ppl that didn't vote Stillmatic a classic are too young to understand the cultural impact of it

He had hit singles, crazy album cuts, crazy buzz, top 3 diss record, comeback theme

It was defiant, loud & cocksure

 

[UpAndComing]

Nas Is Like
The World Is Yours
No Ideas Original
Made You Look
Your Da Man

If somebody asked me this tomorrow the last three would prolly be different

World is Yours
Memory Lane (Greatest Hip Hop song ever)
Watch Dem nikkas
Stillmatic Intro
N.I.G.G.E.R. Slave and Master

 

[GeeEffKay]

First two and stillmatic for sure

 

[big_controversy]

An album should be considered classic bc it either perfectly captures the time period or it's timeless, in every sense of the word.

Stillmatic had those cuts that captured the time period (2nd childhood, destroy & rebuild)

It also had the timeless joints (You're The Man, One Mic, Got Urself A...)

It was culturally relevant then & now

14 years later, we say Drake "Ethered" Meek

Y'all young cats can have these garbage albums of today

Stillmatic is a classic just like BP was

It's not Nas best work lyrically or sonically...but it's a GREAT album nonetheless

 

[UpAndComing]

I swear, that is the exact face I had after I voted. I need to know what makes that album a classic.

"Nasty Nas to Esco to Escobar, now he is Nastradamus"

 

[Randoug]

Illmatic Stillmatic and IWW are classics..the rest are too mixed in quality.

 

[mobbinfms]

Got Stillmatic in the car right now. Album got robbed

 

[nieman]

I listed to Stillmatic and Streets Disciple over past 2 days. I still don't think Stillmatic is a classic, but it is a good album. That's why I say you can't really talk about impact when grading albums. It takes away from the actual music.

But let's talk about SD, he went off on the first half of D1 and the 2nd half of D2. SHEESH!!