Illmatic

A better time machine than the Delorean

Classic 5 mics

This was really good. I really enjoyed the sound of it, and it reminded me of A Tribe Called Quest a lot, which I love a lot. I also noticed Q-Tip was featured in the album so that probably helped.

One of the best and most historically significant releases of hip hop. Everything is on point - beats, flow, lyrics (ok, so, like a lot of others at the time, there's a homophobic slur). But its impact is undeniable, especially with Nas's age at the time.

More '90s hip-hop that for some reason was never really on my radar. Yeah I know, this is a big one that EVERYONE raves about, but for some reason I never listened to it before now. Damn... I've been missing out. This lands squarely in my hip-hop sweet spot too. Classic '90s style; stripped-down production with simple but powerful beats and samples that really allow the rhymes and flow shine the way they should. This is great!

My first rap album. It's a good one.

Hits, pop-rock, energy

First and best Nas album. His flow was different from others and this album has a real voice to it. Great album that I've enjoyed countless times over the past however many years.

Ik had eigenlijk echt geen zin in hiphop, maar heb het toch een kans gegeven. Erg leuk! Wederom jammer dat ik geen halve sterren kan geven

I don't know man, a lot of rap is lost on my pale ass.

Just sounds like all 90s rap

So good

perhaps the best

Sæt jer ned Beastie Boys! Velkommen til the real NY. - The brutalizer, buddha-sizer, accelerator - The type of ***** who be pissing in your elevator

Ikke min genre, men kunne egentlig godt lide det.

*93 Ding ding ding - vi er helt oppe. Lige så friskt som nyt sengetøj.

Nas er goated og hvis du ikke giver illmatic 5/5, så er du en hater :) Bare min mening : )

liiiige det bedre end biggie 4.3

26 - Nas - Illmatic - Rating = 2 Opens with the NY subway and a movie quote… beat rolling in… (I’ll state off the bat that I am not a hip-hop/rap guy… but Nas is a cornerstone and the beats on this are rich) Good warm-up groove with the proper name-checking and initial hype building… Into one of the biggest songs, NY State of Mind, which is a heavy rap over simple piano beats… just not what I like. Collab next..meh. The World is Yours is sorta nice… simple but nice groove. Memory Lane… nice, like it, simple but groovy rap… One Love with Q-Tip… this is where the drone-y similar sound rapping just grates on me… same with the next song… Represent is more fun… This is not an album for me, but I get it and it’s not offensive.

There is a reason this is considered an all time classic

I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death

A decent album, especially for a debut release. I had to remind myself that Nas wrote these songs in his teens, demonstrating his talent at a very young age. Considering this album helped influence Eminem (according to a quick Google search) is also very impressive. Without this album we may not have Eminem! Probably won't listen to this album again, but I can appreciate the beauty and hard work that went into Illmatic.

nah man

It's Illmatic. What's not to like?

One of the most inspirational rap albums of all time. I absolutely love Nas

ny state of mind is insane, rest is pretty good

Hands down, one of the best hip hop records ever produced. The album is stacked with rap royalty on the feature verses and beats. The wordplay is immaculate and elegant while portraying the gritty side of NYC. So much more authentic than the hordes that try to emulate him even into 2026.

own

I like life’s a bitch so far, because it is a bitch and the saxophone at the end is sexy. “Explore rap and tell me, “Nas ain’t all that” Yeah I admit I dont know hip hop that well. Perhaps someone who’s into hip hop would wax poems for Nas and this album; I’m trying to stay open minded, and despite the fact that I’m not a big fan of the genre this album’s not bad. It’s a debut album and I’d say Nas came into the 90s NY hip hop scene with a swing and I respect that.

-nicht schlecht -nach einer Zeit nervig -coole Basslines

classic/5. A flawless rap album. A great entry point if you want to get into rap. "The world is yours" and "new York state of mind"are some of the best song of this entire genre.

Uuuuuh 4-5. King of Rap

love nas

This and 36 Chambers are the quintessential Boom Bap albums

Very good album I like it

1,5

“Life’s a bitch and then you die.” I don’t know, it’s Illmatic. It’s perfect? Okay, I’ll try. It’s unflinching and bleak while also being a lot of fun to listen to. It’s also about as New York as it gets. Nas’ pen is razor sharp and he’s a great wrangler of language and stories. This towers over other classics of its time for a reason. Everything about it slots together, nothing out of place. If I may say so: “The World Is Yours” is probably a top five greatest rap song of all time. What a performance, what a lush and beautiful beat. I guess some of the lyrics haven’t aged well. If hearing a homophobic slur in an early 90s rap album turns you off of it completely all I can say is I guess I get it but I don’t know what to tell you. It’s been thirty years.

I didn't really know Nas before this. I know I'd heard the name, and maybe one song. What have I been doing with my life. This. THIS. This is the top of the 90s rap game. Hell, possibly the top of the rap game, full stop. The beats, the flow, the lyrics, all top-tier. I'm blown away.

No es de mi estilo :(

7/10

Prefer Rakim.

Simply one of the best rap has to offer in the 90s. So many hits on one record that its crazy I've heard most of the songs on here separately. The album clocks in at a perfect length of under 40 minutes that makes it feel like it isn't dragging on with a lot of filler tracks. Album cover is iconic too, 5 stars.

I don't like this gender

Me gustó, es el tipo de rap que no agota y disfruto de escuchar

already listened to this one. one of the few albums I have a vinyl for. one of the best hip-hop albums of all time.

This album was decent for the first one to be rated however there was nothing special so 5/10

Έτυχε αυτό το άλμπουμ να είναι ο patient 0. Αποφάσισα να ακολουθήσω αυτή τη σελίδα και να διευρύνω τους μουσικούς μου ορίζοντες. Έχω να πω πως μου φάνηκε ιδιαίτερα κλασικό στον κόσμο της ραπ και μάλλον είναι πολύ γνωστό και φαίνεται. Έχει την κλασική στεροτυπική ραπ ποιότητα του 90 που ακούς σε σειρές και ταινίες όταν προσπαθούν να δείξουν 'αλητεία'. Πολύ καλή πρώτη επιλογή, μου άρεσε ιδιαίτερα Halftime

Odotin kuraa mutta olikin ihan jees ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Nyt oli hyvää räppiä. Hyvää samplea, hyvät beatit ja laatukamaa. Kevyt kuuntelu!

Pretty cool album not something I listen to but still very good

boring

Nice

3.5 - Solid album.

Rolls Royce, Rolex, Yeti, Sennheiser, Snap-On and "Illmatic".

Cool

bulletproof, what an insane debut

Poetic, legendary

Ahhh one of the Golden Calfs. So - I remember when Nas came out, and I remember thinking he was terrible because he was always so far behind the beat with his flow. I must've confused him with some other dude, because listening to "Illmatic," he is extremely precise. I have no idea who I thought he was, but Nas is excellent. Lyrically he could be Shakespeare himself and I wouldn't know - all I really gathered from this record is that Nas is from Queensbridge. That isn't his fault- I just have a low tolerance for lyrics. Overall this is totally fine - the backing tracks are good, if extremely derivative of Wu-Tang, and his flow is great. It's good. THREE STARS

On top of this just being an insanely well written and well produced album, it’s also pretty ground breaking. There wasn’t anyone on the east coast making beats or records like this. You had Dr Dre out west starting to mess around with this level of musicality in beat production, but Nas and the gang take a completely different approach in the type of music they were making. I have to put this squarely in the same camp as the Chronic of albums that changed the genre and birthed the era of hip hop that we know today.

Maybe five years ago I may not have admitted this, but hip hop just isn’t my genre. I like music more than I do lyrics, and this music is so dependent on lyrics. I know this is the one people like but I’m the philistine who can’t tell the difference between good and medium quality. My review therefore isn’t about the album per se, but my experience. Bonus point because I’m probably wrong.

Neblogas, geri beatai, geri barsai lol

Halftime is the epitamy of 90s hip hop rap. It is hard to believe how young he was when he wrote this. One Love is something I have heard many felons say- I had no idea it originated with Nas. Not really my style of music, but I can see how influential it was.

I'm never gonna get into hip hop as much as I try. No matter how good the message is, I just can't do it. I honestly can't give a reasoning for my rating. It's the same for every hip hop album I get.

One of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time and through it, Nas cemented itself as one of the greatest lyricists. It is his best album to this day and the beats and songs are all legendary. 5/5

Big fan love the line half African half amazing

I enjoyed it! Will listen again

102. thank god for genius lyrics

Ya Di ya rap, can’t see how it progresses anything in any direction!

I was nervous about this one, I have not historically liked 90s rap. But this was so good!! The beats were incredible and catchy, and there were only a few questionable or outright dubious lyrics. A product of its time, but still very good. 7/10

The

Liked: N.Y. State of Mind, The World Is Yours Added: N.Y. State of Mind (already added)

Nope, Rap is still boring.

Great every song is amazing

There are so many parts of this record that are astounding. Nas being 19 when he recorded NY State of Mind in one take is obviously legendary, but so many of these cuts are truly clear eyed social realist poetry. So many rappers are bullshitting about their art reflecting their lives, but Nas is not, because there is so little that he describes that rises above Crab Bucket shit, everyone dragging everyone down, everything being a competition for biggest crook, least trustworthy killer. A masterwork from a guy who went on to live entirely in the shadow of his early work, the Black Alex Chilton.

Good

un des meilleur album de hip-hop ever 5/5

Obviously well done. The songs are clever and musical. I appreciate some of the jazzier(?) vibes. But what are we supposed to do with the casual homophobia of a song like “Halftime?” Not cool.

I liked it :]

I did a few laps on my morning walk at work to get a little more time with this album out in the sunshine. This kind of project, an artist and album which I have constantly heard recommended as the peak of their artform and yet I have never listened to personally, is exactly why I wanted to do this project in the first place. Nas is often regarded as one of the best rappers of all time, with Illmatic being considered his masterpiece, and countless artists I already love have directly pulled on Nas as an influence, so it comes as no surprise to me that I was a huge fan of this album. What is most remarkable about it to me is it's consistency: even many of my favorite rap albums of all time have a song or two which I find a little less compelling than the others. However, Illmatic never dips below great, managing to stay compelling and varied without ever straying from the fundamentals of its east coast sound. While the beats do a great job of keeping the energy moving forward, it's clearly Nas' flow and lyricism which steaks the show here. He absolutely deserves his acclaim in rap, balancing incredibly catchy flows and dense rhymes with personal stories and powerful imagery, managing to avoid dipping into the more nonsensical lyrical content that a lot of other rappers jump into when the focus strictly becomes complexity over message (there is absolutely a place for this style of rap, but Nas striking a best-of-both-worlds balance is incredibly impressive). In the street level storytelling throughout this album, I can hear the mix of musical priorities which will go on to influence some of my favorite artists like Kendrick Lamar; however, unlike other artists who serve as early inspirations of later sounds, Illmatic has not been supplanted as a classic. If this album were to release today, it would still be an incredible and modern piece of art. Highlights: N.Y. State of Mind, Life's a Bitch, The World Is Yours, Halftime, Memory Lane (Sitting' in da Park), One Love, One Time 4 Your Mind, Represent, It Ain't Hard to Tell

FUCK. YES. the debut album of nas, unleashing hardcore and personal hip-hop music based off his experiences growing up in new york. nas had already gotten a bit of cred throughout the early 90s, and the material he's written for this album he's been brewing since he was a teen. prime focuses of this hip hop album are the mesmerizing way nas rhymes with zero effort and arguably some of the dreamiest beats ever made. whenever i listen to this album, i imagine peering out a bus window, riding through the dirty slums of the new york metropolis. a land of turmoil, but also a land of opportunity. some people can't handle the sometimes aggressive... true, blunt vulgarity and mantras of the album, including my dad.... i'd hate to break it to you, but life really is a bitch. life is hell but you've only got one. better just see what happens.

Ihan jees. Ehkä odotin enemmän. 3/5.

Toute les musiques se ressemblent, mais je m'y attendais vu le style , cependant j'aime bien le old school donc 3/5 c'est bien

Inte riktigt min musik. För att vara rap så tyckte jag den var ok

Rap isn't my thing. Gave it a listen and it's ok, not sure if it's just my general dislike for rap but this didn't do anything for me.

This is some great old school hip hop. Crisp beats, clear vocals, great production, good storytelling, it really gets you. I enjoyed it a lot.

The GOAT

oldschool cool

Some extremely solid 90s rap. I enjoyed it, but its not my genre. Well executed tho.

4/5 I think this album is such a classic. It's just really nice, I have no notes.

Thank you to Milwaukee Ballet company for dancing to "the World is Yours" and introducing that song to me in 5th grade

This was actually not bad compared to what I expected. Not my favorite genre but it was ok.

straight out the fuckin' dungeons of rap

Nope - you know what I'm sayin'? Enough of this cRAP!

Not bad. Never heard much of his music before but i can appreciate it.

Ida-ranniku flow on siin tugev. Kohati Jazz Hop kõlaga palad on mõnusad. Ma lüürika osas ei oska kaasa rääkida, aga musikaalselt on küll hea plaat. Nas on siiski räpimaailmas üks GOATidest. 3.7/5

It wasn't a bad listen even though I'm not that much into hiphop. I liked 'it ain't hard to tell'. It was nice listening something outside my comfort zone for a change.

Might be the best hip-hop record of all time. Full emotional range, beats and production meet Nas' flow like interlocking gears. Blunt at points, spacy at others.

West Coast hip-hop was all the rage in 1994, but I always preferred the version coming out of New York, and Illmatic encapsulates it perfectly: claustrophobic and paranoid, built around jazz loops or eerie piano tinkles instead of P-Funk, and reinforced with thumping boom-bap beats. Nas plays the role of street-hardened storyteller and survivor, with an intricate flow and rhymes like, “When I was 10 I was a hip-hop shorty top / Known for rockin’ microphones and twistin’ off a 40 top.” It’s gritty and absorbing, and it’s nice to hear some turntable work, which sadly seems to have fallen out of vogue in hip hop.

One of the easier fives to give, many timeless lyrics in here, and I regularly wonder how musicians in their teens and twenties can write with any amount of emotional truth, like, you're so young. Same's true for Nas, he was like 19 and 20 when he recorded this album, how'd he do it. Sure he had help on the production, the music, the bass lines, the beats. But the words, the quick turns of phrases, and then the stories, were all his.

I am obviously not the target market for gangsta rap and I find it tiresome. However I will give this more than my usual 1 star for the innovative use of marimba on that one track.

Imagine every time someone disses you they have to qualify it with “you admittedly ate with Illmatic though”

Old school NY rap/hiphop

Ratings: 5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background Didn't love it. Didn't hate it.

Not my kind of music. Sorry.

Liked it.

I really liked it. It surpassed my expectations a lot.

Life’s a bitch and then you die… some pretty catchy beats and rap on this but I didn’t fall in love. I’d tried listening to this before and I think I fail to hear what everyone else is hearing. It’s good but I don’t know when I’d choose to listen to it over some other albums…

As an old white dude in rural America, this just isn’t for me, and that’s ok.

Hip hopin suuri klassikko, jonka biiseillä räpätään kovasta elämästä New Yorkin kaduilla. Tekstiä löytyy runsaasti ja biitit ovat jykeviä. Voin kuvitella että monien genren ystävien mielestä tämä on mestariteos. Kyllä tämä minunkin korvaani kuulosti aika hyvältä, muttei hip hop kuitenkaan ole ihan se lempparigenre itselleni.

Enjoyed it from start to finish. Simple production, but tight. Not a lot of waste on this record. I get that this is in the pantheon of hip hop record.

jeg forstår den kulturelle indflydelse den har haft og synes det er sejt, men ville nok ikke komme tilbage

Messa like.

its cool. its old school rap. its a vibe for sure. couple i recognize, gonna go with the world is yours. 3/5

Head boppin' to this unintentionally the whole time. I see why people call him top 5. Listened to it twice plan to listen to it tomorrow as well.

Really really good. Never listened to this before but extremely pleasantly surprised

Good album. Wish it was RB.

I hadn’t listened to Nas before. Really good. I saved some songs

Wish the background instrumentals were more interesting but this was still very cool

I thought this was great

3.5 but rounding down. I had a few songs saved already and I saved a couple more (so clearly I enjoy it) but it’s been less that 24 hours and I don’t remember what anything from this album sounds like

Feet kicked up, smokin a fat ass blunt and head boppin for 40 mins straight.

Awesomesauce

There's a lot about this album that's been already said before that I don't need to go over. I fw this heavy

Got better as it went along. First track (proper track not track 1) didn’t click with me but gradually started to enjoy it. Good beats throughout.

Nice reminder of this rap masterpiece. One of my favourite albums of all time. Listened countless times but there are still hard to process rap nuggets to find in Nas slick verses.

Honestly don’t know how to appreciate rap music. It lacks melody and I rarely relate to the lyrics

Six stars.

Good 90s hip hop

if I save almost half of the album I can't really give it any lower than a 4 can I. Love me some hip-hop with lyricism and good flow. Why a 4 not a 5? I just can't imagine me thinking to put this album on a lot on random occasions, which is what I reserve the 5's for.

One of the best hip-hop albums of all time

Better with every listen. I love the clean,very bopable music behind the rapping itself, and any hip-hop album under a hour and a half is already well rated in my book

Still one of the greatest Rap records of all time. It still sounds awesome.

What a first album pick lol!

Classic and influential

So good!!!!!!!!

5/5 THE RAP ALBUM

NAHS

I did not remember that AZ was affiliated with Nas. Loved the Lady remix he did with D'Angelo (Rest in Peace). N.Y. State of Mind is awesome. It would be in the running for best Track 1 off a debut album if it wasn't for the stupid talking intro. Life's a Bitch is just a different rap over the beat for AZ's Sugar Hill...that's a little too close of a crew. It's a great beat though. So far so good, I like his flow, the beats are super chill. His dad is a jazz musician which explains the general vibe of the album. There is such a thing as too much vibraphone and it is most perfectly exemplified on One Love. Represent is a jam.

One of the few rap albums that I actually like listening to.

I remember this one hitting like a bomb when it dropped. Crazy that it was so completely outdone six months later. I think time has been kinder to this one.

he was twenty! it's hard to believe, but at the same time, it's so, so obvious. it is incredibly 20-years-old to be this direct, this naked. for all of your memories, real or invented - dead friends, gunfights, birthdays, nights spent doing genuinely nothing - to push up against each other, jockeying for significance in your young mind. when you're from someplace where much of the world tells you your life doesn't matter, it makes sense that, defiantly, every moment would start to burn a little hotter in your mind's eye what isn't very 20-years-old at all is just How Fucking Good this record is. it is just really explosively good. you could pick this thing apart, select a few lines that are throwaway or silly or repetitive, but Illmatic is an act of portraiture, and works best when viewed whole. you see the entire young man - one who sometimes lives dangerously, sometimes frivolously, sometimes reflectively, like we all do one way or another. that's not to say that the record doesn't work at the micro level at all. it does, fabulously, especially when Nas is in present-tense reportage mode. there are moments that feel like being grabbed by the scruff of the neck and being plunged into the ice-bath of a life that is almost certainly harder and more violent than yours. that second-by-second retelling of a stickup on N.Y. State of Mind, which reveals in one quick line that the whole story Nas has been so high he hasn't realized or cared that the building he's robbing is full of children? insane, terrifying storytelling. the production, too, gives you these little moments all the time. the "aren't i hot shit" beat switch on Halftime, that mournful, melting sax solo closing out Life's a Bitch, the blurred, staticky chorus of ghosts on Memory Lane. wonderful stuff, always so considered back to the age thing - there's a lyric i can't find now where Nas alludes to being a quarter of the way through his life. it really cracks this thing open for me - the gravity with which he treats the little things, the mental effort put into the rhyme schemes for bars about smoking weed or meeting girls. his childhood and adolescence were a significant chunk of his life! if you look at CDC data for life expectancy for Black men born in the 70s in the US, he would more accurately have been looking at a third of his years gone by. from that perspective, man....what a shame it would've been to not make this record. to be that age, and that fucking good, and not think the petty crimes, young loves, joint hits, friends gone (to the grave or the state) are worth writing about. what a damning, thoughtful, generous thing to do, bringing these things so vividly to life

7/10 - the lyrics and rap are strong but the beat can become samey; but a classic album of the times

bit repetitive

mierda.

This album is phenomenal. It’s undoubtedly one of the best hip hop albums of all time. Before listening to this album, I wasn’t quite familiar with nas’ work. However I was quite impressed by this record. My favorite track was represent which had these really good synths. And I loved the very ethereal horns on the closing track feel almost dream like. His lyrics are so articulate and they flow so logically.

I don’t like rap

I think this is what rap is supposed to sound like. Easy Coast 90’s hip hop at its absolute finest. Found drum loops, musical samples, scratching, and a flurry of words, ideas, and expletives interwoven. A hook here or there but no real push to make pop songs. And the artistry of Nas’ flows are obviously dripping with talent. He has so much to say in every song. The stories are real and compelling. An undeniable Rap Hall Of Fame inductee on this effort alone. I dock it one point because the production is pretty typical. There’s nothing groundbreaking in the beats and they starve for differentiation.

I’m not a rap fan, but I’d like to understand the genre better and find some rap I can enjoy. Illmatic is a rap album that I honestly enjoyed. The beats are minimalistic in a good way, and Nas’s rapping is impressive to me. This is a good album, but it still suffers frequently frustrating m one aspect of a lot of rap that turns me off—the glorification of the gangster lifestyle. But, although that’s not something I understand, I still feel this is a really solid, well produced album full of diverse and interesting tracks.

Did not make it to the end of this one.

Not my usual music cup of tea but appreciate the artistic talent. I like that I get to listen to music I normally don’t while doing this project.

Hip hoppin

✋🏻😧🤚🏻

It felt good to go back and relisten to this classic. The foundation of so much rap that I love.

Estuvo cabrón la verdad

Just don't quite get it yet after 2 listens, but glad I've heard it if that makes sense

Classic for a reason, the raps and flows on this are insanely good Some of the hooks let it down a little, like The World Is Yours becomes a little grating (4/5)

ELITE! NYC REPRESENT!!

Not my type, but it was good.

Amazing for a debut

Classic. Great lyricism. Personally It is not form me, but I can appreciate this work.

Not bad

A couple of songs really hit with me.

It's hard to say you'd have east coast sound without this album. I don't listen to a ton of rap but there's no doubt the influence of this one. And he was twenty years old?? My absolute only nit with this album is that the "Human Nature" sample in "It Ain't Hard to Tell" feels a bit off, but it's generally ok. Great album. Wouldn't be in my playlist all the time but worth all the stars.

Occasionally found it repetitive, but on the whole I enjoyed it. Not necessarily something I would listen to again, but nice to have listened to. Fav song: N.Y. State of Mind Least fav: One Love

Really couldn’t find a fault with this honestly, only a 45 s intro. Great album cover, great songs, some of my favs in there. Flows very well. Specific rating - 4.9 Fav song - N.Y. State of mind Least fav - The genesis

Some of it got a bit too repetitive but mostly I really enjoyed it- also very cute that his dad is playing the trumpet on Life's a Bitch. Favourite song: Memory Lane Least: One Love

been wanting to get more into the hip hop scene and this was both interesting and fun to listen to. no wonder it's critically acclaimed, the songs flow by

This was good. Great sounds and interesting all around.

Lyricism. Poetry. Storytelling. Nas is an absolute genius for this album. When I first listened to this years ago, I only picked up on the heavy boom bap beats and I do see why people think all the songs sound the same. However, I revisited it back again shortly after my first listen and really soaked in the lyrics. Thank goodness I did! If you're looking for an example of nonstop wordplay, listen to "N.Y. State of Mind". You'll find that nearly every single line has a meaning. Honestly, same goes for all the other songs. The sampling in this as well is top tier from all producers. The album clearly illustrates the environment that Nas was living in at the time in Queensbridge, New York City. Also, the fact that this was his debut and he was only a teenager when he wrote this makes him extremely talented. This has no skips and every song is a hit in its own way. The definition of pure, quality rapping. The review maybe a little bias but I'm telling you, this album grew on me. Has to be one of the best, if not, the greatest Hip-Hop album to ever exist.

no es mi tipo

Es un clásico aunque no es mí estilo favorito

Illmatic is yet another entry in 1001 Albums... where I find myself racking my brain, determining if I've noticed something new about it, if I have any unique angle to approach analyzing it from. ultimately, I don't; what's left to say about what might be the most pored-over album in the history of hip hop? instead, I guess I'll point out that this is the 200th album I've reviewed for this list, which is certainly a milestone of sorts. numbers are arbitrary and all, but I'm now more or less a fifth of the way through this thing. I hope not to take anymore half-year breaks away! (also, Illmatic is certainly far more interesting than the album I got for #100, Next by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a 70s glam rock LP that I mostly shrugged my shoulders at.) this is the album that, back when I was first getting into hip hop as a teenager, bloggers and forum users and music journalists all pointed to as one of its most essential documents, and a potential entry point for newcomers into the trappings of the style as a whole. I didn't fully get it at the time, but having listened to a bit more 80s and early 90s hip hop since I first heard Illmatic as a kid, I can definitely sense that it's an album which changed the sound of the genre more or less overnight, at least in Nas's own city. these beats are some of the first in rap history that feel truly timeless; the iconic opener "N.Y. State of Mind" has a beat from DJ Premier that still feels like it could've been made yesterday. the menacing piano and bass sample at the center of everything, and especially that hard-knocking, slow drum break, both give Nas a tremendous bed upon which to lay his slickly constructed, yet darkly sinister, verses. his pioneering use of multilayered rhythms and rhymes, as well as his impeccable sense of wordplay, set the bar incredibly high for the rest of New York City and the growing East Coast hip hop movement; some of its most prominent adherents, Pete Rock and Q-Tip, also make appearances on the production end here. along with Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), released less than half a year earlier, Illmatic was at the center of a sea change for how hip hop songs and albums were made. the old guard's influences from disco and R&B were being slowly snuffed out in favor of dusty jazz samples and leaden, lumbering drum loops. it's a formula which rap acts, both on the East Coast and outside of it, are still working from to this day (including Nas himself, who's been on a pretty major run with Hit-Boy over the last few years, in case you haven't noticed). decent 9/10.

Another great hip hop classic. Great samples, great beats. One of the best of the era 4

I really like this. I've listened to this album before years ago and it still stands up. It feels genuine and I found it interesting to lock into the lyrics and get a feel for the world that he lived in.

I'm sure this is good but it just wasn't for me. Nothing caught my attention

très très chaud

Trop de nword pas fan

En mode boum boum tchack et ça marche bien

Nope

Really good album. His rhymes and delivery are exceptional. The beats are good, though a bit repetitive. The album only lacks a truly great song. 3.5/5 Will listen again

I'm not the best judge at evaluating what is "good" rap. Sure, I have my preferences, but rap is not a genre I ever fully committed to. That said, evaluating a rap album seems anathema to me. Knowing that Illmatic is not necessarily the style of music I would listen to, how should I judge it? Lyrical fluidity: the best rappers can amaze you with their rhyme schemes. Nas scores highly here. Choice of music: again this scores highly here. Window into an experience removed from my own: again, scores highly.

I listened to stillmatic after this finished. I owned it back at school. Perhaps a controversial take but its the album I prefer of the 2. Maybe it was just my entry point to Nas. Regardless, luxury hip hop is a good description.

Real luxury hip hop. I can see why this is so highly regarded. (WAK47s favourite album) 4/5 only because when it really started to get great I realised that it’d gone onto radio.

The most 90's hip hop album of all time

I don't quite understand the appeal of this album.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Jazzigt och svängigt. Produktionen är konsekvent och Nas har flow. Det här kan jag sätta på och bara låta flöda och digga till groovet. Jag är ingen som tar mig tid att verkligen lyssna på texter så jag antar att jag missar mycket av albumet. Velar mellan en tre och en fyra men känner att det nog lutar mer åt en 4a. Bäst är N.Y. state of mind, Halftime och Represent.

Classic. What else is there to say? Love every second

I enjoyed this and it was great to hear after public enemy to hear the progression in the genre. It definitely sounded moodier but more of an individual take on the hardships of the time unlike public enemy that was more of a collective fight the power. I have listened to this before and would listen again. Would give a 3.5 if I could.

I'm aware this record is a rap classic, but it didn't grab me particularly. I found it enjoyable but nothing stronger than that. I wonder if it's a case of being unable to appreciate how impactful this album is. The lyrics I do remember are good, so maybe I just didn't pay enough attention.

Decent but nothing stood out to me.

Not for me

Favorite Tracks: NY State of Mind / Life's a Bitch / The World is Yours / Represent Rating: 4.7 A stone cold classic of East Coast hip hip, one of the best hip hop albums ever recorded, and one of my personal favs. 39 mins of straight fire. I get goosebumps every time I hear "I dunno how to start this shit" and Nas launches into the pure heat of NY State of Mind - recorded in a single take, first attempt, he'd just finished writing it. If you don't like this album, you don't like hip hop. Nuff said.

It’s a classic. It’s referenced to this day for a reason.

I know people love this one, and it's okay for gangsta rap. But not my particular cup of tea when it comes to hip-hop.

Not my kind of music.

Save:2

meh

Just not an enjoyable one for me 2

That was solid, there were some good songs, but I wouldn't be interested in listening to this again any time soon.

3.5 stars It’s really good but repetitive. It both deserves the hype and is overrated.

Incredible beat collection

I don't think I recognized the genius of this on the first listen but I still found it very good. I think by the third or fourth listen it clicked. Massive caveat that I have some essential stuff to listen to still, but for me this is handily the best hip-hop record of the 90s, and is in the shortlist for greatest hip-hop record of all time. I came in knowing I was giving this a 5, started writing this out at NY State of Mind, and on basically every song after that went "damn he really frontloaded this one" until the record was over.

This album starts off so strong that I was thinking that a 5 was a given. NY State of Mind is kind of chilling in a way that stays with you. It's wild that Nas was a teen when he wrote these songs/20 when it was released. The World is Yours also amazing and musically does it sort of predict the rise of an entire genre in Lo Fi Hip Hop to Study/Relax to? There's a cartoon who's been cramming for her grad school for 16 years that needs to thank Nas.

You can always tell when you hit a good hip hop album because it somehow doesn't date itself. A lot of earlier albums you can hear the decades sound, but albums like this seamlessly blend in.

so good

Nope. Rated by some on this site as the best rap album of all time. So I guess that means Rap and me are not meant to be.

Rappist

Знову реп, але на цей раз було навіть не так погано. Я не можу виділити композицію, яка б сподобалася чи не сподобалась, все відчувалося максимально рівно

Not my thing.

I am not a fan of rap, so this didn’t hit the spot for me. I heard of Nas tho!

i get why people like it but it’s not for me

I know that this is hailed as one of the greatest albums of all time. I can’t really tell. I guess it’s fine.

Meh

Legendary record! 🔥🔥🔥🔥

Kollade på en video med kevin langue... där nämnde de Nas och hade ingen aning vem de var så kul att nu få lyssna på honom, känns som typsik 90-tals rap men är bra melodier och skönt att lyssna på!

I wish I was cool enough to love this. As it is, I'm only cool enough to like it.

Great album, already a fan

So I see that this is a very acclaimed album, but I don't see the vision for now. I did like the production, the sampling, the loops... This must be one of those that's probably a really good album, and I just don't understand it. Maybe I just need to get more into Hip Hop and I might end up really liking it in the future.

A classic for a reason. No doubt one of the best 90s hiphop albums.

This is one of those albums that was so built up as a landmark that, by the time I bought it 15ish years ago, it was kind of a letdown. Not that it isn't great, but I can count on one hand the number of times I've listened to it since. "N.Y. State of Mind," "One Love," "Represent," and "It Ain't Hard to Tell" stand out for me, and it's all solid (though AZ or Olu Dara's annoying repetition of "Life's a bitch and then you die" brings down that song). 3.5, rounding up to 4.

When I worked in a record store that primarily sold hip hop in 99-00 this was considered the s-h-i-t. Never heard til now. I get it. But not really.

dovrei riascoltarlo meglio

Certified classic.

Nothing that really wowed me, but still a very listenable rap album that carries itself well. 2.5 stars.

Nas is exactly as good as I thought he was. It doesn’t sound very unique though. Maybe it’s a sign of his influence.

Hip hop poco vario

Мне понравилось

It was okay? I still feel a bit unsure about rap. I did like the jazz/chill vibes

Didn't know this is where Life's a Bitch and then you die comes from

Quite nice

Not my thing.

Yeah it bangs.

3 stars, good for what it is. Not as much my vibe as some of the other rap albums

I think I’ve just found the perfect hip hop album. Nas is a genius writer, I couldn’t believe he’d written some of this when he was just 16.

For me a legendary album. Easy 5/5

Didn’t think I was going to enjoy it but I absolutely do

I think my previous employed would be proud of me. 5 starts to 90s rap.

Not my kind of music.

An absolute classic and one of the essential albums of 90s hip hop. The beats throughout are fantastic. Lively, with groove and Nas dances across them expertly with lyrical ease. The only reason I downgrade to a 4 is because personally, I don't believe there is enough variety on the content of the lyrics. I absolutely get the albums focus is to document life growing up in the rough parts of New York in the 90s and the difficulty that goes along with this. However, I think if other prominent hip hop albums from the same period and whilst the content is largely surrounding gangs, guns and what it takes to survive the streets, there are brief moments away from this content. All in all a great album and an undoubted classic. 4/5. Essential listening for anybody exploring 90s east coast hip hop. Best Songs Represent Half time One Love Worst songs N/A

This has aged remarkably well

Staggeringly great, an undeniable hip hop classic

Ni

ai q fofo a capa :3 FAVS (top 3): halftime, one love, represent mençoes honrosas: lifes a bitch, the world is yours, memory lane um album bem hiphopzado, definitivamente um album de hiphop! curti nota final: 4/5

I get why this was universally loved and looked up to but I really don’t think it’s aged as well as a lot of people claim it has. Sort of boring, sort of the same boom bap beats and flow throughout this whole thing. Life’s a bitch is a bad song. I’m maybe being too harsh but I’m not really feeling it. Lyrically phenomenal of course, and that’s the big stand out here overall. I really feel like I’m going to get flamed for this one.

Easy-listening

I forgot what a masterpiece this album is. 10/10, 5-stars, and the best one we’ve listened to so far (in my opinion). Absolutely no skips.

Talk about an all time great rap album. I love Nas' voice and I love his flows. He really finds his pocket so effortlessly. He's not rapping over a beat, he's rapping with a beat. Yeah this is stellar.

Life is a bitch having to listen to this.

pre-listening: I loved this album I haven't listened to eveything yet but im excited!! Post-listening: loved the songs i love the suede of all rap omg nysom is so good beyond campare obvi a classic i also liked genesis theres something about nas' voice. and the world is yours was wonderful!!

Given that I don't like the violence and misogyny associated with gangsta hip-hop, by two minutes into the opening track I thought that I was going to dislike the entire album. Also, way to much first person singular in that opening track. But the rest was OK. Not my bag but OK. Pretty slick rhymes and such, although I must admit that I didn't listen too closely to them (I was cooking dinner at the time). Tho I have mad respect for Nas for appearing in the 2020 remix of Fight the Power, which is all-the-more pertinent these days. Unfortunately.

Great album!

I don't have a lot of genre expertise on which to base this impression, but I will say that from a single listen, I don't doubt this album's status as a classic. But ultimately this style of right-down-the-middle, lyrically-focussed rap isn't immediately appealing to me (even when it's as good as Illmatic), so not necessarily something I'll be picking up to revisit.

Liking this album makes me feel more cool than I have any right being.

A little monotonous for me. Cool album but not really my style

Already listened

Adorei. Um ícone por motivos

This album is of its time in both a good way and a bad way. Yes there is a lot of misogyny, homophobia and talk about gang violence. But in 1994, I imagine that is culture and Nas is living in. Does it make it ok? No. But is Nas talented and is this album smooth and fun to listen to? Yes. It has a very chilled feel, even though the subject of most of the songs is some variety of violence, threatening or intimidation. The overall feel is an album that you could put on as you just relax on an idle Saturday. As long as you dont listen too hard to the expletives. (2.850)

I never sleep cause sleep is the cousin of death

*Fantano voice* really enjoyed this project

i like west side rap better but top 3 from this album are it aint hard to tell memory lane and the wolrd is yours

Not my style but I enjoyed the listen

Inspirational for the new gen rap

Yes I enjoyed

New rapper same story

Hip-Hop står og falder med hvad der samples og hvordan. Nas (og alle hans producere) formår at bruge jazzen og give den et friskt skud. Det fungerer til tider mega godt på albummet her. Særligt står N.Y. State Of Mind ud.

3.5

Out and out the best hip hop album ever. Lyrically, so engaging and enthralling over some quality boom bap beats that provide an effortless back drop for Nas to shine. The only thing that is sad is how Nas was never going to better his debut and although he's had good albums, nothing has ever matched it or really got near.

Obviously a very high quality album but just felt samey to me, couldn't get into

niet helemaal mijn stijl maar wel goed

banger oldskool hiphop

Nee sorry dees is gewoon echt niets voor mij. Ik kan wel erkennen dat Nas zijn vak kent tho.

This is a little too low-key to keep my attention, but I'm sure if I focused on the rhymes I'd be impressed. I guess I'll try again. I recently read Mark Ronson's memoir about DJing in NY in the 90s, which comes with a 19-hour playlist if you want to follow along. The World Is Yours is on it and I agree that that's a great track but I can't picture it on a dance floor. 3.5

Absolute 90s New York vibe. Peak.

Okay but not my vibe

Amazing rhythms, good album, hard shit af.

Nas is an incredibly talented rapper, and this is a really solid album as a whole. 90s hip-hop is not usually my genre, so I'm not surprised that I feel meh about this album. But I can recognize how influential this was on all future hip-hop.

Hip hop really isn’t my thing. That being said, I did like the rap on this album and I could see the talent. It’s better than I expected, so I guess I’ll give it a 3.

Not really my vibe

This album had some great beats. The vibe was consistent across the album in a good way.

I once got into an animated argument with this guy named Tim. His (preposterous at the time) position was that Nas was a better rapper than Snoop. I vociferously held the inverse position. Now that I have heard Nas, I admit I may have been wrong...but I would never let him know that.

🐐

Damn, this album was solid. Reminded me of Lupe Fiasco with the flow and since Nas came before I’m guessing he was an influence.

Arguably the greatest hip-hop album ever.

I’ve listened to this album already— remember NYC w Jos? My fav songs before listening: N.Y. State of Mind + The World Is Yours After listening: Memory Lane + It Ain't Hard to Tell Thoughts: I liked it, but I'm not always in the mood for this sound. Definitely see how he influenced Joey Badass. BARS, nonetheless.

a literal mf banger, listened to in twice

I enjoyed a bit of it, maybe it's just not my usual thing to listen to but I am glad I listened to it. It has a strong feel to it and it reminded me of street fighter 3rd strike music. Life's a bitch and then you die!! 3.9/10

Great. My favorite this about this album is that it just *feels* like New York in the 90s. The jazz motifs throughout are masterful.

One of the best rap albums of all Time. Nas kinda a hoe for dropping this and low key being very average after. It’s lonely at the top, but at the top you don’t need a loan.

strong 3

It's a five on a good day.

Feel like I have listened to this album before, but honestly remember nothing from it. Fresh ears though, yeah I understand why this is considered one of the best hip-hop records of all time. Do feel like some of the songs stretch on a tad long (Which is crazy with this album being a very trim 39 minutes long). Previously I got Jeru the Damaja on the generator, and I'm hearing a ton of similarities between the two (Pretty much the dissonant keys, but it's a lot more subdued on Illmatic), but it's obvious why Nas became the household name and Jeru didn't. Nas was just far more accessible a sound whereas Jeru was just too dissonant for mainstream appeal (Being the closest thing I've heard to the rap version of Captain Beefheart - Trout Mask Replica or Gorguts - Obscura, maybe not in experimentation, but definitely in dissonance). But yeah, standouts for me are songs like N.Y. State of Mind, The World is Yours, and Represent. Amazing record.

Meh. Not for me.

After decades of neglecting hip hop, i started with this album a few years back. I’m still not educated enough to explain why, but you can feel from the first moment that it’s a masterpiece — the perfect combination of cool and calculating with pulsating, dynamic, and alive. Returning to it this time I felt how much I jazz is in it… made it harder than the first time to pick a favorite track and so I just go back to the beginning and start again.

Wow always good to relisten to this. I think he might be one of if not the best rapper ever in terms of lyrical ability, as he has a certain flow and vocabulary, where he blends both his real life experience on the streets of New York, with genuine introspection and wisdom, which makes some of this feel quite hardcore, but other bits very conscious, sometimes at the same time. The beats are incredible, some of the most iconic beats ever are on here I think. The features are quite good as well, but I've always wished Q-tip had an actual verse rather than just the chorus of One Love. Yeah not too much else, it another one I've heard too many times to properly re-evaluate it. One of the best rap albums ever, I feel like I'm in awe of him more than most rappers, and he's still going so huge respect. Favourite songs: all. Overall around 10/10

Okay ja gewoon goed hip hop album, maar ook niet revolutionair ofzo. Zal het vast nog een keer luisteren!

"I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death" is one of the single most iconic lyrics of all time!

fucking lekker album

Incredible album, great beats and lyrics.

There's some bops, but just an okay album

GOAT rap album.