Illmatic

-Tracks longer than 3:59: Yes -Long tracks interesting or special: 100% -Album shorter than 58 minutes: Yes. -Will listen to album again: Absolutely Overall: Now THIS is an album that belongs on this list. When it came out we knew that there was great potential. Nas’ intro to the world, his verse on Main Source’s Live at the Barbeque, which has arguably the hardest line in hip hop (When I was 12, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus), was explosive. The collection of producers is second to none, containing the some of the greatest of all time. But I don’t think anyone could have expected it to be as jaw droppingly good as it is. From the grimy and menacing N.Y. state of Mind, to the jazzy and reflective The World is Yours, this is a masterpiece. I usually hate when people gate keep, but I’m sorry, if you don’t like this album you don’t like hip hop, and that’s okay.

Not the type of hip hop that normally grabs me, but I enjoyed it. Impressive rapping and I love the production style.

Без английского народного, это просто бум-бум-бум в петле

Here it is, the greatest hip hop album of all time and one of the greatest of all time regardless of genre. It's perfect- the beats, the rhymes, the artwork, and best of all it's succint. No skits, no five minute songs, no clutter... Immaculate.

Easily one of the most important and influential rap albums of all time, and it isn’t hard to see why. Incredible production, incredible bars and rapping, about heavy topics that relate specifically to Nas’s life. Set the bar for what a rap album could be, and should be from that point forward.

Best producers of the era on consecutive tracks

Прикольн

7/10 Nas’ Illmatic is considered one of the high water-marks for 90s hip-hop and the development of the East coast sound. It’s his debut release and was largely recorded when he was around 19 years of age. Not being massively familiar with his work, and certainly not to the extent of having focused on it to the level that I do for reviews, this is an interesting one. Much of my issue of hip-hop from this era comes down to the overly repetitive nature of the samples used in production. As someone who’d main focus is on the musical elements of a track, rather than lyrics, I tend to find that a two or four bar loop repeated for 4-5 minutes is the kind of things that can swiftly drain away my enthusiasm for a track unless the rest of the production is very carefully handled. That being said, while lyrics tend to be secondary, the cadence and rhythm of a rappers delivery do tend to factor into my musical appreciation of a piece of a record. When applying those personal preferences to this album, there were times when I did feel like the repetitive nature of some of the samples were detrimental to the musical structure and staying power of the work. When there was enough effort put into adding variation, and Nas’ vocal given prominence, things did work much better, but there were times when it was oddly low in the mix compared to some of the more prominent elements of the samples. As opposed to elements such as bass line and drums, the repetition of clear tonal elements works against the songs, and that’s where I struggle more with this album. Putting that to one side, there is a lot to like about this record. The vibe is first class, and the consistency of tone and ambience across each of the tracks is very strong too. Nas writes rhymes that cut and skip through a range of rhythms and flows beautifully, and manages to vary his delivery from a more laid-back approach to one with a bit more aggression and front-foot intent. It’s really strong stuff and, especially when combined with extra ear candy elements and a more structured approach to sample us on tracks like The World Is Yours and One Love. Despite my slight misgivings over certain elements, I did find myself grooving along frequently as the album progressed. The production is strong and the sample selection is also well handled. So I enjoyed it, and I can really see why this is considered to be an important record, but despite the fact that I did have a good time with it, there was just not quite enough musical variation at play to let me slide it further towards the higher end of my scale. It is one that I may well pop back to and re-assess as time goes by though, so watch this space. The Genesis - It’s an intro with some cool lo-fi sample usage, but it’s vocally crowded, so while it sets the scene and tone of the album fairly well, it is a bit throwaway, despite being nearly two minutes long. N.Y. State Of Mind - The rapping is fantastic here, and I love the pace of the groove. Unfortunately, that groove doesn’t vary or develop at all across the whole 5 minutes of the track. The production of it creates a solid vibe, and the flow and rhythm of Nas’ delivery is of great quality, but there’s only so long I can listen to the same two bar loop around before I just start to find it boring. They do drop out to just the beat now and again, and throw in some sound effects, but it’s so musically limited that’s it’s hard to remain engaged, especially when the volume of the music is mixed oddly loud against the vocal. Life's A Bitch - Ok, so the musical content is a bit more subtle here. It’s still massively repetitive, but there’s loads more range from the vocal, and that gives it much more life. The rapping is more melodic too, and has a broader approach to rhythm and emphasis than the last track. They even throw in a cool bit of brass instrumental towards the end. The mixing and production tie this up really well and it feels much more musically pleasing, so hopefully things are on the up. The World Is Yours - It’s another two bar loop at the base, but again, there’s more depth provided by the layered vocal parts and the addition of the scratching elements. It’s hard not to get sucked into the groove, and the chorus, while simple, is pretty hooky and effective. Nas throws in some nice moments of rhythmic switch-up, and again the delivery is of great quality. It is just a shame that we have to listen to the piano part of the loop for basically the entire 5 minutes, because while there’s plenty of other stuff going on, it does feel like we’re lacking as much musical range as I would like. Halftime - It’s another great beat, and in this instance there are some more melodic elements thrown in more sporadically, which give things a far less repetitive edge, despite the beat and bass line looping for the whole track. The slightly more forward approach to the delivery of the vocal here is great, and the little skips and rhythmical slurs that he chucks in here and there are fantastic. There’s a lot to grab hold of vocally, and it does a lot to carry the track. It also feels like there’s a little more deftness in the arrangement compared to some of the early tracks. Pretty good stuff. Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park) - We’re back to something a bit more laid back now, but the vocal again feels like it’s being blended a bit too much into the two bar loop to overwhelm the repetition of the melodic parts, particularly the electric piano. The groove is lush, and the addition of the scratching and extra vocal parts do add a bit of range, so it does have a bit more staying power, particularly when Nas’ vocal works so well. I am enjoying this record, but this is another one of those that could have been so much better with some musical development. One Love - The start of this feels a little disorganised, but there’s more actual musical interest here, even if the mixing and timing of the component parts feels a bit uneven. With a defter hand at the mixer, I think this would be a lot stronger, because the vocal needs to be a bit more prominent and the thumb-piano sounding lead should be a bit more subtle. Those quibbles aside, I think there’s a lot to like about this one. It’s got great vibe, and a slightly different acoustic fingerprint to the rest of the album, which is great when combined with the considered and rhythmically powerful vocal delivery from the man himself. Like it. One Time 4 Your Mind - We’re into a leant back groove now that is again really good, but rests too much on a single two-bar repetition. There’s not as much other stuff going on on this one either, so it does become quite draining after a while. The lyrical and rhythmical delivery of the vocal is great though and, while I do find it a touch tiring, the general vibe and atmosphere of the groove is solid. Represent - Another where a prominent short loop makes things a bit too repetitive. They do at least work with tweaking the length of the sample here and there, but it feels like there’s a bit less to this in general. There’s some decent vocal stuff in there, particularly in the rhythmical choices of the lyrics, but the chorus section is a bit week, and when we just end up with Nas listing a bunch of his mates, it’s just a bit crap. It Ain't Hard To Tell - Now we get a slightly too quiet sample from Michael Jackson’s Human Nature, as well as a bunch of other samples that don’t quite work together. It feels a bit of a scattergun approach and the tuning all feels a tiny bit out, which is quite distracting. I actually appreciate the fact that there’s been a bit more work put into adding musical depth, but apparently, it’s been done by someone who’s not got the most musical ear, so it all sounds cluttered and discordant. Again, strong vocals, and when the beat is more stripped back, the vibe is sold. But it’s a slightly disappointing closer.

Olipa kyllä makee levy! Alkupuoli meni vähän heikommalla kuuntelulla, joten loppu pölähti tällä kertaa lujempaa. Nasilla oli paikotellen semmosta lyriikan rakentelua, että tuli ihan MF DOOM mieleen. Tähän pitää palata!

The illest! 🫡 Life's a bitch and then you die 🤷 N.Y: State of Mind päräyttää homman käyntiin hiton kovalla biitillä ja tiukoilla iskulinjoilla. Pakko oli vähän käydä mehustelemassa sample breakdowniakin juutuubista. Ihan ei riitä kielitaito ja räpymmärrys tän lätyn glorifioitua hienoutta täysin ymmärtämään, mutta en silti ihmettele että pidetään yhtenä merkittävimmistä rap-albumeista.

Olin ennakkoluuloinen, mutta tää oli ajaton, laadukas ja todella kovvaa räpäyttelyä ilman turhaa naisvihaa tai muuta löysää. Ainakin siltä osin mitä sanoja kuuntelin. Ja siis 20-vuotiaana kirjoitetuksi, mitä hittoa. Vaikuttaa, että New Yorkin kaduilla on joutunut varttumaan aika nopeasti.

Im intrigued by this album and open to revisiting but just couldn’t get into it the first few tries. I just couldn’t follow along with what he was saying and the production was kind of boring and couldn’t hook me in. 2.5

Отличный сторителлинг, конечно местами атмосфера одинаковая: как Нас бухает с кентами, и еще что то, чем обычно занимаются в гетто. И еще мелькают пятипроцентники. Но если эту придирку убрать, то на уровне. Биты шикарные. В целом атмосфера шик

All time classic. One of the few albums I've seen performed live in October 2024.

7.8/10. I enjoyed this album a lot more on my second listen, it was a great vibe built through many samples, with descriptive lyrics put in a way that make it more about viewing the events within than experiencing them through emotion. Front to back it's very solid, and through that made for a great listen.

I’m gradually starting to see a pattern in hip-hop: when it’s completely unbearable, it’s West Coast. If it’s East Coast - like Nas - it might not be a total disaster. And as “Illmatic” shows, that was already true back in 1994. Don’t get me wrong, this is still hip-hop, and after the third or fourth song, there really isn’t anything new anymore. But 90s hip-hop that I still don’t instinctively turn off? That’s pretty remarkable. And as if that weren’t enough, I’m even giving it a generous 2.5 stars.

I've heard a lot about this album and how influential it was and is, but I've never actually listened to it, so it was great to do that. It holds up!

I guess it's a couple good debuts in a row, and by good I mean, maybe some of the best ever. Nas introduced this New York hip hop sound on his debut. Bangers like NY State of Mind, The World is Yours, and Life's a Bitch are all standout tracks. Production on this is also top shelf. What an album.

Legendäres Album aber leider nicht ganz 5. 4/5

This is as much a novel or movie as an album (in a good way). It's a movie I probably won't think about tomorrow but one I enjoyed watching nonetheless. 3.5

my kind of hip hop

I'm not into rap or hip-hop, I do like some of the old classics, before that genre went to shit with this gangsta nonsense. This album was quite ok. Nice flow, good beats. The lyrics are a bit difficult from the present perspective. BUT: this is way better than all those over-hyped current hip-hop-sters like Drake, Ye, Lamar, etc.

Highlights: NY State of Mind, Life's a Bitch, The World Is Yours, Halftime, Memory Lane, One Time 4 Your Mind, It Ain't Hard to Tell Dope beats, generational technique and evergreen bars.

An absolute classic. Nas gets goat allegations all the time from this album.

Pretty good, ended a bit abruptly imo but there weren't any big stinkers on the album and I think it got a good flow. I do like how earnest this album is, Nas was rlly singing his heart out on every song (plus I'm gen z so it feels like everything is soaked in so many layers of meta jokes and irony that it loops around back to earnestness and then curdles once more into irony, so any amount of sincerity in art is very appreciated). good start for the thingie

Finalmente um bom álbum de boombap na lista. Esse aqui eu sou fã demais, baita disco e com uma levada poderosa do Nas, é só verso caótico e pesado, e os beats me agradam mais também.

Nigga. OK, now that I have that out of my system after it appears 50+ times on this release.. I rolled my eyes when I first saw this, expecting to hate it. But the guy can rap, and some of the beats are OK.

A very solid rap album.

This is enjoyable. I liked it.

This albums consists of 10 tracks. One intro that really doesn't count as a song, two deepcuts that don't really requiere much repeat listens. The other seven songs are so damn good that it feels as if there's absolutely nothing wrong with this album, just slight cool down moments, but the production and lyrics burn bright hotter than any flaws Nas could accidenlty leave here. This is also the result of 2 of hip hops greatest producers collaborating with Nas on his debut while they were both in the prime of their carreers. I can't even pick a favorite song, sometimes it's Represent, sometimes One Love, NY State of Mind, I've even had a It Ain't Hard to Tell. The one i've kept the longest is Life's A Bitch, what an anthem

Nas has gifted us with a 40 minute album. That is the kindest thing any rap artist did in the 90s. Once we get through the intro, it is nice to hear a beat that is leaning into something jazzier. That's also nice. Nas is clearly a solid rapper, straddling the world of early conscious hip-hop and the more burgeoning braggadoccio of his immediate milieu. He drops one of the best lines in the genre on the first song on his debut: “I never sleep, ‘cause sleep is the cousin of death.” it's just largely a comfortable rap album, not overly cheesy or performative, not too stark where the music behind the words leaves no impression, just someone who cares about the music he is performing. It really doesnt take much more than that. It's a light ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ but I could see myself coming back to it.

“I never sleep, because sleep is the cousin of death” is the sort of show, don’t tell stuff that places you deep in a moment (you’re certainly not e.g. laying beside your 5-year old daughter praying for her to drift off early, are you?). It’s also, in a line, the reason Nas’ Illmatic stands head and shoulders above so many of its contemporaries – particularly the ones so obsessed with telling you about their wealth, competitive misogyny and love for violence that you can only pity them – and remains a touchstone of the rap genre. Illmatic is a complex album in all the right ways, a chaotic album in all the right ways, a contagious album in all the right ways. It’s a complete album; story-led jams that take you to as many high places as they do low, delivered by a narrator who never feels like he’s preaching from high or dragging you down to a place (i.e moral position) you’re reluctant to descend to. What’s a masterpiece the cousin of?

"I never sleep, cus sleep is the cousin of death" Surely one of the greatest debut albums & the best hip hop album of all time.

Now that’s what I call a hip hop album. This album definitely lives up to the hype. I just loved everything about it: the lyricism, the flow, the tracks/samples. And the icing on the cake is that this album is a tight 39 minutes. No filler, no bloating, no weird long skits like some other hip hop albums. Depending on what they are sometimes skits ruin a great album or make it not as good for me. Not the case with Ilmatic though; Nas gets right to the point and delivers a powerful album.

God's son is more my speed. However, this album takes me back to a place and time, even though I did not live there, you can feel the city course through your veins when you listen to this album.

Great album ! Classic rap album never was a big nas guy as kid but grew to appreciate him as I got older! Very good!

💩

Not my thing

- not my favorite - liked the beat of The World is Yours

No notes.

not my style of music but im vibing with it might listen to this album more

This album is the bridge between the old-school hip-hop apparently I don't like and the more modern version I enjoy because it slaps. I guess Q-Tip (of A Tribe Called Quest fame) is to blame because I like his beats, and I didn't vibe with Gang Starr's DJ Premier work. What makes this record stand out is the mix of intriguing lyrics and excellent delivery. Listening through the hip-hop albums here, I start to truly understand why rap fans talk about flow so much, and Nas has it perfected. 3.5/5

I actually knew a song or two from this, or at least had heard clips of them used in later songs. I feel like simply because of that I have to go higher than in the middle, 3.25-3.5 for me. Not something I have takeaways from and not something I particularly enjoyed, but the fact that things were recognizable earns it bonus points on its own.

The GOAT! This guy could rap the McDonald's menu and I would find it amazing. You can hear his influences in many of today's best artists. Just a great album and one of the best rap albums ever. 9/10 Top song... N. Y. State of Mind

Not my type of music. So I'm not sure if it's good or not

I love this album especially life’s a ___ halftime and more

I love a rap verse into a horn section. That transition tickles my brain. In general, I just love the more instrumental rap I think. This album is great. I also love when rappers get vulnerable. Maybe it's just because I don't listen to enough rap, but I've always gotten the vibe that a lot of rap is just an ego contest, and I've never meshed with that. When it tells a story, it's intelligent, and it's emotional, I can get behind it. This album is good.

It's funny. I listened to Pulp and Ute Lemper albums, and both are not my type of music and I hated almost every minute. Nas is also not the type of music I typically listen to, but it's much more enjoyable to listen to.

4.5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/nas/illmatic/ Oooooooh boy, banger alert. Still one of the best rap albums. Runs the miniscule risk of sounding a little bit too same-y every now and then, but can't be too bothered by that if it's this level. First three songs (disregarding The Genesis, essentially just a long intro) are some of the most classic rap songs and from then on it never drops too much. AND THE GUY WAS 19!!!

Shite. Could not bear it

Time is illmatic

I like Nas, but outside of that brief period when he was feuding with Jay-Z and dropping diss tracks, I never really listened to his albums. 3.5

Lyrically this is 5 stars all day every day. Musically I want more. It is too lo-fi and not enough catchy beats.

Es handelt sich im irgendwas aber nicht um Musik. Sprechgesang am Rande einer Darmgrippe.

excellent album, the best rap album of all time. cutting bars, lyricism

It was alright. No skits thank goodness. But nothing I have a burning desire to return to.

Absolute genius.

This is so good, zero misses. I actually have every song added. The lyricism and flow is really good. Super cool album, one of the best rap albums of all time for sure.

Not my go-to genre, but it had a great sound & og vibe 8/10

1073 - "Here's your juice box and orange slice. Thanks for coming."

One of those albums where u listen and can’t believe someone was able to come up with it. Favourite songs : the world is yours, it ain’t hard to tell, one time 4 your mind

Rushmore album of the rap genre and is one I always come back to, at least for the singles

fuck ice

Is it really still the greatest hip hop album of all time? After all this time? Probably

Great album. No skips.

Not a fan and I was around and a fan of rap when this came out. Just not interesting or fun enough music and/ or interesting enough lyrics.

Five stars, total classic one of the best

No bad songs, some actively good bops. Storytelling, imagery and wordplay at times is phenomenal but fundamentally is exactly what you’re expecting it to be. I’m not the right demographic but would listen again.

Idk how to start this shit. One of the best debuts of all time. Bars are awesome, beats are banging. Nas provides an unapologetic depiction of life in NYC that feels so real, like you can smell the grime in this album. But I also feel like The World is Yours is so hopeful to contrast a majority of the album. NY State of Mind is one of the best rap songs of all time just like this album is. Easy 5 stars for Nasty Nas

interesting, definitely some tunes added to the gym playlist.

not more fucking rap, over represented as a genre on here. Abomination of a drum machine is beyond annoying. I tried but had to hurry the tracks along. Again 4 tracks then off. Theres absolutely zero talent.

Not the best rap I've heard. Didn't grip me like some of the others I've had. Was alright at best. It Ain't Hard to Tell was the best one. Signed, - A middle-aged white woman

Ny state of mind is the highlight

Cool rap album. I'd love to understand everything he says first time to fully get the quality of his writing unfortunately I'm not able to do that yet in english. Good melodies and good flow too tho.

Amazing

Boom Bap/Hardcore Hip Hop Favorite Songs: *Technically all of them* Least Favorite Song: *Technically none, although I’m side-eyeing at Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park) What I really love about this album is how well crafted his rhyming, flows, and (for the very almost all of it) lyrics were. Nas showcases that he absolutely cares about the art he wants to put on this album. Now…this part I don’t think I can necessarily blame on Nas, but if I have to stretch a very small nitpick, what I will say is that my issue is with one particular line in the song “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)”. That line being: “Poetry, that’s a part of me, ********** bop” Now, the section that I’ve censored involves the r-slur, and as someone who’s on the autistic spectrum, I can…not only understand that he’s not using it in the tone to mock us disabled people (as it’s used in a slang term meaning that his poetry is crazy good), but that it was back in the 90’s. If I were to tell Nas today, I would probably say, “don’t use that slur again,” and I’ll be honest when I say that I just cringed whenever the line comes up, but I…won’t dock it due to my personal feelings. In any case, it’s a near perfect album for me. 10/10, but it’s a very low 10/10.

Эталон рэпа, легендарный звук, восхитительные текста и биты, гениально

All-time greatest Hip-Hop album. It ain't hard to tell.

I think this review is going to more about my writing of reviews, in particular hip hop reviews. I’m going to give Illmatic 4*, but I’m not feeling like I can write much about why, at least in any genuinely honest and informed way. I’ve been listening to rap and hip hop since the 80s, 40 years, which is incredible for my brain to acknowledge. Some of my favourite albums of all time are hip hop albums. I own around 300 of them, a lot of which I know inside out. However, I still feel fundamentally ill-equipped to analyse and dissect it other than as a fascinated onlooker. I could mention Nas’ flow which, though for its time was breaking boundaries both literally and figuratively, still easily stands up over 30 years on. I could also mention his tone of delivery which is powerful without being overly aggressive, authentically street yet still broadly accessible. I could further mention the relatively innovative move of multiple producers across the album and how each of them deliver convincingly on how the sound of hip hop was developing in NYC at the time. All of this is true, but I feel the greatest strength of the album is the part I feel least qualified on which to comment; the content of the material. Woven into the intricate internal rhyming, complex timing and sketched phrases is masterful storytelling I can only enjoy with decontextualised appreciation. Like most hip hop I’m not going to pretend I have much personal connection to the subjects addressed due to geographic and cultural distance. This is an impressively strong debut album and my personal detachment from it does not diminish the art. For anyone sharing a lived experience, ‘Illmatic’ would be an obvious 5*, I am a happily appreciative witness to a brilliant dispatch from another world.

Not something I would normally chose to listen to but kinda enjoyed this album.

per ora 3, 4 forse ma siccome non il mio genere non capisco per ora, vedremo in futuro

Really solid, especially for the time

I never sleep because sleep is the cousin of death. It’s one of the memorable lines from New York State of Mind. The other one that has always stuck with me Don’t put me in your box if your shit eats tapes. This line is one of the best lines full of braggadocio that hip hop was founded upon. His multi-syllabic rhymes were built on what rappers like a Rakim and Big Daddy Kane were doing before him. But what separated Nas was the vivid storytelling. You could feel the urgency in his rhymes. Nas has so much hype surrounding him him from just a couple of releases. Live from the BarbeCue and Back to the Grill again. This created a buzz that Nasty Nas was going to be a problem. Halftime was released and it just created more buzz for the album. It ain’t hard to tell was released as a single. The album was going to be huge especially with the production from Q-Tip, Premier, Extra P. It was destined to be a classic. So it was released. I bought it and I was not overly amazed initially. I’m not saying that I didn’t love but this is following the releases of several classics midnight marauders from a tribe called quest and enter the 36 chambers from the Wu-tang clan. Both of these albums still had my ear and were classic albums that just blew me away. Nas I didn’t understand the beauty of his language and his lyricism. I have listened to this album over the years and even today as I listen I’m hearing new things that I did not the other 100 times or more that I have listened to this album. There is not a minute wasted on this album. When albums had too much excess Nas said here are 9 songs with an intro and I’m going to knock your head and you aren’t going to understand right away. You have to listen. Sure the music fits but the lyrics are just amazing. Nas would continue on It Was Written but he would never hit the same highs that he did on Illmatic. It’s kind of hard when you write a masterpiece your first time out.

Nas speaking the truth Life's a bitch and then you die That's why we get high

Was a very good album. Can see why people think he's one of the best

Peak hip hop. It's all the stuff I find irresistible in a hip hop record personally. The beats are funky and jazzy, the production choices generally are deep and interesting, there's some awesome rhythmic delivery, and the rhymes are tight and mutisylabic. There are no stupid filler skits. There are a couple of problematic lyrics, but probably impressively few for a record from this era

Best album!

Yeah this one wasn't for me. It just didn't move me or made me think like most great rap albums do. Yeah it is pleasant to listen to but just doesn't do enough. 2/5

i love this album

Yup already know almost every song on this album. I will say the ones I didn’t know I wasn’t super blown away by which is why I’m giving this a 4. Wish I could give it 4.5 Nas is on the mt rushmore of rap

I really really wanted to give this one a high score. I just felt like there was too much fluff in the middle of the good songs that I didn't care for one bit. Nas is great, but the beats were so boring at times. Sorry to say it. N.Y.state of mind, the world is yours, and it ain't hard to tell where the best by far. Everything else was forgettable. Because of those three songs that at least gets a three.

In a time of groovy West Coast hip-hop hooks nas took a needle nose to his lyrics, changing what lyricism meant forever. That being said I was pretty bored and only listened a few times. Please stop giving us rap albums.

I got excited because I thought there was a song that sounded different from the other ones, then looked at my phone and realized the album had ended and it was auto playing music by a different artist

Pas vraiment mon truc

i imagine listening to this when it came out and feeling like the wheel had just been invented

Great.

all geluisted 10/10

One of the most influential and important albums in hip hop. An undisputed masterpiece. Few albums can really transport you to a time and place like Illmatic does with NY in the early 90s. Nas's flow and lyrical content was groundbreaking at the time. Although there are some songs that are less than perfect (Life's a Bitch, One Love) there isnt a 'bad' song on it. Non-skip, captivating, entertaining for both the brain and the soul. Its a perfect album.

Greatest debut rap album of all time?

A classic. Nas came out of the gates swinging. Tight rhymes and fitting beats. No filler. 4.5/5.