Illmatic
by Nas
Not my typical genre, but his flow is insane. N.Y. State of Mind brings to light the struggles of growing up in Queens. This is not something I will ever be able to understand personally, the drugs, the danger, but he communicates the message perfectly. He is incredibly clever with his lyrics, he must've struggled for a long time... Damn he had beef with Tupac and Jay Z! They all made up though, which is good! But damn, Jay Z was WRONGGGGG for that.