Nas - Street's DiscipleStillmatic is Nas's second most important album, behind Illmatic. If it weren't for Stillmatic, Nas might not have a career today. Instead he'd be considered as an artist who peaked at his debut and went downwards from then, and for good reason. That's what he did.
After Illmatic, Nas released It Was Written. And while it was still a good album and while it sold more than the debut, it was nothing near Illmatic in terms of quality. After that, Nas followed up with I Am... This continued the downslide in quality, even though it still sold a good amount. Later that year, Nas rushed to release Nastradamus, dropping it in time for the holiday season. The album sucked.
And I say this as a huge Nas fan, it was horrible.
With this, it effectively looked like the once bright-looking career of Nas was over. And yet... it isn't. Nas has dropped five albums since Nastradamus. Why? Well, he can thank Jay-Z.
The whole feud can be traced back to Reasonable Doubt days. Jay-Z and Ski used a sample of Nas's voice from "The World is Your's" for his own "Dead Presidents." After Nas complained, Jay offered him the chance to re-record the line. Nas accepted and never showed up. Also, Nas and AZ's "supergroup" (you'd have to use that term loosely when describing them) The Firm was supposed to release their debut (and only... thank god) album on Roc-A-Fella, but, instead, chose to sign to Dr. Dre's Aftermath.
But that's fine, Jay might've been ticked at Nas, but no diss tracks were exchanged... yet. By this time, The Notorious B.I.G. had been murdered, leaving the spot for "King of New York" vacant. Jay-Z claimed this spot for himself. Nas thought that Jay didn't deserve this and criticized him on "We Will Survive" from I Am...
Cue feud.
While the feud bubbled under for a couple years, it become popularly known at Hot 97 Summer Jam, where Jay mocked Queensbridge and Mobb Deep (Nas's home and Nas's allies) by rapping the opening line of diss track "The Takeover". Nas responded on a radio freestyle over Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid in Full", which he called "Stillmatic." Jay responded by lengthening "The Takeover" adding a longer verse dedicated to Nas, in which he attacked his street credibility, album quality, and subtley suggested that perhaps Nas's baby momma Carmen Bryant had some... relations with Jay.
This pissed Nas off. And as such, it lit a fire under Nas, inspiring him to come back with Stillmatic, his fifth album...
1. Stillmatic (The Intro)
Produced by Hangmen 3
Hangmen 3 (whoever he/they is/are) provides Nas with a decent beat that begins as a typical hip hop intro, though Nas quickly begins rhyming. This sounds good, quickly filling listeners with hope that maybe this wouldn't be Nastradamus II: Nastradamus Harder.
2. Ether
Produced by Ron Browz
The track that pretty much certained Nas had a career for the next couple years. I remember when I went to the Stillmatic Wiki page last year and realized that the auto-tune voice on Busa Buss's "Arab Money" also produced this track. Heh... makes sense... since the beat AND the chorus from that song don't sound too good (I'm kind of complimenting Ron Browz here, because that chorus is absolute SHIT). This song also introduced the phrases "stan" and "ethered" into the hip-hop dictionary.
3. Got Ur Self A...
Produced by Megahertz Music Group
Who the hell are Megahertz Music Group? The second single from Illmatic, featuring a video with Nas portraying 2Pac and Notorious B.I.G. in their last moments (which is actually a pretty good video, in my opinion). Didn't chart very well, reaching #87 on the Hot 100 (and #2 on the Hot Rap Tracks).
4. Smokin'
Produced by Nas & Precision
The hook sucks. And the song isn't very good. Definitely the worst song on here.
5. You're Da Man
Produced by Large Professor
The first of three producers that Nas brought back from Illmatic (along with DJ Premier and L.E.S.). During my first listen of this, I wasn't a huge fan of the beat. My dislike was about the drums during the song. I am proud to report nowadays, that this song is actually pretty fucking awesome.
6. Rewind
Produced by Large Professor
The second of LP's contributions, this one, however, is just weird. Why? Well, you see... it's backwards. And as such, it's a very weird listen...
7. One Mic
Produced by Nas & Chucky Thompson (of The Hitmen)
I'm sure if you fancy yourself a Nas fan, you've heard this before. You know how it goes. The beat changes throughout the verses and Nas's volume increases, starting off soft and laid back, growing with each line until he's loud and aggressive, practically yelling at you, or in the case of the final verse, he starts off loud and aggressive and ends soft and laidback. Plus, the lines dealing with numbers in the second verse is just crazy. All in all, this is the best song off Stillmatic and one of Nas's best in his catalog (even better than some Illmatic tracks).
8. 2nd Childhood
Produced by DJ Premier
Premo's only contribution to Stillmatic. This is another great song off Stillmatic. While not the best Premier beat that Nas has rhymed over, it's still good. Plus Nas's storytelling propels this to a higher level of quality. And the beat isn't that bad, either.
9. Destroy & Rebuild
Produced by Baby Paul & Mike Risko
Here, Nas moves on from Jay and decides to diss Cormega, Prodigy, and Nature. All being former allies (Mega was in The Firm, Prodigy and Nas collabed several times, and Nature was in The Firm to replace Mega). At the end, Nas basically invites Prodigy and Nature to help their relationship, following that up by dissing Cormega evern more.
10. The Flyest (feat. AZ)
Produced by L.E.S.
Nas allows L.E.S. and AZ back into the studio since AZ's Pieces of a Man. Nas's verse sounds better than AZ, in my honest opinion. L.E.S.'s beat sounds good to make this a decent enough song.
11. Rule (feat. Amerie)
Produced by Trackmasters
This samples and interpolates "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears and is a decent track when you figure that it's pretty much a radio-ready track.
12. My Country (feat. Millenium Thug)
Produced by Lofey
Whoever Lofey is, he provides Nas with a decent beat here. Millenium Thug (whoever he is) sounds decent with Nas, which makes me wonder what he did after this track. Even though the hook sucks, this song's decent.
13. What Goes Around
Produced by Salaam Remi
The first contribution Salaam gave to Nas. It would result in a working relationship that would give us the greatness that is "Made You Look".
14. Every Ghetto
Produced by L.E.S.
This is a decent track to go out on. It's not like it'll be in any greatest hits releases or anybody's "Best Nas Songs" playlist.
Conclusion: While Stillmatic may not be on the level as his debut, Illmatic, this is still a really good album, definitely worthy of your purchase.
Also By Nas
Nas - Illmatic (April 19, 1994)
I had my first problems with procrastination while writing this review. Let's hope I can continue to "beat the little hater."
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