Contains the bonus track "Every Ghetto," which follows "What Goes Around."
Personnel includes: Nas, Mary J. Blige, Az.
Producers include: Nas, Ron Browz, Large Professor, DJ Premier, Salaam Remi.
Personnel includes: Nas, Amerie, AZ.
Producers include: Nas, Hangmen 3, Kevin Crouse, Large Professor, Baby Paul.
Audio Mixers: Jason Goldstein; DJ Premier; Eddie Sancho ; Kevin Crouse.
Recording information: Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas; Lobo Recording, Long Island, New York, NY; Patchwerk Studios, Atlanta, GA; Playpen Recording Studios, New York, NY; Right Track Recording, New York, NY; Sony Studios, Santa Monica, CA.
Photographer: Sacha Waldman.
Unknown Contributor Role: Julian Alexander.
In 1994, Nas dropped his debut, ILLMATIC. More than just a classic, it's perhaps the definitive East Coast street hip-hop record, bereft of cliché, rife with rich, inventive rhymes. His early coronation proved both blessing and curse, as his three follow-ups, while shining next to most platinum peers, never reached the ingenious heights of his introduction. Just by the title, STILLMATIC makes obvious its yearning to recapture that feel, a ridiculously tall order if not an impossible one, but it comes dangerously close, which merely makes it one of the top albums of its year.
At times it feels as if half of STILLMATIC consists of shots at Jay-Z, ex-cohort Prodigy, and others, at times thinly veiled, other times not veiled at all (the opening two words of "Ether"). Out of the mouths of others, this game would be old and boring. What allows Nas transcendence is that he is not your average hater posturing to sell records, he's earnestly responding to a slander with his supreme, unwavering lyrical style. Nas has an insane arsenal of words and an acute sense of incongruity, best illustrated on "Destroy and Rebuild," where he reverses the guns of KRS-One's blistering attack on Nas's home, Queensbridge ("The Bridge Is Over"), to both glorify his beloved 'hood and deny the MCs he believes have fallen off.
In 1994, Nas dropped his debut ILLMATIC. More than just a classic, it's perhaps the definitive East Coast street hip-hop record, bereft of cliche, rife with rich, inventive rhymes. His early coronation proved both blessing and curse, as his three follow-ups, while shining next to most platinum peers, never reached the ingenious heights of his introduction. Just by the title, STILLMATIC makes obvious its yearning to recapture that feel, a ridiculously tall order if not impossible, but it comes dangerously close, which merely makes it one of the top albums of its year.
At times it feels like half of STILLMATIC consists of shots at Jay-Z, ex-cohort Prodigy, and others, at times thinly veiled, other times not veiled at all (the opening two words of "Ether"). Out of the mouths of others, this game would be old and boring. What allows Nas transcendence is that he is not your average hater posturing to sell records, he's earnestly responding to a slander with his supreme, unwavering lyrical style. Nas has an insane arsenal of words and an acute sense of incongruity, best illustrated on "Destroy and Rebuild," where he reverses the guns of KRS-One's blistering attack on Nas's home Queensbridge ("The Bridge Is Over") to both glorify his beloved hood and deny the MCs he believes have fallen off.
Back on the hardcore block and with plenty to prove after two years without a record under his own name, Nas designed Stillmatic as a response: to the rap cognoscenti who thought he'd become a relic, and most of all to Jay-Z, the East Coast kingpin who wounded his pride and largely replaced him as the best rapper in hip-hop. The saga started back in the summer of 2001 with the mixtape freestyle "Stillmatic," Nas' answer track to an on-stage dis by Jay-Z. A few months after Jay-Z countered with the devastating "Takeover," Nas dropped the comeback single "Ether" and the full album Stillmatic; tellingly, Jay-Z had already released his response to "Ether" (titled "Super Ugly") before Stillmatic even came out. Dropping many of the mainstream hooks and featured performers in order to focus his rapping, Nas proves he's still a world-class rhymer. "Ether" relies on a deep-throat vocal repeating the phrase, "F*ck Jay-Z," while "You're da Man" hits the heights of arrogance with a looped vocal sample repeating the title over and over. "Destroy & Rebuild" is a solid defense of his Queensbridge home, and "Got Ur Self A..." is an outstanding track, the best here, complete with chant-along chorus. [The expanded version of this album includes the bonus track "Every Ghetto" plus a disc featuring "No Idea's Original" and excerpts of "U Gotta Love It," "My Way," "Make It Last," and "Doo Rags."] ~ John Bush
Back on the hardcore block and with plenty to prove after two years without a record under his own name, Nas designed Stillmatic as a response: to the rap cognoscenti who thought he'd become a relic, and most of all to Jay-Z, the East Coast kingpin who wounded his pride and largely replaced him as the best rapper in hip-hop. The saga started back in the summer of 2001 with the mixtape "Stillmatic," Nas' answer track to an on-stage dis by Jay-Z. A few months after Jay-Z countered with the devastating "Takeover," Nas dropped the comeback single "Ether" and the full album Stillmatic; tellingly, Jay-Z had already released his response to "Ether" (titled "Super Ugly") before Stillmatic even came out. Dropping many of the mainstream hooks and featured performers in order to focus his rapping, Nas proves he's still a world-class rhymer, but he does sound out of touch in the process of defending his honor. "Ether" relies on a deep-throat vocal repeating the phrase, "F*ck Jay-Z," while "You're da Man" hits the heights of arrogance with a looped vocal sample repeating the title over and over. "Destroy & Rebuild" is a solid defense of his Queensbridge home, and "Got Ur Self A..." is an outstanding track, the best here, complete with chant-along chorus. Despite the many highlights, a few of these tracks (most were produced by either Large Professor or Nas himself) just end up weighing him down: "Smokin'," one of the worst, is an odd G-funk track that would've sounded dated years before its release. Stillmatic certainly isn't as commercial as past Nas output, but it places him squarely behind the times. Facts are facts: he's not the best rapper in the business anymore. [The expanded version of this album includes the bonus track "Every Ghetto" plus a disc featuring "No Idea's Original" and excerpts of "U Gotta Love It," "My Way," "Make It Last," and "Doo Rags."] ~ John Bush minimize