Top 5 Nas album. MIGHT even be Top 3 or Top 4. Which might invite some FOH’s, but aside from his first two albums I don’t think there’s anything in his catalogue that is no-questions-asked-better top to bottom… with the possible exception of Lost Tapes.
There are definitely MULTIPLE albums on the level. So not mad at anyone who disagrees. But Magic 1 is special. Speechless (

), Ugly (

), 40-16 (

) Hollywood Gangstas (

) Wave Gods (

), The Truth (THE TRUTH…

), Dedicated (

)… if you were hating on hating on Hit Boy producing for Nas after this it just meant you prioritized your bias over the music. And the thing that stands out is that there is not a single miss on the project, which is why I rank it so high. I love Life Is Good (and it definitely has better standout moments, like Stay)… God’s Son might be the Nas album I go back to the most, and Stillmatic is up there too. But they all have a miss or two (or three). This album is flawless.