Tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of 'Stillmatic'

[Controversy]

Moves with his Peers
Different blocks different Years
Sittin on different benches like it's Musical Chairs
....

The older I get the more I become apart of the minority that thinks this is conceptually his best album

Lyrically, he was on one

My God

 

[Controversy]

Skin is a art galleRy
with painTings of Crucifixes
hoPin to Save Me
from all the dangers of the Music Business

...

The end of this album dropped more knowledge than Webster's

 

[JustCKing]

Just a little story about Stillmatic. I am from The South and at the time this dropped, it was crazy. DMX and Jay were huge here in regard to East Coast artists who were big here. Of course, Ja was having his run, but none of us looked at him in the same light as X and Jay. On a local level, T.I. had just dropped so there was a lot of hype around him.

"Ether" was a bomb of course and people were talking about it. But the week Stillmatic dropped, it was something like I hadn't experienced in quite some time. My cousin was calling and he was like 12 at the time. He was like have you heard the new Nas? I was like yes. He was then like "do you have it". I was like yes. He was was kind of mad at me and our older cousins like "why didn't ya'll tell me this dude was this dope. He just killed Jay Z and he has a song where he raps backwards". At school at lunch time, we were playing cards and the whole talk was what the best song on the album was and it was nearly an argument because some were like "One Mic" and the response to that was like "nah, you crazy, it ain't better than '2nd Childhood'". Then out of nowhere this dude from Philly, who was a Jay Z Stan was like "man, ya'll talking about that Nas album. It's aiight, but it ain't all that". We laughed at dude and proceeded to talk about Stillmatic.

 

[Controversy]

Just a little story about Stillmatic. I am from The South and at the time this dropped, it was crazy. DMX and Jay were huge here in regard to East Coast artists who were big here. Of course, Ja was having his run, but none of us looked at him in the same light as X and Jay. On a local level, T.I. had just dropped so there was a lot of hype around him.

"Ether" was a bomb of course and people were talking about it. But the week Stillmatic dropped, it was something like I hadn't experienced in quite some time. My cousin was calling and he was like 12 at the time. He was like have you heard the new Nas? I was like yes. He was then like "do you have it". I was like yes. He was was kind of mad at me and our older cousins like "why didn't ya'll tell me this dude was this dope. He just killed Jay Z and he has a song where he raps backwards". At school at lunch time, we were playing cards and the whole talk was what the best song on the album was and it was nearly an argument because some were like "One Mic" and the response to that was like "nah, you crazy, it ain't better than '2nd Childhood'". Then out of nowhere this dude from Philly, who was a Jay Z Stan was like "man, ya'll talking about that Nas album. It's aiight, but it ain't all that". We laughed at dude and proceeded to talk about Stillmatic.

Ppl from Philly were all about Rocafella bc of Beans & the Prop...and Philly was big on Jay before he blew up

We recognized the greatness of Stillmatic...we couldn't believe it was that dope

 

[Mr. Negative]

I say it all the time....

Hov questioned Nas' ability to make hot/classic albums on Takeover

4 albums in 10 years nikka? I can divide.

One... let's say 2. 2 of them shyts was due.
One was.. nahhh... the other was Illmatic.
That's a 1 hot album every 10 year average.

Nas turned around and dropped a classic album out of spite. Just to show he could do it whenever he pleased, and was just doing him all the rest of the time.

"They thought I'd make another 'Illmatic.... but it's always 'forward' I'm moving. Never backwards, stoopid! Here's ANOTHER classic! "

Nas did that there., I knew it off first listen.

And honestly, I feel like that prolly hurt Hov more than Ether. He was feeling like he was on top of shyt after feeling inferior to Nas as an MC all that time....

Nas dropped a WHOLE CLASSIC ALBUM out of spite.

 

[Mastamimd]

Never even thought about that @Mr. Negative

 

[re'up]

I had my Mom drive me to Circuit City to get the extra tracks lol

I was 16, I remember that day exactly, what a year.

I think I waited to hear it and didn't listen to the leaks, besides "One Mic", "Got Yourself A Gun", and "Ether".

I remember the barking dogs version too. Wow. That brought me back.

Favorite verse had to be the second on "Every Ghetto". Some tracks I never liked as much as everyone, and still think aged badly, but there's some real classic Nas on "Stillmatic", that holds up 20 years later, which is really impressive/ As we all age, I think more and more, this song is 25 years old, or this album is 19 years old. And still, we love it.

 

[Izanami]

The older I get the more I become apart of the minority that thinks this is conceptually his best album

Lyrically, he was on one

My God

He hit the mark on all his creative concept records on this.

It was packed on the Ryker's bus
The tight cuffs is holdin' me shackled
The life of a thug caught in the devil's lasso
On the streets I was invincible
Cowards would duck at a glimpse if they knew
What my pistol would do, a fukkin' killa
Mothers of dope fiend embarrassin' me
All in front of my friends
In the street smile with no teeth
I never knew daddy, heard he had a 72 caddy
Died in a robbery, can't remember him, was probably 3
Why didn't my folks just die in this society
Why wasn't I a child of a doctor, who left stocks for me
Two little brothers, two sisters, them shortiez gots to eat
Mother's a junkie, she twisted, so all they got is me
I'm the provider, with goals to do much better than my father
Whether through drugs sold, or holdin' revolvers
Blurry visions of dad holdin' me high
It comes to me slowly, the words he would cry



The imagery on “My Country” is really slept on. Pretty relevant too. Two paths starting from the same point, One path leads to jail and even though the other path is legal still comes with scars and mental anguish PTSD.

 

[Izanami]

@Mr. Negative

“They thought I’d make another illmatic, but it’s never backwards only forward here’s another classic”

Illmatic was Nas mentally in QB in his late teens. Stillmatic feels like Nas in late 2001, the country off the heels of 9/11 and him really dealing with rap beef and his views of the world and our country at that time. It’s really brilliant.

Also after playing the album a lot this weekend. It’s def an album I prefer to play in the winter.

 

[IronFist]

Wish I could flap wings and fly away. To where black kings in Ghana stay

 

[Neuromancer]

 

[fallback]

I was a teen when this album dropped so it's my favorite Nas album ever (was only 10 when Illmatic dropped so didn't hear every song until years later). Illmatic and other albums can be argued as better but this is by far his most important album ever. If this album was a flop he would've been looked at in a different light and not in the GOAT conversation.

 

[Hawaiian Punch]

Stillmatic the first time I heard it sounded like

".....C Notes is falling from the sky....."

More like

 

[You Win Perfect]

my country shytted on me. she wants to get riiiiid of me

 

[En Sabah Nur]

I know Rule is not loved by everyone, but I call that classic alone off the fact it's the debut of bae Amerie

Was that also the last track he did with Trackmasters?