Stillmatic

Nas' 1994 debut album, <i>Illmatic</i>, immediately cemented the Queens MC as one of rap music's most gifted and celebrated lyricists—a scene-painter almost without parallel, delivering an endlessly quotable stream of aphorisms steeped in the traditions of New York rap. During the seven years after <i>Illmatic</i>, however, Nas was known mainly for pop crossover records and club bangers. That all changed in 2001, when Nas and JAŸ-Z clashed in one of the most explosive dis wars in rap history; “Ether”, the name of Nas' savage song-length diatribe, promptly entered the slang lexicon as a word for completely decimating your opponent. <br /> "Ether" is the second track of <i>Stillmatic</i>, Nas' fifth album and full-length return to hungry, introspective, non-commercial rhyming. Here, Nas is back to what made him adored in the '90s: snapshots of his youth, vivid visions of crime, boasts that paint him as no less than one of the all-time greats—and the lyrics to back it up. The powerful "One Mic"—based on the quiet-loud dynamics of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight"—is a tongue-twisting ode to his own art in the shadows of hood life and beef. "Rewind" tells a story in reverse, while "Destroy and Rebuild" is built with some Slick Rick-styled flows. Like <i>Illmatic</i>'s grab bag of collaborators, the beats come courtesy of friends old and new. On single "Got Ur Self A…," producer Megahertz flips the Sopranos theme into an icy track; on "You're da Man", Large Professor utilises the voice of Rodriguez years before <i>Searching for Sugar Man</i>; and DJ Premier uses Peabo Bryson and Roberta Flack for the partially nostalgic "2nd Childhood". All in all, a triumphant return to form from a rap great.