Illmatic Closing

           Perhaps the greatest hip-hop album of all time, that is most certainly debatable. However, it is no doubt an incredible work of art. Made by what I think the greatest rapper of all time. Everything about the album is so real and so well done. Including some of the realest depictions of QB street life, the rawest beats, and no doubt some of the best raps I have heard in my life. However I can't forget that it has that nostalgia feel at this point in time. Considering I haven't actually had it since it came out, I have had it for less than a year. And because it is so old it sort of takes you back and imagine all sorts of things. That is why Illmatic isn't just an amazing album, it is personally an untouchable project, because of that old-school mystique. The new stuff can't have that quality yet that would be impossible. Yet, in 30 years the years between his albums will come together, and all blend to make something you can't decipher. But for now that is why Illmatic is Nas' best album. The realest album of his. Although don't get me wrong, all his stuff is very real, that is what makes Nas my choice for best rapper. He has an amazing flow, rhymes, and has perhaps the longest consistency of any MC ever. About 20 years rapping and he hasn't sold out or changed his style(not that changing styles is bad, see Kanye West).

This album will be timeless. When you have Nas on the tracks, and production from Premo, Large Professor, L.E.S., Q-Tip, and Pete Rock it is supposed to be timeless.

Now we can only hope that Nas can release something like Illmatic again. However, like I said it has that older feel to it. And in fact almost with all his albums you can ask, "but is it as good as Illmatic?". Maybe that Illmatic was sort of a curse. Think about it, with a legendary debut it is hard to out do it, although it is common for the 1st album to be people's favorite. Yet we can always hope to see Nas come back, although he is still keeping it real, despite his success, making great music. Again time will tell!

Hopefully you enjoyed this review as much as I did, I hope you found a similarity of interests in the tracks covered.