Goofle

Yeah. They didn't put out anything below average.

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Relentless

Kwelis album was dopeee. stillmatic is more of a party thing too. DMX haha man I haven't listened to DMX in awhile

Goofle

Stillmatic >>>>>>>>>>>>> Illmatic.

Come at me.

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Relentless

lets hear your argument for stillmatic. I loved both albums but what makes it better than illmatic?

SGR

Yeah, I'm actually interested in your argument too if that's what you believe Goofle.

I like Stillmatic but I don't think all of the production complimented Nas like Illmatic's did. Add that to the fact that he's got weaker songs on Stillmatic and it adds up to an album that's good, but doesn't meet the quality of Nas's debut imo

Goofle, did you get the version of Stillmatic with "Braveheart Party"? A lot of the later pressings took it off.

djchameleon

That's so fucking lame, I had no idea that it was taken off. I wonder why?


My copy has it.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

14232949

Illmatic blows everything else he did out of the water, as clichéd a view as that is.
No other album combined the raw lyrical feeling, storytelling, expert production and youthful aggression like Illmatic.

Back on Illmatic, Nas was a much more focused artist. It was all about making the best record possible, which he did.
Fast forward 7 years and Nas wasn't so much about trying to make quality records as he was trying to create a more crossover sound in the hopes of catching up with Jigga's popularity or just taking shots at him.

If he'd kept the same focus and integrity he had when he was 19, imagine what he could have created. Instead he got involved in tit-for-tat with Jay-Z and his uncertainty with which direction he wanted to go in and what he wanted to do as an artist lead to his inconsistent discography.

There was no need for him to release two albums in 99 for example. And the quality of Nastradamus shows he had lost direction as an artist. It looked like he wanted to cross over into the mainstream like a lot of other artists at the time(bling bling era) had, but he never fully committed to running with that direction, so just got lost in the shuffle.
Stillmatic was certainly a return to form of sorts, but it can't stand up to Illmatic in a million years. The point of the album, in my view was to prove he was the same artist who dropped Illmatic. The clue's in the title. But he's never been able to replicate his earlier success. It Was Written's his second best record in my opinion.

Goofle

I think Stillmatic is more interesting overall. The production is a little so-so at times - something I can't fault Illmatic for - but I am engaged by the tracks more on the whole. It's his lyrical peak for sure and I think the tracks have better concepts, as opposed to just stories about hood shit.

Ether, Got Yourself A..., One Mic, You're Da Man and 2nd Childhood are all great songs.

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SGR

I'll be honest, the song sucks hard. I think Nas realized this and he took it off as an artistic decision, so as to better the album's quality.

Good argument for Illmatic, Manky. Goofle, I understand what you mean about the more conceptual-song side of Stillmatic but do you really think he was a better lyricist on Stillmatic than on Illmatic? I'm not sure I agree, but he was really good on both, He just didn't stretch his imagination with something like "Rewind" on Illmatic.

Cuthbert

Mine doesn't. Mine was purchased in 2011 though so obviously won't have it.

Stillmatic is good and contains some of his best work but there's just too much filler. All the tracks Goofle mentioned are great, but the CD has 14 (or 15 depending on what copy you have) tracks on it whereas every track on Illmatic is flawless. The concepts are good on those Stillmatic tracks, but what about One Love from Illmatic? That hadn't been done before had it? And It Ain't Hard to Tell is one of the greatest bragging tracks there is imo. That point basically applies to the CD in general, loads of people may have tried to do the street poet thing but how many did it better than Nas did on that album?

The content is fine, it's just self expression, a lot of it is stuff you will have felt at some point yourself, I know I have. He doesn't have to do over-clever concepts to make the music better, it does what it's meant to do, the CD is very sincere and you almost feel like you're actually in Queensbridge at that time because his storytelling is just that good. The production is first class as well, when I think of the quintessential 90's New York sound, I think of that album and the sound on that more than any other album. He did a fantastic job encapsulating what he wanted to encapsulate from that time, I get a similar feeling when I listen to BIDC, I feel like I'm in the tower blocks in East London just listening to it. Stillmatic isn't close to it.

@Manky I agree IWW is his 2nd best, it is let down by Nas is Coming and If I Ruled the World but the rest of the tracks are all very good. 12/14 very good tracks from any other artist and you'd have people calling it a classic but cos it was post-Illmatic it's just "average". The Lost Tapes is great too. The thing with Nastradamus... didn't his label want two albums from him instead of one so he had to rush it out? I'm sure I read something similar.

Illmatic in my opinion is perfect, I love a lot of albums but there is always something you'd change about them but with this you'd leave it as it is. It's funny that we weren't actually supposed to get Illmatic as it is, they rushed it out because of leaks.