This album was so important for Nas's career. If he wouldnt have done this album, im afraid people would have lost interest in Nas. After the terrible Nastradamus, and the mediocre at best I Am, He needed to get another homerun. And to be honest, i guess this wasnt really a home run, but it definetly got the bases loaded for the home run to follow in the form of God's Son. But none the less, he stepped his game up from his previous two releases to prove he was still relevant in rap. The biggest thing with this album was the swagger, and its more hardcore/street appearance. Now, we all know that Nas has always been street, but on songs like the very eerie and dark "Got Urself A..." he shows his true darkside. And then it also re-emerges on the bitter and angry "My Country". But Nas is at his best on tracks like the diss track aimed towards Jay Z "Ether" which is proclaimed as one of the best diss tracks of all time, and then on "2nd Childhood" where he takes the more mellow approach about describing how he is living his childhood again. But one of the very best songs on this album is the single "One Mic". Arguably one of the best hip hop songs of all time with its strong message and just down rite epic production. Like i said earlier, this is definetly not the best rap album, or even the best Nas album, but its a really strong album that just adds to his thristy catalouge. Basically this album just re established an diminishing career that needed a lift, and that lift came in the form of Stillmatic.



Grade:
B