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Throwback Classic: Nas – Stillmatic
Article by:
John Kennedy
 The true measure of a person’s character is best observed in times of desperation. And if were ever a do-or-die time for Nasir Jones, it was in the summer of 2001. Seven years had passed since his integral debut album, Illmatic, was hailed a masterpiece. While fans were yearning for another classic release from Nasty Nas, the rapper continued to serve up albums that were inevitably lukewarm in comparison, each showing the rapper farther removed from the young, fiery rhymespewer he once was. Nas’ most recent album at the time, Nastradamus, was considered the weakest of all—loyalists began giving up on the Queensbridge-bred lyricist. These circumstances were compounded when the hottest name in hip-hop, Jay-Z, called out the rapper onstage at Hot 97’s Summer Jam and followed with a venomous verbal assault on the dis track “Takeover.” But Nas refused to buckle under the pressure.
Instead, Nas dropped Stillmatic, a project whose title promised a return to the level of mastery of his debut. The album’s name was no false declaration—its lead single, the Soprano’s sampling “Got Ur Self A...,” is a hard-hitting street anthem that reestablished Nas’ affinity for the streets. From this point, Nas made it clear that he would no longer chase mainstream success at the sacrifice of his artistic integrity, allowing the lyricist to create a defining chapter in his career.
Nas’ first order of business was to address the naysayers. He retaliates to Jay-Z’s jabs on the monster-of-a-dis-track “Ether.” Over a heavy bassline, Nas calls Jay a misogynist, questions his street cred, and claims that stole his style. “In '88 you was getting chased through your building / Calling my crib and I ain't even give you my numbers / All I did was gave you a style for you to run with,” Nas raps. His tirade continues on “Destroy & Rebuild,” the Queensbridge salute that seeks to point out the hood’s suspect soldiers. Here, rappers Cormega, Nature, and Prodigy of Mobb Deep receive the brunt of Nas’ fury, as the QB head honcho rocks his best Slick Rick flow: “Since we on the subject of traitors and flunkies / ‘Mega ain’t the only faggot in my hood dummies / There’s plenty that want to be me but cannot / It’s like King Arthur and Knight Sir Lance-A-Lot.”
Once the housecleaning duties are taken care of, Nas dazzles with an array of themes and creative concepts. Among the most original is “Rewind,” the backwards thug narrative that finds Nas telling a story from ending to beginning and spitting dyslexic lines like, “Shoot don't please" and “Block your on enemies the.” Elsewhere, Nas exhibits a newfound lyrical passion, riding the unpredictable array of snares, sirens and bells of “One Mic” with a fluctuating intensity. On “What Goes Around,” Nas examines the many poisons of the world, both literally and metaphorically: “White girls tanning, liposuction / Fake titties are implanted, fake lips, that’s life destruction / Light-skin women, bi-racial, hateful, toward themselves / Denying even they blood.”
But what would a follow-up to Illmatic be without an AZ-Nas collaboration? Producer L.E.S. helps the two recreate the chemistry from “Life’s a Bitch” on “The Flyest” while Premo’s boom-bap graces the backdrop of “2nd Childhood,” a track detailing familiar tales of 30-somethings who refuse to grow up and move beyond the block. Nas even gets political on tracks like “My Country” and the Amerie-assisted “Rule,” both of which discuss the plight of the black man in America.
With Stillmatic, Nas proved that he can meet his potential years after the critically immortalized Illmatic. But don’t be mistaken, Stillmatic is no remake of its predecessor: “They thought I'd make another Illmatic / But it's always forward I'm movin’ / Never backwards stupid here's another classic,” Nas rhymes on the album’s intro. Stillmatic proves that when the heat is on, Nas doesn’t melt down. He turns up the flames.
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