Nas

Stillmatic

nas - stillmatic compared to illmatic

Review Score:

(8/10)
My first Nas CD was the Illmatic 10th anniversary release, and I just recently purchased Stillmatic. I've skipped all the stuff in between, so this review is basically a comparison of Stillmatic to Illmatic.

Lyrically, I found Stillmatic to be the more linear of the two: while for Illmatic Nas sprinkled rhymes all over the beat, in Stillmatic the rhymes seemed much more likely to come right on the beat. The general feel of Nas's lyrics has certainly changed, hardly unexpected given the ten years between the albums: tracks like "You're Da Man" take it for granted that Nas is king in a way that the limited boasting on Illmatic doesn't even approach.

The beats are definitely more involved than they were in Illmatic, although I tend to prefer the simplicity of Illmatic's beats. I've got to admit, though, that the percussion on Stillmatic is much more creative overall, so if you prefer complex backgrounds to your rap, you'll probably find Stillmatic more rewarding.

I'm a novice when it comes to listening to hip hop, but the points above are what jumped out at me after listening to both albums. Hope this helped -- cjm

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