Illmatic 2 Is So Serious Vol. why has this joint never been discussed???

Originally Posted by Illuztrious

This isn't official.
I like to think I have the most extensive Nas collection ever but I know dude's unreleased catalogue is probably another few GB's.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't be so sure
glasses.gif
 
Originally Posted by purplehazze96

Originally Posted by Illuztrious

This isn't official.
I like to think I have the most extensive Nas collection ever but I know dude's unreleased catalogue is probably another few GB's.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't be so sure
glasses.gif
Click to expand...
Wouldn't be so sure about what?
nerd.gif
 
nas's unreleased catalog is better than any other rapper's ever

besides pac

dude has some amazing +%#+ sitting in a vault

i have a 3cd joint with all unreleased/b-sides/rarities from nas

it's incredible
 
Surprised to see his verse from "eye for an eye" wasn't on that list.
Thats one of my favorite Nas verses
 
Originally Posted by Illuztrious

Originally Posted by purplehazze96

Originally Posted by Illuztrious

This isn't official.
I like to think I have the most extensive Nas collection ever but I know dude's unreleased catalogue is probably another few GB's.
Click to expand...


I wouldn't be so sure
glasses.gif
Click to expand...
Wouldn't be so sure about what?
nerd.gif
Click to expand...
how many Nas songs do ya'll have? i thought i was doing it big with 267 songs + The Firm... but i get the feeling i'm missing a lot ofstuff.
 
I got over 500. No doubt some of them are duplicates though so I'd say the actual number is probably around 400.
 
I've seen that list before...it's pretty good read. It's a never ending process trying to get every track he's ever been on. I've gotabout 415 I think.
 
Originally Posted by BeallsFinest


I've seen that list before...it's pretty good read. It's a never ending process trying to get every track he's ever been on. I've got
about 415 I think.
Click to expand...


Word.

And think about all the !!%+ he's got locked up somewhere. If he really recorded 150 songs for the original I Am
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Originally Posted by Illuztrious

25) 1st Verse on "Take It in Blood"

I figured I would start it off with a verse from one of his more underappreciated songs. It is important to note that "Take It in Blood" is off of his sophomore album It Was Written and so there are less tales of the street from his project window, but now tales in the smoke-filled lounge from his leather chair. The subtle cockiness is the first thing that jumps out at me. "I never brag, how real I keep it, cause it's the best secret/ I rock a vest, prestigious, Cuban link flooded Jesus/ in a Lex watchin Kathie Lee and Regis/ My actions are one with the seasons". That is basically saying: I'm just so ill, and I don't even have to say it. The amount of things that he goes into in this verse is astounding. It is a portrait of how he is living, and you are forced to envy. What I personally love about Nas is his ability to take anything simple and say it another way. For instance, you'll hear every rapper say "I have a gun on my waist" for the umpteenth time. Nas, however, always has a way to creatively flip it, as he does here with "low price, I blow dice and throw em/ .45 by my scrotum". This is just one of those Nas verses that is a great testament to his ability to paint pictures with words. One of the finest "Escobar" moments.


24) Verse on Jay-Z/Lord Tariq's "Analyze This"

Very few people know about this, as it was hardly a real song. It was originally a track on Shaquille O'Neal's "No Love Lost" which featured Lord Tariq and a young Jay-Z. The song is pretty good, with a dope beat and exceptional verses from Jay and Tariq (even Shaq was decent). Apparently Nas got on a remix of this and a version was made where Shaq's verse was removed and replaced with this brand new Nas appearence. To all the people who had to wait until "Black Republicans" for a track that featured both Nas and Jay-Z, you could have just heard "Analyze This" back in '96 and see for yourself just how superior Nas is in comparison (yeah people, be prepared for some heavy %@$-kissing from yours truly on this list). It is almost sad how bad Lord Tariq and Jay are outshined on this song with the inclusion of Nas' new verse. I honestly get chills when I hear the classic first bars "I spend nights on corners, see the crack, cop my first mac/No longer scared to pump what y'all pump, now I burst back/It hurts that, don't seem cream can make my purse fat/Without the benefits of a doubt, I hit the hearse black/But curse that, tryin' to see Nas was your worst match" I mean…this is the Nas Escobar phase we're talking about here. People say that he was watered down and weak? Have they even listened? Take a look at those lines again people, please. The zenith of the verse lies in what I consider to be one of the greatest Mafioso rap lyrics: "I flip my loot twice a week on the most trifest streets/ You got no right to eat by the laws of life you keep" Think about it.


23) Verse on "Just a Moment"

Nas is a rapper of the people. What I mean by that is…he doesn't gain if we don't. He is not here to just rap for fun or to simply make his dough - he raps because it is his calling to speak to the people. I feel like his verse on this particular song is really a song that is written for all of us. He speaks for the entire world here with "And can we please have a moment of truth?/For soldiers and troops away with helmets and boots/And families back home who pray they make it home safe/Hopin' that they don't get hit with a stray" It is just so sincere, and a great message. However, what really put this verse on the list was the final line of "This is just a moment to let you all know that we miss you/Mommy I'm still here, wishin' I was there with you" which I swear almost moves me to tears every single time that I hear it. His voice is so sincere, which only strengthens the overall theme.


22) 2nd Verse on "You're Da Man"

A fan favorite from Stillmatic, as this track is considered his official apology and recognition of selling out with his promise to return to true form. The relaxed and honest delivery is in perfect accordance to the subject, and that alone makes the verse a classic. He admits that he became lost in the game, but he also concedes that he is human and we would all get carried away. The topic is switched to a more pessimistic view of the depression that has set in. "Wish I could flap wings and fly away/To where black kings in Ghana stay/ So I could get on my flesh right away/But that'll be the day when it's peace/When my gat don't need to spray/When these streets are safe to play". I personally see the theme of the verse as maturity and growing up, as the "Man" part of the title refers to adulthood. Nas touches upon this with "everything around me got cloudy/the chair became a king's throne, my destiny found me/It was clear why the struggle was so painful/Metamorphosis, this is what I changed to".


21) Verse on The Firm's "Executive Decision"

The inclusion of this verse clearly will be something of a personal decision for me, as I seem to be the biggest fan of this particular song. The Firm's album had some great songs, and while many consider "Desperados" or "Phone Tap" to be the choice tracks - I hold "Executive Decision" as the single best moment. What is hilarious is that as good as Nas' verse is, it's not even the best on the song (that goes to AZ). The song is Mafioso rap at its finest, with Nas, Nature, and AZ almost convincing you to enter the life of organized crime. I personally think this is a great verse for Nas because he is able to lyrically tear it up with this flashy subject matter that so many people hated on. "Diamond cut vocals carved sculptures, gats in holsters/macs and four fifths, two plaqued ferocious"


20) 2nd Verse on "Getting Married"

This is more of another personal choice for me. Nas has always been a master of descriptions, but I think he outdoes himself here, particularly because he touches upon a scene that close to no one has done on a rap song: a wedding. Nas' pure honesty and descriptive eye puts you right there in the ceremony. From the naming of the guests invited, to spilling a drink on himself, to his heart beating - the listener really feels like he is the groom. The climax hits as "My girl walked in, glistenin', different stones/'Bout to go from my fiance' to Mrs. Jones" and you know the vows are about to be said. The verse is an obvious allusion to his recent marriage to Kelis, but he adds a comical edge at the end by reminding us that the song is NOT about music, as it seems like every other rapper these days makes a song comparing Hip Hop to a woman. I think I might have this song played at my wedding
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19) 3rd Verse on "Ether"

I can hear the gasps already. Some people might be turned off by the fact that I included a verse from Ether on here, but honestly I think that this is well-deserving of a place among Nas' finer moments. While Nas was always strong lyrically, people weren't sure how he would fare in an outright battle with another rapper (let alone the king of rap at the moment). Well, the detractors were hushed as Nas turned Jay-Z into his own personal dartboard, and it was on this final verse of "Ether" that Mr. S. Carter was getting his worst lashings. What's your favorite diss that's on here? Everyone has their own - whether it is Nas pointing out that Eminem did Jay-Z in on his own song, or Jay's resemblance of JJ Evans of "Good Times", or his broke Hawaiian shirt in Jaz-O's early single. I prefer the part of "I rock !%!*, y'all rock fellas (Roc-A-Fella)/and now y'all trying to take my spot, fellas?" Pure murder.


18) 3rd Verse on "Small World"

Without a doubt this might be the most overlooked song of Nas' storied career. Before he made "What Goes Around", he already had a classic song about karma. The track is basically a tale of the dirty business that crime is, and that everyone has it coming back to them. It is a moment of warning and introspection, from a man who has dealt with all the twists and turns of the fast life. The third verse is the one I chose as it reveals the fate of the two characters that are introduced in the first two verses, as well as provide a c'est la vie-like conclusion to why it ends up this way, and despite knowing the consequences he cannot stop. Chilling finish.


17) 1st Verse on "The Message"

This verse is monumental as it officially kicked off the Mafioso phase of Nas' career. The flow, diction, and lyrical syntax from "Illmatic" is all here, but the topic is just a bit off-kilter. Does this mean it's bad? NO! The master of the craft shows how to truly rap about the mob life with moments like "Antera spinnin on Milleniums, twenty G bets I'm winnin them/Threats I'm sendin them, Lex with TV sets the minimum, ill sex adrenaline". I still get a smile on my face whenever I hear "let me let y'all n1ggas know one thing/ there's one life, one love - so there can only be one king", 'cause it's said by the King himself. Nas Escobar might have been his name at the moment, but Nasir Jones the incredible rapper was still intact.


16) 2nd Verse on "Halftime"

If you want to see who Nasty Nas was, this is the song that you go for. Why did he use that name, you ask? Well when the verse has lines like "I set it off with my own rhyme/ cause I'm as ill as a convict who kills for phone time" and "I used to watch "C.H.I.P.S." now I load glock clips", there is no other adjective that could even apply. This is one of those classic verses that is so chockfull of quotables that it's frightening. Before Nelly was rapping about Air Force Ones, Nas had "more kicks than a baby in a mother's stomach". One of the classic Nas braggadocio segments.


15) Verse on Kool G. Rap's "Fast Life"

How touching is it to see Nas, the rookie of the year, on a track with Kool G. Rap, an MC that he idolized while coming up. The song is from G Rap's solo debut "4,5,6" and it marks the early stages of Nas' evolution with the entire rap game into Mafia-influenced gangsta rap. While the old street poet is still here - "The rough life, I just be up nights, breathin with scuffed Nike's" - but there is also an underlying tone of a newly rich man who has escaped the projects but is still running into trouble "I got, guns from Italy, smoke trees considerably/Mid-state and Greene it seems, is where all my n1ggas be/The ghetto misery, shootouts and liquor stores/A perpendicular, angle of the clout war".


14) 3rd Verse on "Doo Rags"

I consider this song to be one of Nas' true unsung classics because it is such a Nas-like song, it completely oozes with everything that makes him the rapper that he is. The third verse is especially amazing because of how well it wraps up the overall theme while still providing preachings that educate you. Nas is a brilliant man, ladies and gentlemen, and it is songs like these that really show how complete of a rapper he is and why I hold him so high. "The hardest thing is to forgive, but God does/Even if you murdered or robbed, yeah it's wrong, but God loves/Take one step toward him, he takes two toward you/Even when all else fail, God support you"


13) Verse on "In Too Deep"

This will definitely be one that nobody will know about. In Too Deep was the title song for the Soundtrack for the movie of the same name. A slow, somber violin beat for Nas and Nature to rap about their stresses from the streets. This isn't his most innovative verse, but some of the lines here are so classic, along with the tone of his voice where he just sounds so completely fed-up with life, that I had to add it in here. "I thank a dead homey, incarcerated penpal/ I got the feds on me, a constipated mental/ always rains in the ghetto, its pain in the ghetto/ caskets, do you believe in angels or devils?" Purely dark poetry, there is no silver lining on the streets of Queensbridge, and Nas definitely gets that image across. However, the true advice for every future don comes in "!%!* with thick thighs be the wives of rich guys/ never trust a #*%#@ cuz a #*%#@ lies/ enemies close cuz friends switch sides/ when +%*$ gets live" which is truly some of the realest stuff he's spit. Please no Don Imus comments here because of the use of the H-word. Nas is telling it how he sees it.


12) 3rd Verse on "The World is Yours"

Now there is no way I would go through this list without some of the best from Illmatic. There are few songs that define what Nas is all about like this one, and the topic is at its peak in the last verse, where he emulates his street poet role with "I'm the young city bandit, hold myself down singlehanded/For murder raps, I kick my thoughts alone, get remanded/Born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne/I'm deep by sound alone, caved inside in a thousand miles from home". However, the best moment, and one of the greatest Nas lines ever comes in "I need a new n1gga, for this black cloud to follow/cause while it's over me it's too dark to see tomorrow" because while it isn't particularly mind-blowing, it is so beautifully poetic with its optimism for the future and hope for better times to come.


11) 3rd Verse on "One Love"

One Love. Why is this verse so important? The song was giant critical success as it was, because of its original idea of a song composed of letters to a friend. I could have chosen any verse from this song here, but I think the 3rd is the most interesting and suspenseful, as he literally breaks down a story in real time. Nas flexes his griot muscles here with a gripping tale of just how gritty the streets can get, in his interaction with a young buck who already thinks he is a man. "then I rose, wiping the blunts ash from my clothes/ then froze only the blow the herb smoke through my nose/ and told my little man that I'm a go cyprose/ left some jewels in his skull that he can sell if he chose" I love how he says that last line, comparing his advice to jewelry that he can keep with him, or just sell off for a bit of dough. But even before that story, he breaks down his own depression and how he tries to deal with it in deep thought: "sometimes i sit back with a buddha sack/ mind's in another world thinking how can we exist through the facts/ written in school text books, bibles, etcetera/ f*ck a school lecture, the lies get me vexed". It is a deep, candid letter to his friend about how he feels. The baring of the human mind caught in a rap verse is what has me place this verse so high.


10) 2nd Verse on "Poppa Was a Playa"

Please allow me to rant for a bit as to why this song is so significant in my eyes. It is all too common for people who never had a good relationship with their father, as unfortunate and unjust as that is, to use it as a crutch and constantly blaming it as the reason for all their troubles. The reason this song is so deeply powerful to me is because Nas describes in detail the tension between his parents when he was a child, and the chorus of the song is all about how his father would cheat - and yet he still dedicates a good portion of this song to look PAST the bad and to thank his father for the things that he did do well. The 2nd verse is the climax of the song as he describes a time that he caught his father with another woman "Papa why you butt-%@$ from the waist/And who's this lady I'm facing/Dark skin you're not my mommy/He grabbed me up to run some smooth words by me/Promise things that he would buy me/If I kept my mouth close and don't tell mommy/He said one day I'll understand 'little me/What's in you's inside me' " and while that is horrible for any child to experience, Nas still give props to his dad "That's why I show my pop love/ He was still around when I popped up/ he could have left, my moms pregnant shock to death but stayed/ Watch me crawl till I took my first step, to the first grade"


9) 2nd Verse on "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)"

"It'd be, paradise, life, relaxin/ black, latino and anglo-saxon/ Armani exchange the range/ Cash, Lost Tribe of Shabazz, free at last/ brand new whips to crash then we laugh in the iller path"
%%%$ You. I did it. I chose this song to be on here. So what? Honestly this has to be one of Nas' most imaginatively cohesive verses ever. We all know this song, unless of course you've lived under a rock for the past 10 years. It wasn't a humongous hit, but it's still recognized as Nas' most well-known single. While every verse here is nearly as good as the other, I think it is the middle one that is the most saturated with imagery, as well as having the best flow. "Trips to Paris, I civilized every savage/ gimme one shot I turn trife life to lavish/ political prisoners set free, stress free/ no work release purple M3's and jet skis" It honestly saddens me that there can't be a single these days that flows at least half as masterfully as this. The fact that on top of it all, there is still a message, one that is not unlike John Lennon's in "Imagine" (hence the nod to it in the latter part of the song's title).


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Verse on "Stillmatic Intro"

If Nas' career was a movie, this is the song that should be played at the beginning credits. Everything about what Nas says here is just an allegorical progression of maturity and full bloom. The entire verse is stepping out of your cell and rising, and returning to greatness. Wise choice to select this as the beginning of your comeback album, and it was effective indeed. "This is my end and my new beginning Nostalgia/ alpha and Omega places, it's like a glitch in the matrix/ I seen it at all, did it all, most of y'all been pop for a minute/ spitters, sinners and the game get rid of y'all". The great one was back into his original and true form, and nobody could stop him. Nas has a way of ending a verse with a line that just guts you with how it makes you think, and here he adds the cherry on top with his infamous closing - "Let my words guide you, get inside you/ from crip to piru this is survival". That is poetry, folks.


7) 3rd Verse on "It Ain't Hard to Tell"

Like the true MC that he is, Nas needs his moments to brag of his greatness. "It Ain't Hard to Tell" is always revered as one of the finest braggadocio moments in East Coast Rap. Again, it was hard to choose which verse I wanted to use from this (because I wanted to only choose a single verse per song on this list), but I definitely think that it is the third verse that most people remember. The famous "rhythmatic explosion" is also the concluding moments of his classic debut album, and the young MC decided to leave off with a bang. "Speak with criminal slang, begin like a violin/ end like Leviathan, it's deep, well let me try again". Every line, every word, every syllable is so perfectly placed and arranged, in Nas' signature cadence that is just the perfect tempo.


6) 2nd Verse on "Memory Lane"

Something that frightens me is that this used to actually be my least favorite song on "Illmatic". It's not like I disliked it, not at all, I just found it to be inferior to every other song. That is much different now, as you can tell by the ranking of one of the verses. "Memory Lane" is just one of those songs that could ONLY have been done by Nas. Another one of the gems from Illmatic, I think that this is Nas' most personal song (aside from One Love) on the album. How could I humanly explain this verse in words? The Street's Disciple paints a picture of his daily life, looking back at his environment and putting it to paper. "I rap divine, god, check the prognosis, is it real or showbiz?/ My window faces shootouts, drug overdoses/ live amongst no roses, only the dram / a nickel-plate is my fate, my medicine is the ganja" Nas is stuck in the environment that he cannot get out of, and he is only forced to adapt. The integration of his harsh and lowly upbringings with regal and powerful prose is what really grabs me about this verse.


5) 3rd Verse on "One Mic"

In terms of embedded imagery and ideals, this is without a shadow of a doubt Nas' magnum opus. Choosing between the three verses here was the hardest task on this entire list. The third verse is the standout because he flips what he did with the previous two - this time he starts with the loud screaming, and then tones it down to a hush at the end of it. This is what makes the verse stick out to me out of the three, because of his emotion from the get-go, and you really feel his pain right off the bat. "What you call a infinite brawl, eternal souls clashing/ war gets deep, some beef is everlasting/ complete with thick scars/brothers knifing each other up in prison yards, drama, where does it start?", and you feel his anger for his ex-lover as he says "B1tches left me cause they thought I was finished/ should've knew she wasn't true, she came to me when her man caught a sentence". Just like on "You're Da Man", Nas realizes that he has been off his original path and that now he is straightening himself out - "Diamonds are blindin, I never make the same mistakes/ moving with a change of pace, lighter load, see now the king is straight". The perfect wrap up to his main point that all he's needed is just one mic to speak his mind. This is a rapper's rapper, folks. Above the fame, the cars, the wealth, the props…he just needs that microphone so we can hear him.


4) Verse on Raekwon's "Verbal Intercourse"

Please allow me to point out just how astonishingly significant this verse turned out to be. First off, this was the first ever appearance on a Wu-Tang album that was not by a member of the Wu-Tang Clan family. Second, landing on Raekwon the Chef's classic solo "Only Built 4 Cuban Linx" (coincidentally my 2nd favorite album after Illmatic), this verse was part of history in the making. We all know about how that album went on to heavily influence the game, however, it apparently influenced Nas as well, as he was now exposed to this Mafioso sub-genre in rap that was starting to just take form. However, the Illmatic flow is still intact and he proceeds to blow Raekwon and Ghost off their own track - "Through the lights cameras and action, glamour glitters and gold/ I unfold the scroll, plant seeds to stampede the globe/ When I'm deceased, by then the beast arise like yeast/ to conquer peace leaving savages to roam in the streets". It just isn't even fair how superior his verse is, and keep in mind that he is in good company. Meanwhile, it is the final two bars of his verse that make it super classic with its beautiful antithesis of entities "From the womb to the tomb, presume the unpredictable/ guns salute life, rapidly, that's the ritual". Have I mentioned that Nas is a genius?


3) Verse on "Life's a B*tch"

It is AZ's guest verse on this that makes the song so well-known, but I personally think that Nas' verse is criminally slept-on, just because of how great his friend's appearance was. While AZ's verse might be my favorite verse of all time, and essentially the moment that turned me into a Hip Hop fan…Nas' own effort cannot be overlooked. I'm sorry that I sound like a fan-boy, but honestly I cannot bring to words just how beautifully poetic Nas was on Illmatic. This is why I hold the album to be the greatest ever. I love a lot of albums, and I know there are many choices that people have for their G.O.A.T. album…but for me, while legends like Rakim, A Tribe Called Quest, and Wu-Tang Clan were rapping - Nas was making art. "I woke up early on my born day, I'm twenty years of blessing/ the essence of adolescence leaves my body now I'm freshin'/ my physical frame is celebrated cause I made it/ one quarter through life, some Godly thing created". Nas' words are poetry in motion. While that is deep as it is, the final piece that touches upon the main theme of the album, to enjoy life while you're alive, comes in "I switched my motto -- instead of saying: %%%$ tomorrow/ that buck that bought a bottle could've struck the lotto" which honestly gives me chills at just how frank and true it is. Nas is basically saying to have no more "I'll live another day" mentality, enjoy every second, because each has the potential for great things. Only he has his own wonderfully poetic way of putting it.


2) Verse on Mainsource's "Live at the BBQ"

I'm pretty sure everyone was expecting this to land at #1, and I don't blame you. As I was originally thinking up the idea for this list, I was planning at having this at the top as well. What can I say about this verse that hasn't already been said? It is the most well-known debut verse in Hip Hop history, as well as one of the most landslide cases of a rapper outshining everyone else on the song. What makes this case especially bad is that Nas was 17 years old and completely unheard of at the time. Almost every single line in the verse has become immortal, from the beginning line of "Streets disciple, my raps are trifle/ I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle" that originated one of his main nicknames, to the diabolical "Verbal assassin my architect pleases/ When I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffin' Jesus". While Nas certainly changed and grew as a rapper from this verse, this moment was a foreshadowing of his complete dominance in the rap game that was to come just a few years later. " Nasty Nas is a rebel to America/ police murderer, I'm causin hysteria"


1) 1st Verse on "NY State of Mind"
Surprised? You shouldn't be. If there is any verse that would be the perfect introduction to what kind of MC Nas is - it is this one. The verse that officially kicks off Hip Hop's greatest record "Illmatic" is at the top of this list because it is THEE ULTIMATE RAP VERSE. It combines every single element that I would want from a rapper, all delivered flawlessly with ease. Nas even teases the listener with his short disclaimer of "I don't even know how to start this…" which is not even just a random line that he thought would be cool to say before his verse - that was literally the first time that he was recording, meaning that the whole verse was done in a single take. The verse is so particularly important to myself because it was the first verse that I had heard from the album (as it is on the first actual song) and it is what kept me interested to keep listening.

"Rappers I monkey flip 'em with the funky rhythm I be kickin/
Musician, inflicting composition/
of pain I'm like Scarface sniffing cocaine/
Holding a M-16, see with the pen I'm extreme/
Now…bullet holes left in my peepholes/
I'm suited up in street clothes, hand me a nine and I'll defeat foes"

The verse is absolutely flawless in terms of how it is delivered and its technical skill. Considering the time period, it was an even more mind-blowing listen in that era. Few rappers were kicking rhymes like this prior to Nas, and that is why the young MC was christened "The Next Rakim".

"Once they caught us off guard, the Mac-10 was in the grass and
I ran like a cheetah with thoughts of an assassin
Pick the Mac up, told brothers "back up!", the Mac spit
Lead was hittin n1ggas, one ran, I made him backflip
Heard a few chicks scream, my arm shook, couldn't look
Gave another squeeze heard it click yo, my **** is stuck"

This is not just an ill braggadocio display, but it also has elements of story-telling and awareness of what is going on in his surroundings. The tale isn't the most gripping, but it is real, as he is reporting on what goes on in his part of town. However he reverts back to himself to close it off, with every single Hip Hop head's favorite rap line…"It drops deep as it does in my breath/ I never sleep, cuz sleep is the cousin of death". How fitting that he closes out the monumental verse with the title itself, as this would forever come to fit him as a rapper, as the regal representative of the Big Apple. The first verse to "NY State of Mind" is without a doubt THE QUINTESSENTIAL NAS VERSE as it is a conglomeration of everything that he is, perfectly situated at the time in his career where he had to truly prove himself with everything that he had. Aw man…now I want to go listen to "Illmatic".




Some Honorable Mentions that pained me to leave off:

Verse on Cormega's "On the Real"
2nd Verse on "Undying Love"
1st Verse on "It Ain't Hard to Tell"
3rd Verse on "Drunk By Myself"
Any Verse on "I Gave You Power"
1st Verse on "Silent Murder"
3rd Verse on "Hate Me Now"



Nas is God

~M
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I don't agree 100% but
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I don't agree with the order but
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none the less.
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See, the thing with Nas is that he only dropped about 3 albums from April 94 to Aprill 99.
And who knows how long he spent perfecting 'Illmatic'.
Let's just say for the hell of it he started in early 92. This shouldn't be too far off, he dropped Halftime in 92, but then again his rhyme schemesand lyrics are a lot more advanced in something like 'Memory Lane'(which I KNOW was one of the last songs on Illmatic, in fact I'm pretty sure itwas the last song recorded) as opposed to Halftime.

Realistically, we only have about 40 OFFICIAL songs from Nas in 7 years.
I wonder how much music he actually made.
 
im sure nas got mad joints in the vault...me personally i still wanna hear more leftover tracks from I Am...and the full version of the curse
 
NaS's other albums are overshadowed by his debut. Anyway, him and AZ on the same track is always a good thing
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This title mad unofficial I have all these songs in one of my Nas folders, either Library of a Legend or that other link that was floating around that like over 200 songs on it
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Those songs are dope tho
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, many classic cuts.
 
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