so u trynna say that illmatic is only championed as the greatest in many people's eyes bc of groupthink? aite lmfao i promise you its not that deep as ur making it out to be

They call me nas I’m not your legal type of fella, moet drinkin marijuana smokin street dweller

So you do not have a concrete example of the story telling that you like and why it is better than every other rap song?

Were you into rap when it was released or did you listen to it years after it came out?

Pretty shallow if you ask me. I can hear that on the average rap song. Also, unrelatable for your average hiphop listener. nowadays.

I listened to it in 07 when I was 15. No one told me to I just happened upon it. Before that I listened to mostly a lot of Wayne, Ludacris, and other modern songs. Had some old school hip hop knowledge but not a lot. To me that album encapsulated the 90s hip hop experience perfectly. Being a young black teen who grew up poor and was into some things I shouldn't of been into I related to it. Storytelling is still some of the best I've heard in hip hop, the samples were flipped in a great way, and Nas delivery is like butter. Also the perfect length too. Long enough to leave a lasting impression without overstaying its welcome

i will always be attached to that s***; when i actually started listening to full albums on my own instead of just listening to what albums my dad played growing up illmatic was one of the first few albums i rlly got into

no i wasnt even born yet when it came out

i got into it when i got into other similar rap music from that time. gang starr, biggie,wu-tang, kool g rap, mobb deep etc.

i dont think Illmatic is the best album ever or anything. but a masterpiece and top 10 rap album for sure

I would if you were deaf, you should be able to listen and pick up on his lyrics. I recommended One Love produced by Q Tip as an example.

As I said prior, I don’t rate Illmatic as highly as others.

Fair enough. How did you stumble upon it? Were you a Nas fan? And in terms of production, do you think that it is better than Blueprint, your favorite Kanye Album, or any given favorite albums of yours that came out in the 21st century?

Ok so no examples from you, just following the crowd. Not as interesting as some of the other replies here.

i think one of the best qualities about illmatic too is how sticky the lines are and how captivating nas is on the mic. he doesn't let up on the album at all and manages to hold my attention on lock throughout the entire album, especially on tracks like halftime where has some of the stickiest lines in hip-hop imo

I never liked illmatic it’s way too boring for me but now It Was Written on the other hand is a f***ing classic

The bars
The beats
The Flow
The Cover
Everything

Classic

fax

We get it, you are a loser.

You are extremely dense

No u

No u

One of the best hip-hop albums of all time that inspired so many rappers.

Best because it inspired others or best solely based on your listening experience?

i mean the claim that its the greatest hip-hop album is justified imo but so many ppl jump on that s*** even though they've probably listened to the album maybe 5 times i feel u on that point

no singing bullshit or s***skits to be found

Nas’ voice and lyrics