To each his own.
But if your listening to Nas for his beat selection, that's a fail in itself.
If your listening to Nas and not expecting some kind of growth/experimentation/subject matter; you ain't really following dude's music.
The only two albums that I really could feel were Nastradamus and Street's Disciple, even though there had some dope tracks on them, as a collective, they both seemed patchy.
All the others were either classic (10/10), near classic(9/10) or simply solid (8/10)
Illmatic- a young street poet giving you a raw, unadulterated glimpse/documenting the street life/mindset.
It was written- A young street poet experimenting with the lavish mafioso theme/persona again to document street tales (that was popular ala OBCL)- 9/10
I AM- disjointed, but shoulda been a classic with all the missing joints (torn between going commercial n remaining tru to self) still a 7.5/10
Nastradamus - Rushed, mediocre at best but some dope tracks 6/10
Stillmatic- slightly overrated but still a comeback; some gems on them (Ur Da Man, Poison, Every Ghetto and some really subpar tracks (8/10)
GodSon- the best start and end of any Nas album IMO. One of his most cohesive, introspective albums. Maybe my personal favourite after IWW.
Lost tapes- 10/10
Street's Disciple- Good but something missing (7.5)
HipHopis Dead- Sparked discussion, made its point, some good tracks (8)
Untitled- Made a bold statement but done well (8.5)
Distant Relatives-
If you've grown and matured with Nas, you know what he stands for and appreciate his growth musically. He actually maybe the most important rapper of our generation. Still GOAT musically. Do folks really listen to lyrics? I remember having to rewind shit just to rewrite on paper and recite stuff. I had my doubts but there are a few people to pass the torch to- J.Cole is the new Nas. I've heard enough and I'm convinced. Drake maybe the new Jay. Hustle the new Snoop.
