Perhaps in history, very few emcees have been able to match the lyrical penmanship of Nasir Olu Bin Dara Jones, aka Nas. His style of vivid street poetry and a Paul Laurence Dunbar-esque style of emceeing made for a discography that has completely stood the test of time. Son of jazz musician, Olu Dara, Nas, along with his brother Jungle of The Bravehearts, saw quite a bit outside their 40 Side building within the notorious, yet legendary, Queensbridge Housing Projects. This is the same projects that housed other emcees such as Roxanne Shante, Craig-G, Mobb Deep, Blaq Poet, Tragedy Khadafi, and Cormega, among others. One particularly traumatic event involved the slaying of best friend, Willie Graham, aka Ill Will, right around the time Illmatic dropped. Once this occurred, it was go time for the young nineteen-year-old and it began one of the most impactful careers in all of hip-hop. Celebrating over thirty years in the game, Nas has continued to inspire and motivate generations after him. In this list, we look at his entire discography and rank them from least good to the best and highlight one of the game's all-time greatest poets and emcees. Let's go!
21. Nastradamus
Production: Dame Grease, Havoc, Nasheim Myrick, Carlos "6 July" Broady, Timbaland, DJ Premier
Guests: Mobb Deep, Ginuwine, Ron Isley, Bravehearts
We start with the album that many tend to pan the most in Nastradamus. While a few cuts from the album originally were slated to be on the double album version of I Am, there were also new recordings well. They were very hit or miss. The album starts strong with one of those aforementioned cuts originally for I Am: The Autobiography in the L.E.S.-produced, "Life We Chose", and others that follow such as the excellent Ron Isley-crooned, "Project Window", The Preemo-powered Jay-Z dis (pre-"Ether), "Come Get Me", and the haunting collab with fellow QB cohorts, Mobb Deep, "Family". However, other cuts such as the title track, the "Africa"-sampled "New World", and especially the blatant radio cut with Ginuwine, "You Owe Me" suffer from uninspired lyricism, bland production, and just an overall lack of what we expect from Nas. Is it a complete dud of an album? No, it's not. As mentioned, there are very strong cuts here, but with the great came the not great, and the not great hurt the overall feel of the album.
20. Nasir
Production: Kanye West, Mike Dean, Dot Da Genius, others
Guests: Diddy, Kanye West, the-Dream, others
The summer of '18 was all Kanye. He dropped the OUTSTANDING collab with Kid Cudi, Kids See Ghosts, the unbelievable effort from Pusha T, DAYTONA, and his own fairly modest effort, Ye. The one that sent hip-hop into a frenzy was when he stated he was working on an effort with Nas. With the momentum Kanye was on, we just knew this had classic written all over it. We immediately went to how Kanye brought an animal and a renewed focus from Common back in '05 with Be that made that album an all-time classic. Would we get the same with Nasir? Not quite. On paper, this should've been a monster. The results were not. Within this seven-track effort lies moments of sheer greatness. The cuts "Cops Shot the Kid" featuring Kanye, "Adam & Eve", and "Everything" once again featuring Kanye are standouts and shows what can happen when the two of them are hitting on all cylinders. However, as a whole, the album lacked focus and was somewhat all over the place. The production wasn't a loss, as Kanye delivered some very great production here, but the cohesive of the album was greatly lacking and, in effect, sounded very rushed. The mixing sounded greatly off and sounded like a project that sounded like a rough draft instead of a final copy. With more time and focus, this album could've been among the very elite within both men's discographies. Alas, what we got was an admittedly rushed project that needed way more seasoning with its food instead of the little bit of salt and pepper that did little to add to its flavor.
19. Lost Tapes 2
Production: artist, Swizz Beats, Pete Rock, RZA, Hit-Boy, Kanye West, AraabMuzik, No I.D., DJ Dahi, DJ Khalyl, The Alchemist, others
Guests: RaVaughn, Swizz Beats, others
With as many unreleased cuts as Nas has delivered, it was only a matter of time before we saw a sequel to the AMAZING Lost Tapes in '01. While it wasn't quite at that level, Lost Tapes 2 was still an enjoyable album of loosies, cutting room floor cuts, and extras that were primarily recorded during the sessions of God's Son, Life Is Good, Nasir, and Hip-Hop Is Dead. The album, as a whole, comes off disheveled and all over the place, whereas the first one showed a pronounced cohesive flow with the majority of the album. This starts off fairly dope with the Swizz Beats-crafted "No Bad Energy", and from there, the project gets rocky. While cuts like the wonderful, yet melancholy, Pete Rock-crafted dedication to the late, great Prodigy of Mobb Deep, "Queensbridge Politics", the simply excellent "War Against Love", and the fantastic album closer, "Beautiful Life" featuring great vocals from RaVaughn all are worthy standouts, others such as "Queens Wolf", "Jarreau Of Rap" (which has him rhyming as in a scat similar to late jazz icon, Al Jarreau), and "Who Are You" suffer from less than stellar production and utterly disconnecting vision. Fortunately, moments like these aren't the rule generally here, as evidenced by other cuts like the Nasir loosie, "You Mean the World to Me" and the RZA-powered, "Highly Favored" demonstrate. Nas has somewhere around several hundred formally unreleased tracks to his discography during various sessions, and while we were somewhat pleased with his selection here with LT2, we all know there were others that could've been here that were way better fits. Regardless, this was an overall enjoyable album that showed Nas at his most vital, but also at his most discombobulated.
18. Magic
Production: Hit-Boy, DJ Premier
Guests: A$AP Rocky, DJ Premier
The second of the six-album run with Grammy Award-winning producer, Hit-Boy, was Magic. Following up the damn good, King's Disease, from earlier in 2021, Magic was a bit more stripped down than KD. The production here, as a whole, was a bit more minimalized, allowing for Nas to go in like we had heard him on KD, and then some. This nine-track effort showed a polished emcee confident in his delivery, unwavering in his approach to showing that he's still THAT emcee, while still having the fire of an elder statesman showing his undying passion for his craft. This was especially shown on cuts such as "Dedicated", "Wu for The Children", "Speechless", and the sizzling collab with A$AP Rocky, "Wave Gods", featuring the GOAT DJ/producer, DJ Premier, scratching as only the legend can do. With just the second of the six album ride we would be on with Nas and Hit-Boy, don't let the fact that this album is this far down fool you. This may have been the least dope of the collaborative albums from them, but this album was hotter than a lot of others of that otherwise great year.
17. Street's Disciple
Production: artist, L.E.S., Salaam Remi, Chucky Thompson, Q-Tip, Buckwild, others
Guests: Kelis, Busta Rhymes, Doug E. Fresh, Ludacris, Emily King, Maxwell, Olu Dara, others
The double album craze was abounded in the mid-nineties through the mid-thousands. After the massive bootlegging of what should've been the crowning jewel for Nas in the form of, I Am: The Autobiography, the concept was shelved and only bits of the original album made it onto the redone I Am, as well as the aforementioned Nastradamus, and other mixtapes and projects such as QB's Finest. Attempting to give the double album route one more shot, we have Street's Disciple in '04. This follows a tremendous album in God's Son and continued his production relationship with Grammy-Award winning producer, Salaam Remi, who did several tracks on God's Son. Like most double albums, the strongest elements of the album would've been an excellent single album. The first disc alone was dope, as cuts like the reflective collab with former protege, Quan, "Just A Minute", the haunting "Nazareth's Savage", the two-part story in "Sekou Story" and "Live Now" (featuring Nas playing an emcee named Scarlett, as he experimented with audio filters that made his voice sound like a woman), and the excellent, "Reason" with Grammy Award-winner Emily King providing the buttery-sounding chorus (this also uses the same sample De La Soul used for "Much More"). His fiery socio-political narratives are also at work on the blistering "A Message to the Feds" and the unsettling look at Black America, "These Are Our Heroes" likewise point out how strong this album was as a stand-alone album. On the second disc, the momentum slows down some starting with the atrocious, Busta Rhymes-assisted, "Suicide Bounce" and the sultry-yet-out of place collab with neo-soul legend, Maxwell, "No One In the Room". It picks back up with cuts like the dope tribute to Rakim "U.B.R." (a concept NYC underground emcee, Ill Bill, would copy and paste for his Hour Of Reprisal album with "U.B.S." delivering a tribute of his own to pioneering thrash metal band, the Grammy Award winning, Slayer), "the fun "Remember The Times", the ambitious collab with legendary jazz musician (and father) Olu Dara, "Bridging The Gap", and the dedication to his daughter Destiny, "Me & You". If one were to put this twenty-five-cut album into a sixteen cut one, this would be higher on the rankings. Overall, this was a nice outing by Nas, and showed him as the ever-maturing emcee who was reflecting on family and love as this was at the time he was about to marry R&B artist, and Grammy Award-winner, Kelis. One would call this an underrated effort by him, but that's not a bad assessment here.
16. Hip-Hop Is Dead
Production: Salaam Remi, L.E.S., Dr. Dre, Kanye West, will.i.am, Scott Storch, others
Guests: Chrisette Michele, will.i.am, Marsha Ambrosius, The Game, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Kelis, others
With a title of an album called, Hip-Hop Is Dead, you know there's sure to be a slew of controversy and water cooler talks and roundtable discussions, which was exactly what Nas was hoping for. Admittedly, the overall state of hip-hop during this time of '06. Meant to incite discussion, it became perceived as a slap to southern hip-hop, as many rappers from below the Mason-Dixon line felt offended at this label. Many such as Lil' Wayne, Outkast, T.I., and Jeezy would diss the legendary emcee, in what was clearly a misunderstanding. The results of this approach for an album titled Hip-Hop Is Dead was a very underrated work for the Queensbridge legend. He starts with the title track, that utilized the same Iron Butterfly sample previously used for Street's Disciple's "Thief's Theme". He, then, elevates into tremendous works such as the exquisite-sounding, Nat King Cole-sampled collab with then emerging R&B talent, the Grammy Award-winning, Chrisette Michele, "Can't Forget About You", "You Can't Kill Me", and "Where Are They Now". He goes left a bit on the cut, "Who Killed It", in which he changes his voice into one of a detective from the fifties investigating who killed "Hip-Hop" in what has to be among the most interesting cuts within his discography. Although mixed, it was still brave in his attempt to go at it in another angle. Not flawless, the album has some hiccups in the likes of "M.O.B.", the Chris Webber-produced (yes, THAT Chris Webber), "Blunt Ashes", and "Hold Down the Block". However, the most talked about cut on the entire album was the much-anticipated collaboration between one-time rivals turned collaborators, he and Jay-Z on the triumphant-sounding, "Black Republican". The title, Hip-Hop Is Dead, may have sparked more of a conversation/debate than anything else concerning this album (other than the Nas/Jay cut), but this album was an overall step up from Street's Disciple released a couple of years prior, and demonstrated his excellence again, as only he could present it.
15. Magic 2
Production: Hit-Boy
Guests: 50 Cent, 21 Savage
In the hot summer of 2023, Nas and Hit-Boy returned to deliver the second installment of the Magic series (fourth album overall of their musical collaborative albums) in the form of Magic 2. While the already discussed first one was a dope, yet slightly stripped down, version of King's Disease, Magic 2 sounds like it almost extended where the first left off at. Raw west coast boom-bap mixed with occasional trap has Nas sounding more and more youthful and full of fire. Bumping cuts like "Bokeem Woodbine", the celebratory "Black Magic", and the mean, yet somewhat surprising collab with on again, off again rival, 50 Cent, "Office Hours" has Nasir in his bag forcing himself into all-time greats for this generation as well, just like he was in the late thousands and the turn of the century. Consistent and fluid, Magic 2 was just as polished and well put together as the rest of the six efforts he and Hit-Boy delivered and is a testament to his essential voice in today's hip-hop.
14. Nas & Ill Will Presents QB's Finest
Production: L.E.S., Havoc, Marley Marl, The Alchemist, EZ Elpee, Scott Storch, others
Guests: Mobb Deep, CNN, Nature, Cormega, Tragedy Khadafi, Blaq Poet, Roxanne Shante, Craig-G, Littles, Bravehearts, MC Shan, Killa Kidz, Infamous Mobb, others
At the start of the century, Nas unveiled his own label, Ill Will Records, named after fallen best friend, Willie "Ill Will" Graham, who was murdered outside the QB projects not long before the release of Illmatic in '94. It's been well known that Queensbridge has housed some of the most legendary hip-hop acts ever dating back to MC Shan and much heralded producer, Marley Marl to the likes of the first lady of QB, Roxanne Shante, Craig-G, DJ Hot Day, Blaq Poet and The Intelligent Hoodlum (later Tragedy Khadafi). They paved the way for later acts such as Nas, himself, Mobb Deep (primarily Havoc), Capone of CNN, Nature, the forgotten about Killa Kidz (which included Flipmode's Baby Sham and the late Killah Sha), and Cormega. Aiming to put a spotlight on the iconic projects (which also lays rightful claim to being the largest projects in North America with 96 buildings and over 3,000 units), Nas gathered all QB and QB-associated acts for a big-time compilation, Nas & Ill Will Presents: QB's Finest. From the jump, the first single, "Bridge 2001, was an homage to Shan's iconic "The Bridge" (the cut that started the Shan vs. BDP diss cuts in the early eighties). All native Bridge emcees such as Khadafi, Mobb Deep, Capone, Nature, Cormega (interestingly enough, Mega and Nature were embroiled in a big-time beef at this time, as was Nas and Mega), Shan, and even Marley with his known "Bridge keeps rocking, the Bridge will keep rocking" line from the original. From there, venomous cuts such as the NWA-nod, "Straight Outta Queensbridge" featuring Blaq Poet, Jungle of The Bravehearts, and Mega, the bangin' "We Live This" featuring Havoc, Noyd, and Shante, "Kinds N Da PJs" featuring NaShawn, Bravehearts, and Nas, the ominous collab between one time rivals Nas and Prodigy, "Self-Conscience", and another I Am: The Autobiography cut, "Find Ya Wealth" made this album a rugged and damn enjoyable album.. The effort is best known for the wildly popular, yet very risqué and sexual, "Oochie Wally" by The Bravehearts (Nas appears on the remix in later versions of the album). From appearances by the likes of CNN, Infamlous Mobb, Chaos & Killah Sha (on here as Mr. Challish) from The Killa Kidz, Craig-G, former Khadafi-affiliate, Imam Thug, and former Mobb-associate, Littles, to lesser known QB acts like Lord Black of Crhyme Fam, Ruc and Pop, this was a dedicated look at "the largest projects on Earth" and the talent that emerged from that place. Since then, other acts such as Screwball (R.I.P. Hostyle and KL), the late Kiing Shooter, Prodigy's daughter, Santana Foxx, ACD, and more have held down QB throughout the past twenty years up to now. This was hard as a brick wall, and Nas was the man responsible for giving back to his childhood building in dumb dope fashion.
13. Untitled
Production: Salaam Remi, stic.man, DJ Toomp, Cool & Dre, Polow Da Don, others
Guests: Busta Rhymes, Keri Hilson, Chris Bown, The Game, The Last Poets, others
If you thought the controversy surrounding the title, Hip-Hop Is Dead was a hornet's nest, that was the tip of the iceberg. The aforementioned title was a title that made waves around hip-hop. The original title for his ninth album was making notice outside the culture. The original title of this album was the infamous N-word, with loose changes including Nigga, and Hip-Hop Is Dead...The N also being tossed around. While extremely controversial in itself, the title also got surprisingly numerous amounts of support due to the art of free expression, especially with the concept of what Nas was birthing for the album. He ultimately settled with this project not even having a title, and for DJ Green Lantern to curate his mixtape in conjunction with his now untitled album, The N***** Tape, through his website at the time. The controversy definitely helped garner interest for the album, and the result was one of his most enthralling crowning achievements. Socially and politically charged throughout the album, Untitled marked a turning point for the legend. Always a street, yet conscious, emcee, he went straight dead prez, Public Enemy, and Talib Kweli on this effort and to tremendous acclaim. Cuts like the cautionary collab with Busta Rhymes, "Friend Chicken", the ode to poverty, "Project Roach", the outward bashing of conservative network, Fox News, "Sly Fox", the fiery title track (although some sites have coined the cut as being called "Louis Farrakhan"), and middle finger prompting cuts like "Y'all My Niggas", "N.I.G.G.E.R.", and especially the fantastic "Testify" are all exemplary cuts that bring the essence of what grounds this very important album. While cuts like the Keri Hilson-assisted "Hero" and the Chris Brown/Game-assisted "Makes the World Go Round" are definitely blatant attempts at radio play, the rest of the album is essential Nasir Jones. There was no flash or any fluff here. This was a jarring, yet empowering, look at the state and history of Black people and leave it to one of the most blessed writers of all-time to illustrate what that looked like in 2008 and how it still resonates in 2024.
12. King's Disease
Production: Hit-Boy
Guests: Charlie Wilson, The Firm, Lil' Durk, Fivio Foreign, A$AP Ferg, Hit-Boy, Anderson.Paak, others
Nas wasn't really expecting the backlash he got for his Nasir effort with Kanye in 2018. There were even some that were suggesting he hang up his mic and not be a character of himself. As usual, it's when you count him down and out that he comes back and reminds you just who the hell he is. In 2020, he reemerged, only he was armed by Grammy Award winning west coast beatsmith, Hit-Boy, to construct King's Disease. From the first single, "Ultra Black", you could tell there was something refreshing about this combo. One thing Nas has always been accused negatively of, and that's inconsistent production he was rhyme over. This was certainly not the case on King's Disease and Hit-Boy provided him some of the strongest and most consistent production of his career. Finding a new fire that he definitely needed to have, Nas practically sounded as fresh as he had in several years, at least since his Life Is Good days. Cuts like "27 Summers", "Blue Benz", and the Anderson.Paak-assisted, "All Bad" were thoroughly enjoyable, he dove back in his socially conscious bag with strong cuts like "10 Points" and the split beat stylings of the thumping "The Cure". Realizing his role as an elder statesman in today's generation, he collabs with some of today's brightest stars such as the aforementioned Anderson.Paak, as well as the likes of Fivio Foreign, Lil' Durk, and Don Toliver, but also made news by reuniting with his Firm groupmates of AZ, Foxy Brown, and former close friend turned bitter rival turned friend again, Cormega, on the bumping, "Full Circle". This was a triumphant return to form for Nas on King's Disease. It just took someone the caliber of Hit-Boy to awaken him from his slumber to bring forth a youthful vigor from him we were craving for, and this would mark the first of a six-album run between the two that is among the greatest runs ever in modern hip-hop.
11. Life Is Good
Production: Salaam Remi, Swizz Beats, Heavy D, No I.D., J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League, others
Guests: Miguel, Mary J. Blige, Large Professor, Rick Ross, Anthony Hamilton, Amy Winehouse, Victoria Monet, others
After a few albums that were decent to very good at best, Nas needed something that would reflect his newfound elevated mindstate and renewed hunger lyrically, and he exhibited this with the tremendous tenth album, Life Is Good. often times comparing it to Marvin Gaye's eponymous release, Here, My Dear, Nas was in the midst of becoming a single man after his publicized and very messy divorce from Kelis. Even the album cover has him in his White suit with Kelis' wedding dress in his hand. While that may or may not be a shot at her based upon the title and cover, what isn't questionable is how great this album is. From the nostalgic senses of the opener, "No Introduction" to the reunion with former mentor, Large Professor on the neck-snapping "Loco-Motive" to the Rick Ross-assisted "Accidental Murders", this album is a fresh battery in Nas' back, as he glides over these excellent tracks with grace, confidence and even traces of Nasty Nas sprinkled in there. While finding his youthful vigor, he also tackles real grown man stuff such as his divorce, the perils of marriage, fatherhood, maturity, and introspective lessons, as is evidenced on tracks like the incredible ode to a now fully grown Destiny, "Daughters", "Stay", the collab with late Grammy Award-winner, Amy Winehouse, "Cherry Wine", and the ever personal "Bye Baby", detailing the volatility of his marriage to Kelis. Other shiners like "World's an Addiction", the bumping "A Queens Story", and especially the headache-causing, Heavy D-produced, "The Don" will cause you to hit that repeat button repeatedly. This ranks among Nas' most complete albums and shows signs of growth as a man and an emcee all throughout this album. This is the same guy that once said, "Life's A bitch but God forbid the bitch divorce me" to now stating Life Is Good. Even after a hellacious divorce, Nas remains at peace and with substance, as this album clearly demonstrated.
10. King's Disease 3
Production: Hit-Boy
Guests: N/A
In what would turn out to be the final installment of the King's Disease series, Nas and Hit-Boy crafted a awesome send off with King's Disease 3. Mixing the fluidity of the first one and combining it with the lyrical stylings and hunger of the second edition, plus its own original elements, makes this album a compelling one. A complete album in virtually every way, Hit-Boy switches up his style throughout the album, thus making it a roller coaster of an experience in the best of ways. Sprinkling east coast boom-bap, with west coast synths and southern trap, KD3 has Nas experimenting with various verbal and lyrical textures here, as there's no one size fits all with this album. Standouts include the outstanding sampling of The 5 Heartbeats' "Heart Is A House Of Love" on "Legit", "Once A Man, Twice A Child", "I'm On Fire", and the compelling ode to street violence and guns, "Don't Shoot", all of which exemplify Nas' ability to be well-versed in styles, lyricism, and the ability to adapt to any type of production that's under him. While the album is definitely a declaration of how fantastic his chemistry had been with Hit-Boy, he also makes sure to bring us education and the occasional lecture as well with cuts such as the aforementioned "Don't Shoot", "Beef", and "Ghetto Reporter". This is the most well-wrapped and cohesive of the series, as Hit-Boy brings us a variety of fitting beats and sounds tailor made for someone such as Nas' stature and his uncanny, brilliant abilities.
9. God's Son
Production: Salaam Remi, The Alchemist, Chucky Thompson, Ron Browz, others
Guests: The Bravehearts, Alicia Keys, Olu Dara, Kelis, Claudette Ortiz, 2Pac, Lakey The Kid
After delivering a career-resurging effort in Stillmatic, Has continued that momentum with the follow-up, God's Son. Several tracks were crafted by Grammy Award-winning producer, Salaam Remi, and was a rather knocking album to those that thought he couldn't keep the pace up after Stillmatic. There was one unfortunate damper going into the release of the album. His mother, Ann Jones, sadly succumbed to cancer, so some of the fire that we heard with Stillmatic was a little off and rightfully and understandably so. The album starts off hard though with the vivid story of "Get Down", as well as the crazy first single, "Made You Look", which serves to this day as one of his best singles. He also collaborates with the one and only Uncle Al himself, The Alchemist, on three tracks: the dope collab with fellow QB notable, Lakey The Kid (they would later partner up again on a track called "One Never Knows", again produced by Alchemist), the slick rhymes of "Mastermind", and one of the album's biggest highlights, the clever "Book Of Rhymes", which finds Nasir going through old rhyme books of his and rapping the stuff he used to write in them. Some were very good, others were meh, but the best was the one where he talks about Destiny as the final one he sees. Over one of Uncle Al's best instrumentals at that time, Nas went an innovative route showing how much his writing had improved over time (the crazy thing is that even his worst was better than 85% of your favorite emcees' best). It takes a solemn turn as he gives the tear-jerking ode to his deceased mother, "Dance" to us. Over a somber guitar lick from former Bad Boy Hitman, Chucky Thompson, Nas raps in a somber whisper-like tone, then comes with a brave attempt at singing the beautiful hook. This, on top of Olu Dara's trumpet at the end, makes this a cut that even the hardest of thugs reach for the Kleenex on the low. While there were a few missteps here in the form of the campy "Hey Nas" and the decent yet underwhelming duet with Alicia Keys, "Warrior Song", it picks back up with the Beethoven-sampled inspirational ode to the kids, "I Can" and the acclaimed "Thug'z Mansion", a posthumous cut by the late icon himself, 2Pac, with Nas on the acoustic remix. Definitely one of his better albums, God's Son was another testament to the excellence Nas has exhibited, and even with a very heavy heart in the loss of his mother, he still delivered an album worthy of its acclaim.
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8. Distant Relatives (w/ Damien Marley)
Production: Damien Marley, Stephan Marley
Guests: K'Naan, Stephan Marley, Lil Wayne, Joss Stone
If you've known anything about Nas, both as a man or as an emcee, he's as socially and culturally conscious as anyone you'll meet. When he made the announcement that he would be teaming up with famed Reggae artist, Damien Marley, for an album, nobody was very shocked, but we were intrigued nonetheless. The album, Distant Relatives, centers on poverty, oppression, socio-political themes, and culturally-centered moments. With a split of hip-hop and reggae, these two artists delivered one of the game's most powerful efforts in many years. Nas, at this time, was focused on the continent of Africa and building schools and homes for the residents and people of Africa, thus a recurring concept of African pride and the unfortunate nature they tend to be accustomed to. Damien, along with brother Stephan, produced this album and it mainly incorporated live instrumentation that has moments of occasional body moving and moments of audio bliss from acoustics and horns. While centering on the aforementioned topics on cuts like "Tribes At War", "Africa Must Wake Up", and "Dispear", it also contains moments of inspiration on cuts like the touching "In His Own Words", "My Promise", and the Joss Stone/Lil Wayne-assisted "My Generation" that don't come off as preachy, but instead provides hope and encouragement in ways only these two phenomenal artists can do. If you're going into Distant Relatives expecting traditional dancehall-sounding vibes, this isn't for you. This album more Afrocentric rhythm than anything, and it set a new benchmark for both artists in perhaps the most culturally powerful album either artist has done in their respective careers. Conjuring the spirits of albums such as Fear Of A Black Planet, let's get free, Nas' aforementioned Untitled, and Ziggy Marley's Fallen Is Babylon, this is an album that goes under people's radars when mentioning truly brilliant conscious albums, when in actuality, it should be among the first mentioned within modern hip-hop/reggae.
7. Magic 3
Production: Hit-Boy
Guests: Lil Wayne
As with most things in life, good things have to eventually end. In this case, this was not only the finale of the Magic series, but the final chapter in the six album saga of Nas & Hit-Boy doing entire albums together (at least for the time being hopefully).After releasing the final King's Disease album in grand fashion, the intrigue came on to see if he could match the greatness of KD3 with Magic 3. The results were every bit as awesome. With Lil' Wayne being the only guest on this effort, it allowed room (much like Illmatic) to have him be dolo on the rest of the project. From top to bottom, this was classic Nas. Gliding effortlessly over some of Hit-Boy's most auspicious production throughout the six album run, and that's saying a lot. Keep in mind, this came just a couple of months after he dropped Magic 2, and this reached even higher heights than the prior. Not a wasted second was evident here, as tracks like "Jodeci Member", "No Tears", and the opening "Fever" are all exemplary cuts showing how Nas just has the knack to not just only paint audio pictures with the greatest among his peers, but also has the ability to provide much earned wisdom within clever and superbly polished rhyme schemes. With the cinematic two-part "Based On True Events", Nas illustrates a story of a street cat that gets caught up in the wrong side of life and consequences eventually emerge to put it lightly. It's moments like these that bring back legendary moments like "Memory Lane", "Suspect", and "Undying Love" in its approach to take you into the scenes with him. Not a single skip is needed on this release, and ranks in the most consistent, well curated albums within his career. This run with Nas and Hit-Boy is a run that many emcees in their forties and fifties don't have the pleasure of having, but Nas not only did it, but further cemented his stature as a true GOAT in hip-hop. With Magic 3, there should ZERO questions about this.
6. I Am...
Production: L.E.S., DJ Premier, Al West, Trackmasters, Nasheim Myrick, EZ Elpee, Carlos "6 July" Broady, Dame Grease, Timbaland, others
Guests: Aaliyah, Diddy, Bravehearts, Nature, Scarface, DMX
Although a hugely acclaimed album as a whole, there were critics that felt that his prior album, It Was Written, was gimmicky and relying more on a mafioso theme that had somehow become a part of the east coast hip-hop landscape. Other critics curtailed it as sounding too mainstream or commercial as opposed to the utter rawness of Illmatic. Looking to not only silence critics, but bring the best of both worlds for this next effort, Nas dropped I Am... in '99. As has been said a few times already here, the original concept of this was I Am: The Autobiography, a double disc concept album that had Nas from the womb to the tomb and everything and everywhere in between. Based upon the tracklisting and the songs that would end up emerging on this release, as well as Nastradamus, QB's Finest, and other mixtapes and even The Lost Tapes, there's no doubt that album would've been right near the top of his greatest achievements ever. However, bootleggers won, and the double album was scrapped in favor of only incorporating a few songs from it and recording entire new cuts. This was not a bad thing at all as it turned out. From the onset, we see Nas revisiting his Bridge roots on the exceptional sequel to Illmatic's "NY State Of Mind", with Preemo providing a bonkers piano loop and truly puts this the conversation of whether this is either as good as the original or better. While the original was raw and visceral, this was more polished but every bit as vivid. Nas & Premier meet up again on the first single, "Nas Is Like", that has Nas showing he still has Nasty Nas in him and brought that Illmatic hunger that first got him noticed to begin with. He keeps the tremendous momentum going on other cuts like the cautionary "Small World", the tough guy talking collab with another highly heralded icon, Scarface, "Favor For A Favor", the unbelievable collaboration with the late, great DMX, "Life Is What You Make It", and the stellar ode to 2Pac and Biggie, "We Will Survive". Unfortunately, you do have moments that didn't necessarily belong such as the slightly corny, "Dr. Knockboots", the R. Kelly-sampled "K-I-SS-I-N-G", and the slightly underwhelming, "I Want To Talk To You". The album is notable for it's thunderous anthemic due with Diddy, "Hate Me Now", which served as an answer to all his haters claiming he sold out for the radio and backstabbing so-called friends, both personally and in the industry. The album ends with the climatic and stunning, "Undying Love", which has him playing a boyfriend to a cheating girlfriend, in which he extracts violent revenge on both her and the man she cheated on him with, along with unaliving himself as well. Nas was in incredible form with I Am, and any talk of him not remembering who he was from It Was Written surely closed their mouths after this album. Not a perfect album, but wasn't far from one either.
5. Stillmatic
Production: Trackmasters, DJ Premier, L.E.S., Ron Browz, Megahurtz, Large Professor, Hangmen 3, Chucky Thompson, Salaam Remi, others
Guests: AZ, Amerie, others
People were starting to write Nasir Jones off some. After Stillmatic and the wounds of that negative reaction, he found himself in some limbo professionally. We knew he was among the top notched emcees, but personal and professional drama made it hard for him to stay invested in the game he loved so much. However, enter Shawn "Jay-Z' Carter. While they had been beefing for a couple years, it was the now infamous Summer Jam Hot 97 concert of 2001 that changed everything. Once jay delivered "Takeover", he unleashed a full barrage of disses and insults towards Prodigy of Mobb Deep and Nas. Well, that did it. After getting tired of being smacked around and being relatively nice with his disses on cuts like "Stillmatic Freestyle" and "Come Get Me", he unloaded an entire clip out on Jay and Roc-A-Fella on "Ether", a track still considered to be among the most factual and poignant diss records of all-time. This was the spark Nas needed, as now we were in full album mode. Realizing people forgot how elite of an emcee he was and getting caught up in the Jay hype, he delivered Stillmatic, an answer to those critics he had to face before when it came to his transition from Illmatic to It Was Written. It's also not ironic that this album dropped nearly three whole months after Jay dropped, what has been considered his most acclaimed work besides Reasonable Doubt, The Blueprint (which dropped on 9/11 coincidentally). Just as Jay dropped his most acclaimed project and was given the almighty 5 mic-award from The Source, Nas knew he had to go back to those QB 40-Side tenement building project staircases and go back to Nasty Nas for a minute. After "Ether" got you good and ready, the foot never left the gas pedal. The album's first official single, "Got Yourself A Gun" has Nas spitting like a revitalized veteran that realized he was needed to get back in the fight of subsequent relevancy. Over a sample of the old HBO hit series, "The Sopranos", he comes out swinging with ferocity in his own nasal delivery. Another standout is the reunion with Large professor for the first time since Large Pro's acclaimed debut, The LP, in '97, "You're The Man". Easily among the single best produced cuts on the entire album, Nas proclaims his throne, as he survived any and all slander thrown towards him over the years. Besides "ether", this wasn't the only controversial cut on the album. On the venomous "Destroy & Rebuild", he address beefs with Nature, Cormega, and Prodigy, by dissing them and hoping to "rebuild" them. Also, he gets socio-political on cuts such as the wonderful Tears For Fears-sampled, Amerie-assisted, "Rule", the vicious "What Goes Around (Poison)", and the brutally honest, "My Country", to which he caught some flack from conservative leaders over some of his views on the latter two cuts especially. He gets innovative on cuts like the reverse storytelling on "Rewind", the Premier-powered airing out of those grown adults who never tend to grow up, "2nd Childhood", and the simple, yet powerful and urgent, "One Mic" has him going back and forth between low volume spitting in a humbled sense to a loud, declarative delivery highlighting the differences in each volume of his delivery the differences of each connotation of "only needing one mic". There was no doubt about it, Nas was back, and back with a chip on his shoulder. The result was a classic in Stillmatic that told the world at that time, if you shoot at the king, you better not miss.
4. King's Disease 2
Production: Hit-Boy
Guests: Ms. Lauryn Hill, Eminem, EPMD, Charlie Wilson, BLXST, Hit-Boy, YG, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie
In 2021, Nas achieved an accolade he had never been able to obtain his career: an actual Grammy for one of his albums. He won Best Rap Album at the 2021 Grammy Awards for King's Disease, and rightfully so. The work he and Hit-Boy provided was a new level for Nas and one that he needed to belong on. Hoping to reach the same heights and maybe even raise the bar even more, the two dropped King's Disease 2, a more than worthy sequel to the very successful original. While the first album had Hit-Boy bringing a sense of nostalgia out of him in a sense of treading between relevancy and progression, this album had Nas in full zero BS mode, coming even more confident and self-assured with his delivery and his penmanship. Aside from a bit of trap sounds on "40 Side", this was the closest thing to an east coast boom bap album we've heard Hit-Boy give him as a whole, only with elements of soul brought in. This production had Nas at his most comfortable and most accustomed, and it showed with cuts like "Store Run", "Count Me In", and the closing "Nas Is Good". While there are way too many great moments on here, it's the unexpected reunion with Ms. Lauryn Hill on the phenomenal, "Nobody", where Ms. Hill shows that not only does she still have it, she's even better than before. it was a very welcomed return of "the miseducated one" and having her and Nas on the same cut took us back to their big hit from It Was Written, "If I Ruled The World", only she's spitting on this one. Damn near a perfect wall to wall album, King's Disease 2 is the best of the KD series, and perhaps the best of the sixd album run between them as a whole. Not a single wasted moment or second was apparent here, and stands among the best in his entire discography.
3. It Was Written
Production: L.E.S., Trackmasters, Havoc, DJ Premier, Dr. Dre
Guests: Mobb Deep, The Firm, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Dr. Dre, AZ, Jojo Hailey
How in God's name do you follow up arguably the greatest and most influential hip-hop album of all-time? Well, Nas knew the burden on his shoulders in '96 when he delivered It Was Written. Leaving behind the raw, utterly street feel of Illmatic and embracing more iof a commercial, yet still somewhat street, vibe with it. From the moment we got the first single, "If I Ruled The World" with Ms. Lauryn Hill (who herself was becoming a superstar in her own right with The Fugees), head that crowned him the new 'it' emcee of the game were feeling concerned for the new polished, radio-accessible sound from production duo The Trackmasters. Poke & (Red Hot Lover) Tone were known for creating tremendous production at the time for the likes of Biggie, Pudgee, Foxy Brown, LL Cool J, Soul For Real, and Kool G. Rap, by mixing their blend of boom-bap with melody and sampling older songs and layering different instruments and sounds that would appeal to a commercial audience, yet still keep the aesthetic of their core hip-hop base. This was apparent in other TM cuts such as the tremendous opener "The Message", the dramatic "Shootouts", the posse cut with his supergroup of AZ, Cormega (later Nature) and Foxy Brown "Affirmative Action", and "Watch Dem Niggas". These cuts all have a crisper and cleaner sound to them, but yet still keep the integrity of what the cuts were designed to be like. He doesn't forget everybody., however, as DJ Premier joins him by crafting the fantastic gun personifying "I Gave You Power" and fellow QB-mate, L.E.S. (who designed Illmatic's "Life's A Bitch") for the Jojo Hailey-assisted, "Black Girl Lost", and the dark "Suspect". Lyrically, Nas' pen game was more catered to being more vivid with a mafioso appeal which was becoming the fad at the time. Almost every cut was more about painting a mental picture in cinema fashion and the results were wonderful. With Illmatic, he was a young man writing and describing the unsettling conditions outside his 40 Side of Queensbridge project window to being a virtual head of a Black mob, almost similar to a version of Michael Courleone. What was a pleasant surprise was a collab with the almighty doctor himself, Dr. Dre, for the cut "Nas Is Coming", which was ironic considering the game was in the midst of the dreaded East Coast/West Coast beef so seeing a Cali legend with the next up for the throne in NY come together was welcomed. Other standouts such as the old school flavored "Take It In Blood", the Mobb Deep-assisted "Live Nigga Rap", and "Silent Murda" were impossible to overlook or ignore, as Nas showed he had arrived in force with this album. Was it Illmatic? Not even close, but that was also the point. Nas was, and is, about evolution, and with It Was Written, he was more than the "young city bandit". He was a don on his way to becoming a huge voice in hip-hop. After three million sold and counting to this day, It Was Written made a superstar out of him. Nas wasn't "coming", Nas was here!
2. The Lost Tapes
Production: L.E.S., Trackmasters, The Alchemist, Hill, D-Dot, Kanye West, Rockwilder, others
Guests: N/A
With so many unreleased goodies and cutting room floor cuts, it was a matter of time before Nas dropped a collection of those cuts to the masses. The result was The Lost Tapes, a compilation of cuts that were recorded during the I Am: The Autobiography and Stillmatic sessions. Cuts such as the outstanding "Fetus", the ode to his dad, "Poppa Was A Playa", "Blaze A 50", and the very vivid "Drunk By Myself" were originally a part of I Am: The Autobiography, while others such as the fantastic "Doorags", "No Idea's Original", and the Alchemist-crafted "My Way" were cuts that were on the cutting room floor for Stillmatic, but are nonetheless standout cuts that rank among some of the best he's ever delivered. The lone new cut on the album was the unbelievable "Purple", which has Nas speaking his mind on a variety of subjects while blazed up. Who can forget the stinging opening line: "I don't like the way P Diddy did Shyne with different lawyers". If these cuts were fresh and brand new cuts, this would be the next best thing to Illmatic we would hear to this day. The tracks are all Nas at a peak we wouldn't hear again until his Hit-Boy days consistently. Every single track on here was well sequenced, mastered, mixed, and ready to be bumped everywhere at any times. The leftovers make you wonder how much better the albums they were cut from would've been, but even as such, The Lost Tapes is a masterwork of a compilation that, within his discography, ranks only second to the GOAT of them all.
1. Illmatic
Production: L.E.S., DJ Premier, Large Professor, Q-Tip, Pete Rock
Guests: AZ, Q-Tip
What else is there to say that hasn't already been said? There have been books about it by Michael Eric Dyson, there's been a documentary about it, tribute remakes of it by the likes of Elzhi with his ELmatic album, and endless props from numerous emcees, critics, and insiders alike. To say Illmatic was a brilliant album in '94 was an understatement. In the spirit of Rakim Allah, himself, Nas was a poet of a different kind. A ghetto Langston Hughes that had a way with words that was deeply poetic, vivid, philosophical and street as hell all at the same time. Not to mention, his delivery was nasal, yet fluid and symmetrical with the production that was under him. Once we heard the then nineteen-year-old from Queensbridge BLISTER his now iconic guest spot on Main Source's "Live At The BBQ" (alongside Joe Fatal and fellow Queens native Akinyele aka Mr. "Put It In Your Mouth") and his almost just as potent spot on MC Serch's "Back To The Grill", the streets were waiting with tightly held breath upon the release. While massively bootlegged with even more tracks that were supposed to surface such as "Life Is Like A Dice Game" and "Deja Vu", we still got blessed nine of the most crisp and distinctive music to ever grace our ears. Lyrically, this was prodigious and unlike anything else among his contemporaries. From the onset over Preemo's chords on the chilling "NY State Of Mind" to the jazzy boom-bap of "The World Is Yours" to the incredible outlook on his youth within the streets of Queens "Memory Lane", and the ode to locked up homies, "One Love", this was lyrically perfect and at times god levels in terms of cadence, technical ability, and scholarly vivid storytelling in the manner in which he was spitting it. The production itself was raw, gritty, and fitting of early to mid-nineties NYC hip-hop: boom-bap mixed with occasional jazz stylings and clever usage of samples, primarily from Large Pro, L.E.S., and Pete Rock on their contributions. Understated, yet most definitely engaging, this was an entire knocker from start to finish. The genuine article is Illmatic, and it continues to stand on top of the Mt. Rushmore of hip-hop albums thirty years after its release. In a year that saw so many classics such as Ready To Die, The Diary, Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik, Stress: The Extinction Agenda, and Tical, Illmatic is THAT album and will continue to be for generations to come.
As we've seen here, Nas' discography, although without the occasional blemish, has been very impressive and influential. Whether it's his street journalist pessimism from Illmatic, his mob boss aesthetics of It Was Written, his ability to claim a throne that certain people felt he didn't deserve with Stillmatic, or cementing his elder statesman wisdom while having fun on the Magic & King's Disease series, Nasir Jones is a god among insects, while still being a rebel to AmeriKKKa. Later in 2024, we will FINALLY, after 30 years, have the LOOOOONG awaited album by Nas with DJ Premier on the boards and the one-twos, for what will likely be an album that will be as generational as most of the rest of this list, and then some. Could this be Illmatic 2???? We will see! Until next time!
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