This list is concerned with the lyrics, and not the beats, although all the beats happen to be great.

Also, it's kinda long, so it doesn't matter if you skip the song reviews, but at least read the bit at the bottom before responding. Here goes:

10. PURPLE - This song is enveloped by seemingly random/trivial lines at the begginning and end, but in the middle is Nas at his most introspective. It's like he started writing but his train of thought was hijacked by self-doubt. The second verse attacks his own Scarface persona from NY State of Mind, and he stresses his new state of mind is "purple." When he raps

Somebody tell these shorties reach for the stars
Instead they tell 'em how to reach through the bars

he admits he once exerted a wrongful influence over young listeners. Definitely one of Nas' best, with potent images and a far more subtle use of rhyme/assonance than usual.

9. NY STATE OF MIND PT 2 - "Neighbors, look at every bag you bring through your doors" like an airport. Except no one is leaving. The first verse is observations about social problems, ending with details of his crew's diminishing numbers, like a countdown. Verse two is like we've arrived in Nas world, seeing through his eyes, and seeing how his own actions are the cause of the problems observed in verse one.

8. POPPA WAS A PLAYER - If gotdamn Dear Mamma can make the Source's top ten tracks of all time, then this has a place in Nas's personal top ten. It's the subtle things that count - how his mother's shouting is described as "barking" in the first verse, and then by the 3rd verse she's forgotten about. How he excuses his father's lies as "smooth talk," refusing to say a bad word. Then the twist of how he doesn't have bad feelings towards his father, and how his father made him the man he is (with all the flaws that might entail).

7. ONE MIC - Each verse starts out meditative ("writing names on my hollow tips") then moves into a violent stage ("niggaz roll up, shootin from wheelchairs") getting more intense until the militant mission statement stage ("this is what Nas is about, the time is now!"), except for the last verse where the format reverses. His voice gets louder/angrier accordingly, and all the time the flow of the words expands and keeps pace. If you're going to do those angry, me vs. the world raps this is how to do it... except you'll be copying Nas.

6. DEJA VU - You may not have heard this one, but if you did, you'd recognise the first verse from Verbal Intercourse. There's two additional verses, both in the same league as the first. What else do I have to say? The song seems to trace a dissent into the complete materialism of the last verse, part explains it, part condones it. Along with "from the womb to the tomb" there's more good lines like "miracles never leave the churches" and "a mask and a nine I think will make my problems sink/ down a canal similar to how we bling."

5. 2nd CHILDHOOD - It's interesting how Nas shrouds the picture of his childhood with names of people so we never get any real information, but when he turns to the two other cases of someone reliving their childhood, he describes things clearly and the negative side of things is far more apparent. The characters are unaware of their own problems. Also, there's something I find profoundly sad about people who never keep the same friends because they can't grow up.

4. DOO RAGS - This is basically a better version of Memory Lane. The mood as far more nostalgic, the lines far more insightful ("when I wondered if I was here for the cause or because"). There's something about innocence lost (when our blackness started disintegratin/'til awareness started penetratin), and about how he doesn't dwell too much on the thoughts of each verse, but rounds it all up with "but now them shorty's here now, so..." For once Nas's flow is equal to what he had on Illmatic, and the rhymes etc. in this are off the hook. Also, probably his best chorus.

3. UNDYING LOVE - Simply incredibly storytelling. That image of the ceiling fan spinning slower and slower until it stops, and at the same time Nas's mind slowing down until he sees his wife's bedroom and freezes. It avoids being cheesy, and makes the unspoken point of how his friend got caught up in his own revenge scheme.

2. NAS IS LIKE - In case you haven't noticed, Nas is obsessed with cycles. Ever since "I lay puzzle as I back track to earlier time" Nas has been slipping "it's like a cycle" or something similar into loads of his songs. The second verse of Nas is Like takes it to extremes: from car wheels, to watches, to the stockmarket, to history itself. Balance is also important in this song: baby born/man murdered; hustlers/players; happiness/misery; heaven/hell. Then there's a series of progressions from verse to verse: gunshots-bulletproof glass-"bustin heat through your windows;" also "I spent time in the game, kept my mind on fame" to "It's a dirty game, is any man worthy of fame?" And then the fantastic 3rd verse (if nothing else, it's a Nas rendition of What by Tribe). What is Nas like? Life itself? Can't say, but notice how the third verse lines alude to things he's discussed earlier in the lyric.

1. ONE LOVE - This is a masterpiece. As a story, it masterfully builds up towards the last verse. Think how you feel like you know the person he's writing to without hearing him speak, and how you can imagine what his wife is like from just a few words. Think about how "I even got a mask and gloves to bust slugs" leaves an ominous mood. Think about details like the guy using the gun he was "shot last year" with. When the third verse arrives there's an instant change to a more philosophical tone, like someone delaying the delivery of bad news. Then there's that unforgettable kid ("only 12 trying to tell me he liked my style"), Nas flees the country, and we're left to wonder if the advice he gave the kid was healthy, and if the song was really about Nas and not the guy he was writing to. There's also touching notes like how he says "put half a hundred in your convesary" and not "i gave ya 50 bucks" and how Nas trusts his friend with possibly incriminating info. Lastly, most of Illmatic is unfocused, but the letter format allows Nas to stay on track while he's on top of his rhyming abilities and flow.


Right. Well you might be wondering why there's only 1 song from Illmatic on that list. The reason is that the lyrics on most of Illmatic are abstract, rambling, aimless... Nas mixes battle rhymes in with street knowledge and as a result none of the songs are really "about" anything (and I'm not considering the brag-rap/battle tracks, because in general they're kinda vacuous of insight). Even worse, you can tell Nas is just sticking together slick rhymes - some of the NY State... lines were originally from another song called Villain. Since making this list, my opinion of Illmatic has lessened. I also noticed that It Was Written... is pretty much complete garbage. Even I Gave You Power doesn't have that much real content to it. Rewind is better... it nearly made the list. I also noticed that for God's Son he's on some annoying Eminemish autobiographical shit.

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Why do you choose to mimic these wack MCs?
Why do you choose to listen to R&B?

"There are obviously many things which we do not understand, and may never be able to." Leela

*puts emceeing in a box*