I ordered a CD, got the CD in the mail it had a skip. Contacted customer service asking for a replacement. Sent the CD I received back, got the replacement which had another skip. This time I asked for a refund and was given one right away.

If your a Nas fan, you need to get the CD that started it all! Favorite tracks: life's a bitch and ain't hard to tell but then again, the whole cd is what it is and should be! A REALLY GOOD ALBUM!

New York MC Nas' debut album Illmatic is often hailed by critics as well as fans as one of the best hip hop albums of all time for a reason. In that way, it strikes a chord with the critics because little to nothing in mainstream rap at the time was as intelligent or well produced, and it garnered as many fans as it did because it was probably the catchiest, most smooth listen the hip hop industry had ever heard. Both sides of the coin play themselves out equally importantly. The album is loaded with catchy hooks, loops and beats, which are bolstered by the now legendary foursome of rap producers DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, and Q-Tip. They treat the samples with care, making most of the album sound simultaneously pure and nostalgic (as the cover suggests) with their hazy jazz productions. The backbeats range from dark compositions (N.Y. State of Mind, Represent) to lighter jazz pieces (Life's a Bitch, Memory Lane), and both modes work effectively. The performance of these producers alone could have been enough to make this album a classic, but Nas remains the centerpiece of the album, with a smooth flow and consistently contemplative lyrics throughout. He mostly raps about what it is like to live in the ghetto, but he does it with sophistication and care, and even when he indulges in self promotion, the results are cool and composed, as opposed to the outwardly ridiculous trash talking of most gangster rap. Even on the rare occasions that the beats slip up short of excellence (One Time 4 Your Mind), Nas keeps his words and delivery solid enough to keep each song solid. But what makes the album particularly surprising is how equally matched the DJs are with the MC. Each song has at least a few memorable hooks, beats, instrumentations, or details, and several instantly quotable rhymes. Leaving the album at a scant forty minutes with no more than ten songs was a smart move too; the brevity leaves the listener that much more fixated on what is there, and thirsting for more. Latter efforts would not be as popular or influential, but at least for the span of Illmatic the world belongs to Nas.

illmatic is easily one of the best hip-hop albums ever recorded, all ten songs are classic. if you don't have it, get it - you'll be glad you did.

Nas' Illmatic belongs on any short list of the best albums in hip hop history. I own alot of old school jazz albums as well and I would put Illmatic along with the works of guys like Miles Davis and John Coltrane. Those guys created magic with their horns..Nas did it with his lyrics.

I remember when this ablum came out in Spring of 1994. I was a 20 year old sophomore at UCLA and everybody had been anticipating this album for a long long time. Nas had already built up a considerable buzz on the streets for his classic verse on Main Source's "Live at the BBQ" as well as his single "Halftime" which had been released in 1992.

Remember that this was in the early 1990's..pre internet so it wasn't as easy as it is now to hear up and coming artists. There were only a few mix tapes going around back then..Ron G's were the best...but for the most part all we had heard of Nas were his verse on "BBQ" and "Halftime"

The expectations for his solo joint were sky high and the amazing thing was that he blew then out of the water. This was one of those albums that I loved the first time I played it and I haven't stopped playing it since.

Me and my friends would spend many hours back in college in 1994 puffing and listening to this record. I had never heard a lyricists who was so smooth yet so complex. A lyricist who had narrative skills to the point where he could describe every little detail of his environment while in the midst of telling a story.

My favorite tracks at first were "NY State of Mind" , "Life's a Bitch" and "one Love"

Now my favorite tracks are "The World is Yours", "represent" and "It Ain't Hard to Tell"

Out of 10 tracks, 9 are stone cold hip hop classics.

No filler, no skits...just straight up beats and rhymes. Classic Hip Hop

Oh yeah, and my favorite verse in hip hop

"It ain't hard to tell, I excel, then prevail
The mic is contacted, I attract clientele
My mic check is life or death, breathin a sniper's breath
I exhale the yellow smoke of buddha through righteous steps
Deep like The Shinin', sparkle like a diamond
Sneak a uzi on the island in my army jacket linin
Hit the Earth like a comet, invasion
Nas is like the Afrocentric Asian, half-man, half-amazin
Cause in my physical, I can express through song
Delete stress like Motrin, then extend strong
I drank Moet with Medusa, give her shotguns in hell
From the spliff that I lift and inhale, it ain't hard to tell"

And Wayne calls himself the "greatest rapper alive"