''Stillmatic'' is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American rapper

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

, released on December 18, 2001, by Ill Will and

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

. In contrast to his previous work's

gangsta rap Gangsta rap or gangster rap, initially called reality rap, is a subgenre of rap music that conveys the culture, values, and experiences of urban gangs and street hustlers, frequently discussing unpleasant realities of the world in general th ...

themes, the album contains socially conscious and philosophical themes similar to that of his 1994 debut '' Illmatic''. Nas' lyrics address topics such as ghetto life, American politics, and his

feud A feud , also known in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, private war, or mob war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially family, families or clans. Feuds begin ...

with rapper

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American Rapping, rapper, businessman, and record executive. Rooted in East Coast hip-hop, he was named Billboard and Vibe's 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time, the ...

. ''Stillmatic'' was a commercial and critical success and helped re-establish Nas' career, following a period of critical disappointment with his previous album '' Nastradamus'' (released in 1999). It debuted at number 8 on the US ''Billboard'' 200 and sold over 342,600 in its first week of sales, eventually going on to sell over 2,026,000 copies in the United States."More Than Words"
''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' (

Nielsen Business Media Nielsen Holdings plc (or Nielsen) is an American media audience measurement firm. Nielsen operates in over 100 countries and employs approximately 15,000 people worldwide. For most of its history, the company was known for its two subsidiarie ...

) 120 (27): 33. Retrieved 2011-08-12. It has been certified Platinum by

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA).

Background

Though he had gained critical acclaim with his classic debut album '' Illmatic'' in 1994, Nas' image had been quickly deteriorating in the hip-hop community with his change of theme, from the philosophical topics of ''Illmatic'' to the

and commercialized sound that became the focus of his later albums.Birchmeier, Jason. Biography: Nas Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-11-21. While his second album, '' It Was Written'' received positive reviews and introduced him to a greater audience, the follow-ups '' I Am...'' and '' Nastradamus'' were considered mediocre in comparison by critics. The release of ''Stillmatic'' was an attempt by Nas to reestablish his credibility in the hip-hop community, with the title signifying his intentions to continue where ''Illmatic'' left off.

Feud with Jay-Z

Jay-Z had previously dissed Nas in his song "

Takeover In business, a takeover is the purchase of one company (the ''target'') by another (the ''acquirer'' or ''bidder''). In the UK, the term refers to the acquisition of a public company whose shares are publicly listed, in contrast to the acquisi ...

", taken from his September 2001 release, '' The Blueprint.'' On ''Stillmatic'', Nas retaliated with the anticipated song, "

Ether In organic chemistry, ethers are a class of compounds that contain an ether group, a single oxygen atom bonded to two separate carbon atoms, each part of an organyl group (e.g., alkyl or aryl). They have the general formula , where R and R� ...

," a response to "Takeover" which insinuated that

had stolen lyrics from The Notorious B.I.G. several times, that he had sold out, and that he was a misogynist, among other things. Several hip-hop aficionados believe Nas won the feud based on this track, which many felt was much more vicious and ruthless than "Takeover", although this is still a subject of debate within hip-hop circles. Jay-Z would respond with "People Talkin", "Don't You Know", "Blueprint 2" from '' The Blueprint 2: The Gift & the Curse'' and the radio freestyle "Supa Ugly."Hinds, Selwyn Seyfu
Review: ''Stillmatic''
''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

''. Retrieved on 2009-11-21.

Singles

The first single from ''Stillmatic'' was " Rule" featuring R&B singer Amerie. It was not heavily promoted but still managed to reach number 67 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. Billboard Singles: ''Stillmatic'' Allmusic. Retrieved on 2009-11-22. It did not receive a video and was issued on compact disc, so many are unaware that it was a single. " Got Ur Self a Gun" was believed to have been the first single from ''Stillmatic''. "Got Ur Self a Gun", produced by

Megahertz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base ...

, contains a sample from the theme song to the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

crime drama Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

''. The third single was " One Mic", which received acclaim for its content and video.

Critical reception

''Stillmatic'' was met with generally positive reviews. At

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In colloquial, ordinary language, an average is a single number or value that best represents a set of data. The type of average taken as most typically representative of a list of numbers is the arithmetic mean the sum of the numbers divided by ...

score of 69, based on 12 reviews. ''

The Source The Source may refer to: Film and television * ''The Source'' (1918 film), 1918 American drama directed by George Melford * ''The Source'' (1999 film), a 1999 documentary film about the Beat generation * ''The Source'' (2002 film), a 2002 scienc ...

'' awarded the album a perfect " five-mic" rating, and ''

Blender A blender (sometimes called a mixer (from Latin ''mixus, the PPP of miscere eng. to Mix)'' or liquidiser in British English) is a kitchen and laboratory appliance used to mix, crush, purée or emulsify food and other substances. A stationary ...

'' Alex Pappademas praised it as "a surprising return to form". Reviewing for ''

'', Selwyn Seyfu Hinds said: "''Stillmatic'' isn't merely a reunion or rehash of '' Illmatic'' themes. The Nas on this record has grown, with the emotional expansion such maturation suggests. For one, he has never before drawn upon his anger, with a burning focus and controlled intensity that underscores nearly every song. Some of it can surely be ascribed to the Jay-Z battle, but more seems due to the deeper, internal struggle Nas has waged against the fallout from his early, precocious success". Steve Jones of ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' stated, "diss songs aside, Nas' strength has always been his incisive lyrical analyses of current events." John Bush from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

said: "Dropping many of the mainstream hooks and featured performers in order to focus his rapping, Nas proves he's still a world-class rhymer, but he does sound out of touch in the process of defending his honor. Despite the many highlights, a few of the tracks just end up weighing him down". Elizabeth Mendez Berry of ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'' called it "infuriatingly inconsistent" but also "an exercise in lyrical courage and musical might". Some reviewers were more critical. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' magazine's Kathryn McGuire said: "Striving to maintain street cred while reaching for pop success has left Nas vacillating clumsily on past projects, and this record is riddled with similar inconsistencies. One moment he casts himself as a gritty cat who feels most at home on a project bench, calling out neighborhood snakes ('Destroy and Rebuild') and ducking gunshots ('One Mic'). The next, he's delivering dumbed-down verses over the Track Masters' rinky-dink rendition of Tears for Fears' 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World.'" In ''The Village Voice'' "Consumer Guide",

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

found the release unworthy of a review and instead relegated it to a listing of ungraded "duds" in the column. Retrospective appraisals have been relatively positive. In ''

The New Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004), Chris Ryan wrote that ''Stillmatic'' "finds Nas sticking with what works, creative storyraps and trenchant social commentary. He still errs when he makes attempts at club tracks, but the album is largely a success." Writing in the ''

Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

'',

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British music writer. He founded and was the editor-in-chief of ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. Along with the ten-volume encyclopedia, Larkin also wrote the book ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'', and edited th ...

commended Nas for "rebuilding his creative and commercial standing" in the early 2000s with ''Stillmatic''. In 2005,

Chris Rock Christopher Julius Rock (born February 7, 1965) is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s in which he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and obse ...

compiled a list of his Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums of all time, to which he ranked ''Stillmatic'' at number 20, commenting "It's like ''

Mama Said Knock You Out ''Mama Said Knock You Out'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper LL Cool J. It was produced mostly by Marley Marl and recorded at his "House of Hits" home studio in Chestnut Ridge and at Chung King House of Metal in New York City. Aft ...

'' eleven years earlier, where a guy just reclaimed his spot with some great records".

Track listing

Notes * "Got Ur Self a Gun" was later retitled "Got Ur Self A..." on the clean version of the album. * The track "Braveheart Party", written by Nasir Jones and Jean-Claude Olivier and produced by

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American rapper and record producer. Born and raised in the Bronx borough of New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ in 1994. At the age ...

, was removed from later pressings of ''Stillmatic'' at Mary J. Blige's request.Reid, Shaheem
"Mary J. Blige Track On Nas' Stillmatic To Be Cut For 'Personal Reasons'"
MTV.com. January 25, 2002. Retrieved August 11, 2008. * The Japanese release of ''Stillmatic'' features three additional tracks: "No Idea's Original", "Everybody's Crazy" and "Black Zombies". Each can also be found on '' The Lost Tapes'', a compilation album that was released in 2002. * A limited edition version of ''Stillmatic'' contains a bonus disc with snippets from five songs on '' The Lost Tapes''. Samples * "Stillmatic (The Intro)" contains a sample from "Let Me Be Your Angel" by

Stacy Lattisaw Stacy Lattisaw Jackson (née Lattisaw; born November 25, 1966) is an American R&B singer from Washington, D.C., United States. Career When she was 11 years old, singer/songwriter Frederick Knight attempted to sign Lattisaw to his production ...

. * "

" contains dialogue from "Fuck Friendz" by

2Pac Tupac Amaru Shakur (; born Lesane Parish Crooks; June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known by his stage names 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper and actor, regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all tim ...

, and gunshot samples from "Knuckleheadz" by

Raekwon Corey Woods (born January 12, 1970), better known by his stage name Raekwon ( ), is an American rapper. He rose to prominence as a founding member of the hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan, which achieved mainstream success following the release of the ...

and " Who Shot Ya?" by The Notorious B.I.G. * " Got Ur Self a Gun" contains a sample from " Woke Up This Morning" by

Alabama 3 Alabama 3 are a British musical group founded in Brixton, Brixton, London, in 1995. Their track "Woke Up This Morning" was used for the opening credits of the TV series ''The Sopranos''. In the United States, the band is known as A3, to avoid ...

. * "You're Da Man" contains a sample from " Sugar Man" by Sixto Diaz Rodriguez (sometimes misattributed to DJ David Holmes), "Am Fenster" by the German band City, and "Theme from Exodus" by

Pat Boone Patrick Charles Eugene Boone (born June 1, 1934) is an American singer, songwriter, actor, author, television personality, radio host and philanthropist. He sold nearly 50 million records, had 38 Top 40 hits, and has acted in many films. Boone ...

& Ernest Gold. * "Rewind" contains a sample from "It's Yours" by

T La Rock Terrence Ronnie Keaton known by the stage name T La Rock, (born September 16, 1961) is an American old school hip hop, old-school emcee best known for his collaboration with Def Jam Recordings co-founder Rick Rubin and the 1984 in music, 1984 Si ...

, "Monkey Island" by

The J. Geils Band The J. Geils Band (formerly known as The J. Geils Blues Band) was an American rock band formed in 1967, in Worcester, Massachusetts, under the leadership of guitarist John "J." Geils. The original band members included vocalist Peter Wolf, h ...

, and "I'm Not Rough" by The J. Geils Band. * " One Mic" contains a sample from "

In the Air Tonight "In the Air Tonight" is the debut solo single by English drummer and singer-songwriter Phil Collins. It was released as the lead single from Collins's debut solo album, ''Face Value (album), Face Value'', in January 1981. It was selected as the s ...

" by

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and later became the lead singer of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis and had a successful solo career, ac ...

, and " I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby" by

Barry White Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American singer and songwriter. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and ...

. * "2nd Childhood" contains a sample from "Born to Love" by

Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson ( ; born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the hit singles " Tonight, I Celebrate My Love", "You're Looking Like ...

Roberta Flack Roberta Cleopatra Flack (February 10, 1937 – February 24, 2025) was an American singer and pianist known for her emotive, genre-blending ballads that spanned R&B, jazz, Folk music, folk, and pop and contributed to the birth of the quiet storm ...

, "Da Bridge 2001" by Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest, and "N.Y. State of Mind Pt. II" by Nas. * "Destroy & Rebuild" contains an

interpolation In the mathematics, mathematical field of numerical analysis, interpolation is a type of estimation, a method of constructing (finding) new data points based on the range of a discrete set of known data points. In engineering and science, one ...

from " The Bridge is Over" by

Boogie Down Productions Boogie Down Productions (BDP) was an American hip-hop group formed in the Bronx, New York City, in 1986. It originally consisted of KRS-One, D-Nice, and DJ Scott La Rock. DJ Scott La Rock was murdered on August 27, 1987, five months after the ...

. * "The Flyest" contains a sample from "Night Moves" by Frank McDonald and Chris Rae, and "Child of Tomorrow" by Badder Than Evil. * " Rule" contains an interpolation from " Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by

Tears for Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath in 1981 by Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the synth-pop bands o ...

. * "Every Ghetto" contains a sample from "Main Title" (''The Eiger Sanction'') by

John Williams John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932)Nylund, Rob (November 15, 2022)Classic Connection review, ''WBOI'' ("For the second time this year, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic honored American composer, conductor, and arranger John Williams, who w ...

Personnel

* Pablo Arraya – assistant engineer * AZ – performer * Baby Paul – producer, instrumentation *

Mary J. Blige Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, actress, and entrepreneur. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Qu ...

– performer * Osie Bowe – engineer * Ron Browz – producer * Keon Bryce – vocals (background) * Kevin Crouse – engineer, mixing * Alex Dixon – assistant engineer *

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He has been frequently lauded as one of hip hop's greatest producers by publications such as '' ...

– producer, mixing * Chris Feldman – art direction, design * Steve Fisher – assistant engineer * Tameka Foster – stylist * Chris Gehringer – mastering * Bryan Golder – engineer * Jason Goldstein – mixing * Paul Gregory – assistant engineer * Destiny Jones – executive producer * Will Kennedy – imaging *

Large Professor William Paul Mitchell (born March 21, 1972), better known by the stage name of Large Professor (also Extra P. and Large Pro), is an American rapper and music producer. Based in New York City, he is known as a founding member of the underground ...

– producer *

– performer, producer * Alex Ndione – assistant engineer * David A. Belgrave – Marketing * Jake Ninan – assistant engineer * James Porte – engineer * Ismel Ramos – assistant engineer *

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is an American record producer. He is most known for producing material for close associates Nas, Amy Winehouse, and Jazmine Sullivan, but has also produced for other mainstream acts including Alicia Key ...

– organ, bass, guitar, percussion, drums, producer, Fender rhodes * Mike "Wrekka" Risko – producer, musician * Eddie Sancho – mixing *

Chucky Thompson Carl Edward Thompson Jr. (July 12, 1968 – August 9, 2021) was an American record producer, best known for his work with Sean Combs' Bad Boy Records. Biography Thompson was born in Washington, D.C., in 1968. He was a member of Bad Boy Entertai ...

– producer * Sacha Waldman – photography

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Notes

External links

*
Stillmatic
' at

Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...

Background on 5 mic rating
— Straight from the Source {{Authority control 2001 albums Albums produced by Da Beatminerz Albums produced by DJ Premier Albums produced by L.E.S. (record producer) Albums produced by Large Professor Albums produced by Ron Browz Albums produced by Salaam Remi Albums produced by Trackmasters Columbia Records albums Nas albums Sequel albums Albums produced by Megahertz (record producer)