“Unlike other MCs who rose to prominence in the early 90s, Nasir Jones (aka Nas) had the artistic misfortune to survive that decade. It may be a grotesque thing to say, but if Nas had fallen after releasing a slew of classic singles and his startling debut *Illmatic*, he'd be every bit as revered as Biggie, 2Pac, Big Pun and Big L. Instead, Nas has broken our hearts with a series of decent-to-medio”
