“New York. A perfect representation of life as a teenager in Queens. The storytelling on this album will put you in ‘94 Nas’s shoes. Vivid imagery with slick flows. Listen to any rap album before this release and you’ll learn how far ahead of the game Nas’s groove is. Nobody came close. I’m not even sure who could’ve influenced his style. He claims Slick Rick but his flow is miles ahead of him. DJ Premier’s beats all over this project are incredible. Classic sampling. If you’re not used to listening to 90’s hip hop albums, it may come across as muddy. I can see this sounding dated to some people. Please stick with it and appreciate the clever bars and genius production.”
““Life’s a bitch and then you die, that’s why we get high cuz’ you never know when you’re gonna go”. This album carries harsh messages regarding reality which isn’t unusual from Nas, in fact, I’d go as far to say that he is my favourite rapper because of his versatile lyrics that come across graceful. This is my favourite rap album of all time, and I’m sure that wouldn’t be easy to disagree with. ALSO. The sampling behind this album is phenomenal, jazz was always bound to work with rap from an early age, this proves it.”
“Probably the perfect rap album for a debut album too which is insane. I think there’s definitely better albums than this but for rapping alone this clears everything. The writing from Nas is amazing on this album and the way he flows effortlessly over that old school New York, boom bap beat is perfect. Not much more to say, just an incredible album. Top songs off the album are “N.Y. State Of Mind” “The World Is Yours” “Halftime” “Represent” “One Love” ft Q-Tip “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da park)””
“I’m not even a huge fan of old school hiphop but this is easily a 10/10… there’s like 3 contenders for top 100 songs oat. If you haven’t listened to the world is yours yet then WHAT ARE YOU DOING. Actually just listen to the whole album it’s only like 10 tracks.”
“true rap. nas has always been critically acclaimed for his rapping ability and compared to others like biggie and tupac etc, but this album clearly shows why he stands out among other rappers lyrically. ”
“shout out to my dad for recommending me this album years ago”
