Nas

Many years after its release, Illmatic still remains a gold standard hip hop album and one of the most accomplished debuts ever recorded. It's the multi-syllabic internal rhymes of Nas, the tales he tells of life in the Queensbrudge suburbs of New York and the lexicon he uses which makes it resonate through the ages. Of course, the production (taken care fo by Bas as well as DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock and Q-Tip) and wealth of samples also elevates each tune to a higher plane that few have ever matched since. Including Nas himself, frankly. The album is widely regarded as one of greatest and most influential hip hop albums of all time, so don't sleep on this latest vinyl issue.