Stillmatic

Feud with Jay-Z

Jay-Z had previously dissed Nas in his single "Takeover, taken from his September 2001 release, The Blueprint."^[4] On Stillmatic, Nas retaliated with the anticipated song, "Ether," a response to "Takeover" which insinuated that Jay-Z 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 the radio freestyle "Supa Ugly." ^[6]

Commercial performance

Released on December 18, 2001, the album was certified Platinum by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 16, 2002.^[8] In July 2008, the album sold 2,026,000 copies in the United States.^[3]

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[9]
The A.V. Club	favorable[10]
Blender	[11]
Los Angeles Times	[12]
NME	7/10[13]
PopMatters	favorable[14]
Rolling Stone	[5]
The Source	[15]
Stylus Magazine	A−[16]
The Village Voice	favorable[6]

Stillmatic received general acclaim from music critics, who hailed it a "stunning comeback". At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 69, based on 12 reviews.^[17] Despite finding its production "half-realised", Alex Needham of NME wrote that "lyrically, Nas is pretty much back on form".^[13] Blender's Alex Pappademas described the album as "a surprising return to form" and stated "Even if it’s a fluke, Stillmatic still feels like a ren-Nas-sance".^[11] Steve Jones of USA Today gave it three-and-a-half out of four stars and stated, "dis songs aside, Nas' strength has always been his incisive lyrical analyses of current events."^[18] In his review for The Village Voice, Selwyn Seyfu Hinds wrote "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".^[6]

In contrast, Rolling Stone magazine gave it four out of five stars, and stated "Striving to maintain street cred while reaching for pop success has left Nas vacillating clumsily on past projects, this record has little to no inconsistencies. One moment he casts himself as a gritty cat who feels most at home on a project bench, calling out neighborhood snakes, and ducking gunshots. The next, he's delivering verses over the Trackmasters' rinky-dink rendition of Tears for Fears".^[19] John Bush from Allmusic wrote "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".^[9] Brett Berliner from Stylus Magazine remarked "Stillmatic features the best rhymes from Nas since his debut, and possibly the best rhymes of the year, rivaled maybe only by Ghostface Killah". He however was unfavorable of the album's guests, and some of its production, and went on to comment "Stillmatic was billed as a recreation of Illmatic, where the only rhyming guest was the underrated AZ. However, 5 other guest rappers appear on the album, including Nas’ crew, the Bravehearts, and the mundane Millennium Thug.

Stillmatic also achieved a fair amount of acclaim from within the hip hop community, who viewed it as a comeback album. The Source magazine gave it '5 mics', a rating they reserve only for classic hip-hop albums.^[15] HipHopDx also gave it a maximum five rating, and wrote "Easily one of the best albums of the year, Stillmatic runs the gamut of street poetry to storytelling and bravado. This CD is filled with instant classics".^[20] Although panning several of the album's songs, Steve Juon from RapReviews gave it a 9 out of 10 rating and concluded "While no album may ever top his debut's brilliance, this one comes close enough to make even his most passionate haters happy to hear the raw essence of hip-hop revealed in all its true glory".^[21] Giving Stillmatic a three and-a-half out of five rating, Elizabeth Mendez Berry of Vibe was less favorable, calling it "infuriatingly inconsistent", but she went on to extol it as "an exercise in lyrical courage and musical might".^[22]

In The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rolling Stone journalist Chris Ryan gave the album three stars and called it "a return to form".^[5] Ryan wrote that it "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."^[5] In 2005, Chris Rock 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 eleven years earlier, where a guy just reclaimed his spot with some great records".^[23]