Nas’ classic LP turns 19 today. Bet you didn’t know Average White Band had a hand in it. As we discuss rappers who can be categorized as the greatest of all time, or best alive, or best lyricist, or ...

The Queens MC's groundbreaking debut turns 30 today. By Angel Diaz Today marks the 30th anniversary of the consensus best album in rap history. Illmatic, meaning “the science of everything ill,” was a ...

In a chandeliered concert hall flooded with panning, Crayola-colored lights and the beautiful noise of 90s hip-hop swelling in the space around me, I fell back in love with the music that raised my ...

Nasir Jones is a storyteller. He makes that clear on “Illmatic,” an introspective and poetic album that set the foundation for rap music. With a smooth flow and contemplative lyrics over jazz-heavy ...

No modern American music genre reflects its environment better than hip hop; unsurprisingly, documentaries about its history have proliferated over the years. In some cases, a well-honed treatment of ...

Few debut albums of the past 20 years are as assured or as influential as Nas‘ “Illmatic,” a diamond-bullet of a record that helped kick off hip-hop’s second golden era and still arguably stands as ...