Stillmatic - Definition and Overview

Stillmatic is a rap album by Nas. It was released in December of 2001 and was Nas' 5th album, following 1999's I Am ... The Autobiography and Nastradamus.

Stillmatic, Nas' nod of self-recognition to his critically-acclaimed 1994 debut album, Illmatic, was one of the most highly anticipated albums of the year, primarily due to the fallout from Nas' heated battle with rival Jay-Z; Jay-Z had previously insulted Nas in his single "Takeover", taken from his acclaimed September 2001 release, The Blueprint. On Stillmatic, Nas immediately retaliated with "Ether", a response to "Takeover" that labeled Jay-Z as both a sell-out artist and hypocrite.

While Stillmatic was both critically and commercially hailed as Nas' comeback album after two years of inactivity and in light of the attacks made by Jay-Z, the album failed to match the massive sales of The Blueprint. Nas followed Stillmatic in 2002 with the album God's Son.

Track listing

1. "Stillmatic (Intro)"
2. "Ether"
3. "Got Ur Self A ..."
4. "Smokin'"
5. "You're da Man"
6. "Rewind"
7. "One Mic"
8. "2nd Childhood"
9. "Destroy and Rebuild"
10. "The Flyest"
11. "Rule"
12. "My Country"
13. "What Goes Around"
14. "Every Ghetto"