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Billboard Ranks Nas’ Illmatic As G.O.A.T. Album

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Billboard Ranks Nas’ Illmatic As G.O.A.T. Album

Billboard took on the massive task of trying to rank the 100 greatest hip hop albums.

The long tenured media outlet has been known for its controversial lists in the past and have taken aim at the world of hip hop. Nas’ Illmatic topped the list of albums which included a top ten of Slick Rick, Jay-Z, Eric B. & Rakim, Snoop Dogg, Tupac Shakur, Biggie Smalls, Outkast, Lauryn Hill, and Dr. Dre.

The team that compiled the list stated, “Illmatic is one of the rare albums that works as a time capsule and a promise for the future.” In contrast Lil Baby’s “My Turn” album received the vaunted 100th spot.

ILLMATIC’S IMPACT

The teenage phenom from Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, Queens, had already made waves in 1991 with a guest feature on Main Source’s song “Live at the Barbeque.” He sounded like a modern version of Rakim and Kool G Rap, and his verse was regarded as a mythical treasure, akin to the Lost Scrolls. Rapping about the time he “almost went to hell for snuffing Jesus,” his Queens OG Large Professor and his new manager MC Serch sought a record deal and gathered top producers to create what would become the perfect rap album. Nas was seen as the Second Coming, the Chosen One, with Large Professor, DJ Premier, L.E.S., Pete Rock, and Q-Tip as the wise men following the North Star in search of the true and living god emcee.

Illmatic’s release initially went unnoticed by the mainstream. There were no major release parties covered by MTV or VH1, no cover articles in Rolling Stone, or splashy features in The New York Times, Nas’ hometown paper. It sold just a few thousand copies in its first week and didn’t achieve platinum status until 2001, years after his sophomore effort, It Was Written (1996), had done so.

TRUE HIP HOP CLASSIC

However, in music circles, praise for Illmatic arrived almost instantly. It secured one of Source’s elusive “5-mic” ratings, designated for instant “hip-hop classics.” Over the decades, it has steadily accumulated accolades. Illmatic ranks high on many all-time greatest albums lists (in any genre) and, in 2021, became the first hip-hop album inducted into the Library of Congress.

These acknowledgments tell only part of the story, as its informal influence is far greater. Illmatic is so highly regarded that its title is now used to describe a musician’s defining opus. One might ask, “Is Mama’s Gun Erykah Badu’s Illmatic?” Its importance even transcends music: the album’s iconic cover—featuring Nasir Jones as a child with a photo of the Queensbridge Houses in the background—has inspired visual artists.

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