Nas Album Release + 18 Years Since Illmatic * Jay-Z 16years Since Illmatic

Nas’ 10 th studio album Life Is Good is in stores today after his release party last night at Bagatelle in New York City. Fellow Hip-Hop artists in attendance celebrating Nas’ new album were Jay-Z, Swizz Beatz, Busta Rhymes, Jermaine Dupri, and music was provided by Q-Tip. Here a shot of Jay-Z and Nas celebrating during the release party. The above picture is great not only considering Nas and Jay’s past combustible history, but also for the fact they’ve entered uncharted territory for Hip-Hop as two emcees two decades deep that have maintained relevance and high skill levels. As they continue releasing albums, especially of the quality Nas just dropped, it’s becoming highly difficult to rank any of their peers or predecessors above them. Just consider for a second that Illmatic came out 18 years ago and Reasonable Doubt 16 years ago. Then reflect on how many trends and rappers have come and gone since then. The majority of our greatest emcees and groups are pretty much done as far as being at a high level by their third or fourth project. It’s been an amazing run for both and hopefully a signal that future older emcees will let their music mature with their age and life experiences.

By Devere Moore