The mastermind of a lyricist has never been questioned by his peers when they are asked about God's son. The classic albums have put God’s son in the top five lyrical artists in the hip-hop industry and God’s son has never failed to deliver the promise of being that. Nas or Nasty or Nastradamus has changed the game in many ways and every audience that listens to hip-hop knows that Nas has brought the classics that have contributed to the hip hop movement. 

Illmatic was considered as an underground album and the reception of the commercial waves was not noticeable. The underground hip-hop listeners at that time embraced the album and in the New York project housing communities, the album was welcomed. Songs such as ‘N.Y. State of Mind’ and ‘The World is Yours’ are few that reflected the hood mindsets and the way of living, and Nas had listeners that were going through the same struggles which he reflected deeply about the ‘grime’ and crime realities when it came to living in broken neighbourhoods around the world fuelled with poverty and crimes. The World is Yours brought a sense of believing that the world can be brought if individuals strive for what they want. 

Illmatic became an album for the street but illmatic had a poetic and rhythmic approach which placed Nas in the lyrical limelight. The commercial waves did not appreciate the lyrical content but the persistent of Nas was relentless and Nas wanted to capture the commercial limelight by releasing ‘It Was Written’ with songs such as ‘Street Dreams’ and ‘If I Ruled the World’ which had the commercial sounds but at the same time, it had the lyrical prowess that Nas possessed. Nas cemented his status in the lyrical and commercial stances from then where he released four projects which made Nas a commercial household name. Nas worked with successful producers in the industry to perfect his workflow and create production segments that connected with the masses.  

The term ‘a living legend’ has been used loosely by different generations but Nas is undoubtedly a living legend and some. In 1994, when Nas hit the waves, we have seen how he has transformed the movement of the industry from his infamous beef with Jay-Z to becoming a businessman to instil creativity in his lyrics. The strong and boldness of Nas is why he is a living legend and has achieved GOAT status. Nas claimed hip-hop was dead and that time, hip-hop was dead as the new waves weren’t being creative with their lyrics and instrumental had the same rhythmic feeling -this is a move that a legend makes. Nas gave the listeners an album which shows how hip-hop production is supposed to be with samples from Nat King Cole and productions from Kanye West and Dr. Dre. Although new hip-hop artists did not like the title of his album; Nas made the statement and moved on with a bold legendary statement. 

Nas has set a benchmark that will be very difficult for other artists to meet because the creativity is unreal and the composition of connecting rhymes to stories is what has Nas become a street poet. Nearly four decades in the game, Nas is still releasing joints with legendary marks all over them. The last three albums ‘King’s Diseases’, King’s Diseases II and Magic are some of Nas’ best work in the last decade as the new hip-hop productions with Hit Maker imprints have enhanced his status in the music Hall of Fame. Nas has polished his lyrics to match his status in society where he is still representing his neighbourhood but at the same time, talking about being a businessman and general topics in society. The storytelling is still present and the composition is still evident; the influence is still graceful where these joints still want to bump your head with classic drum and percussion beats. Is Nas in my personal top three? Yes, Nas might climb to the first spot if Nas carries on dropping joints like he has done in the last three years.