Nas burst right out of the box with a classic: his 1994 Columbia debut, which teamed him with Q-Tip, DJ Premier, Large Professor and Pete Rock. The absolutely killer beats they contributed back Nas’s swaggering, street-tough rhymes; this album was the epicenter of NYC rap in ’94 and it sounds every bit as raw and powerful today: “N.Y. State of Mind,” “Halftime,” “It Ain’t Hard to Tell,” “Represent,” “One Time 4 Your Mind,” “One Love,” “Life’s a Bitch” and more.
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