23. Nas - Untitled
Most definitely Nas’s best since Illmatic. The album starts with a few stellar radio-friendly tracks (see “Hero” above). But all of the sudden “America” comes and the album gets real. From then on, it’s all politics, race, and society. The beats in this part are generally simple, letting the lyrics be the star. A true return to form for Nas, that despite the controversy surrounding it (its original title was Nigger), has been largely ignored. A breath of fresh air in a real shitty year for hip-hop.
