Stillmatic is the fifth studio album by American hip hop rapper Nas, released December, 2001 on Columbia-imprint label Ill Will Records. It was a critical success that re-established Nas' career, following a period of critical disappointment with the releases of I Am… and Nastradamus (1999).^[3] The album debuted at #5 on the Billboard 200 eventually selling over 1.7 million copies by November, 2002.^[4] The album additionally contained beats produced by longtime Nas collaborators including DJ Premier, Large Professor and L.E.S..

Stillmatic was immediately hailed as Nas' best album since his landmark debut, Illmatic.^[5] Similar to his debut, Stillmatic received a classic five-mic rating from The Source magazine.^[2]

Stillmatic was one of the most highly anticipated hip-hop albums of the year, primarily due to the fallout from Nas's heated battle with rival Jay-Z. Jay-Z had previously dissed Nas in his single "Takeover", taken from his September 2001 release, The Blueprint. On Stillmatic, Nas retaliated with the anticipated song, "Ether", a response to "Takeover" which insinuated that Jay-Z had stolen lyrics from The Notorious B.I.G. several times, that he had sold out, and that he was a misogynist, among other things. Several hip-hop aficionados believe Nas won the feud based on this track, which many felt was much more vicious and ruthless than "Takeover", although this is still a subject of debate within hip-hop circles. Jay-Z would respond with the radio freestyle "Supa Ugly", which was not as well received as "Takeover" or "Ether" after hearing "Supa Ugly", Nas released "H to the OMO",dissing Jay's nickname "Hova". Cormega, was also dissed on "Destroy & Rebuild".

The first single from Stillmatic was "Rule" featuring Amerie. It was not heavily promoted but still managed to reach #67 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart. It did not receive a video and was not put to compact disc, so many are unaware that it was a single, and believe "Got Ur Self A..." was the first single from Stillmatic. "Got Ur Self A...", the second single contained a sample from the theme song on the HBO drama The Sopranos. The third single was "One Mic", which received acclaim for its content and video.

Stillmatic marked Nas' reemergence atop the rap scene, after many said his career was waning following his previous LP, Nastradamus (an album considered by some critics and fans to have been the most mediocre album in his discography). The success of the album resurrected Nas' career, as he has since released several successful and critically acclaimed albums. Well received by critics, Stillmatic received 5 mics from The Source magazine–a distinction set aside only for classic hip-hop albums. This made Nas one of only a few artists to have two 5 mic albums. It was also on the 2005 list of Rolling Stone's top 100 albums and ranked 20th on Chris Rock's Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums of all time.^[6]

While widely-acclaimed in the hip-hop media, Stillmatic received more mediocre reviews from broader music review outlets such as Rolling Stone, Vibe, and Allmusic. The album was certified platinum, though it failed to return Nas to the commercial peak he had reached in the mid and late '90s with It Was Written and I Am....

• The first pressing of Stillmatic contained "Braveheart Party", a Swizz Beatz production that featured Mary J. Blige and The Bravehearts. It was track eleven between "The Flyest" and "Rule". It was removed from future pressings of the album at Blige's request because Swizz Beatz took the wrong vocals she was saving for another song.^[7]
• The Japanese release of Stillmatic features three additional tracks: "No Idea's Original", "Everybody's Crazy" and "Black Zombies". Each can also be found on The Lost Tapes, a 2002 Nas compilation album.
• A limited edition version of Stillmatic contains a bonus disc with snippets from five songs on The Lost Tapes.

• Executive Producer: Destiny Jones
• Mastering: Chris Gehringer at Sterling Sound Studios, NYC
• A&R Direction: Lenny Nicholson
• Album Coordination: Nikki Martin
• Marketing: David A. Belgrave
• Art Direction & Design: Chris Feldmann
• Photography: Sacha Waldman
• Producer: Daquan Williams

• Nathan Brackett, Christian Hoard (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide: Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-74320-169-8.

• Stillmatic at Discogs
• Stillmatic at Metacritic
• RapReviews — by Steve Juon