# Nas — N.Y. State of Mind

Nas’s N.Y. State of Mind (1994) appears on 3 of our lists — Golden Age Hip-Hop, 1994, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred, highest at No. 2 in Golden Age Hip-Hop. Every verdict, in full.

- **Released:** 1994
- **Label:** Columbia
- **On:** Golden Age Hip-Hop, 1994, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred
- **Updated:** 2026-08-29
- **Artist:** [Nas](https://waxonia.com/artist/nas/)
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/track/nas--n-y-state-of-mind/

## What 3 lists say

### No. 2 in [Golden Age Hip-Hop](https://waxonia.com/genre/golden-age-hip-hop/)

A twenty-year-old writing with the density of a novelist over a DJ Premier loop. The bar for lyrical technique moved here and arguably has not moved since.

### Picked by [1994](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-ninety-four/)

Illmatic reset what a rap album was allowed to be, and this is the track people quote when they explain why. Every East Coast record for five years afterwards is measured against it, usually by its own maker.

### Picked by [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/)

A twenty-year-old writing at a level most novelists never reach, over a piano loop that never resolves. The best-written record in this list.

## Listen

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Nas%20N.Y.%20State%20of%20Mind) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=hI8A14Qcv68)

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.