Recording

N.Y. State of Mind
Nas

Independently chosen for3 of our lists. Here is what each of them said.

Released

1994

Label

Columbia

On

Golden Age Hip-Hop, 1994, and The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred

Updated

2026-08-29

1. 02

   Ranked No. 2 in 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.

2. ·

   Picked by 1994

   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.

3. ·

   Picked by The Waxonia 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.