The common thought is that Nas’s and Jay-Z’s stellar debut albums set them on parallel tracks at the start of their careers. But the truth is a bit more nuanced than that. Reasonable Doubt’s ascension was a slow burn, earning its mythical status as the years rolled by, whereas Illmatic was hailed as a genre-defining classic almost immediately. Opinions vary on how well Nas has managed under the weight of the expectations created by such a debut, but one thing has been crystal clear for about thirty years now: Illmatic is not only as good as everyone says it is; it’s probably better.

Nas famously rapped “my first album had no famous guest appearances” (AZ’s show stopping feature would come more than a year before his classic debut Doe or Die), but the same can’t be said for the dream team lineup of producers. DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Large Professor and Q-Tip lend their talents behind the boards, and Nas doesn’t waste a single bar of the exquisite production he’s given. Plucking out highlights from this album is an exercise in futility, but the gritty narration of “NY State of Mind”, effortless flowing of “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” and beautiful verse trading he does with AZ on “Life’s a Bitch” are just a few that spring to mind. That’s to say nothing of “The World Is Yours” and “Represent”, songs so dope that Jay-Z couldn’t help but sample them both (lending more than a little credence to Nas’s “Ether” boast “you love my style”).

Thirty years of hearing Nas rap can easily cause one to take his talent for granted, but it’s safe to say that in 1994, very few—if any—could rap like this. The rhymes come at a rapid-fire pace, maintaining cadences that seemed impossible in years past. If Rakim was the one who took rap to another level with his multisyllabic patterns, Nas was the next evolution, burying his rhymes and entendres within one another like Matryoshka dolls. His career would see it’s share of ups and downs in the years that followed (ups and downs I’m eager to shed some clarity on in future reviews), but creating Illmatic earns Nas a permanent spot in hip-hop’s hallowed halls. Regardless of what came after, rap changed on April 19, 1994.