Final Grade: A-

Great rap album we've got here, but I'm not surprised seeing as it's been dubbed a classic.  You can hear Nas' age in his voice, but his lyrics speak far beyond that.  It's evident that he went through some struggles to make it big, and boy have they paid off!  It's unfortunate that this kind of poetry isn't found in today's popular rap music.  Instead all you hear about are bitches & hoes, money & cars, and other lame shit.  Great beats on this one as well, the only was I wasn't crazy about was "It Ain't Hard to Tell," but I still thought it was decent.  The reason for the "minus" next to the A is because I didn't feel like Nas covered a variety of topics, all of the songs were generally about the same thing - growing up in the hood and getting out.  Granted, you write about what you know, which I can't hate on, but I'm sure there are a few other topics he could have covered.  That aside, this is a great rap album, a great hip hop album, and just a great album overall.  Definitely gonna get some play over the summer/forever.