When Nas's memorably eloquent debut album Illmatic was released in 1994, he was widely hailed as the best lyricist the hip-hop genre had ever produced. Eight years on, however, the media-friendly Long Island rapper is barely recognisable from his old, confrontational self. Having scored global hits with Lauryn Hill and Puff Daddy, made Hollywood soundtracks such as Men In Black and become a heavily rotated MTV regular, Nas is now an efficient money-making machine - but no longer a particularly interesting artist. His latest effort Stillmatic isn't devoid of interest, featuring provocative homages to Che Guevara and Malcolm X and the odd outbreak of his remarkable rhyming skills. In the main, however, it's a sad illustration of the man's decline, an uninspired collection of formulaic compositions with a tinny commercial sheen that's enough to put off all but the most undiscriminating.
