Nas

The melancholic ghetto impressionism of early days, where the precocious emcee played the part of a blunted Aesop, gave way to the inspirational claptrap of "If I Ruled the World" and the messianic materialism of "Street Dreams" and "Hate Me Now." You can trace hip-hop's history through these tracks, from the grimy street poetry of "N.Y. State of Mind" to the post-Biggie/Pac derision of "Got Ur Self..." to the middle-of-the-road rap of "Bridging the Gap." Whether the 14 tracks collected here represent Nas' best work is debatable, but this collection certainly offers his biggest hits.