Stillmatic’ is the rebirth of ‘Illmatic,’ my first debut album to come out in 1994. ‘Stillmatic’ is me coming full circle in my career and with everything, and just bringing pure hip-hop back.
Man, me and Biggie were the biggest artists in New York. When he passed, I was so messed up. My attitude was messed up about him dying. There was an East-West thing back then, and I was in war mode.
I see N.Y. hip-hop like I see N.Y. streets. N.Y. streets are grimy; it’s a grind. N.Y. rappers are hustlers – whatever sound is in, we can adapt to that; there’s nothing wrong with that.
