Sorry to get all quasi-self-promotional on y'all, but former Prefix writer Matthew Gasteier (you may remember him as bza) has written a book in the 33 1/3 series about Nas' landmark debut Illmatic, which just hit Amazon's shelves this weekend. Gasteier's book discusses the collision of Nas' different identities on Illmatic, its status as one of the best hip-hop albums of all time, how along with the Wu-Tang Clan, Nas helped put New York back on the top of the hip-hop world, and how Nas' storytelling style has impacted modern day hip-hop. "NY State of Mind" from Illmatic is above for your listening pleasure. Go here to order the book.

Related:

Matt Gasteier's feature story on Illmatic at Prefix