With the release of Illmatic, in 1994 Nas quickly established himself as a hip hop icon and now one of the greatest lyricists of all-time. The landmark album has been lauded by critics as one of the most exemplary hip hop recordings of all time. Illmatic contributed to the revival of the New York City rap scene and has been consistently ranked at the top of many "best album" lists. Today, the collection remains one of the most widely celebrated and influential albums in history with Rolling Stone proclaiming, "a portrait of an artist as a hood, loner, tortured soul, juvenile delinquent, and fledgling social critic... [Illmatic] still stands as one of rap's crowning achievements." NPR Music called the it "[a] masterwork of story-telling, lyricism and beat-making," while upon the album s release, The Village Voice gave Nas the title of, "one of the most important writers of the 20th century." Illmatic XX is a 2 disc, 20th anniversary special edition featuring new artwork, a 24 page booklet with new liner notes by Sacha Jenkins, artist tributes with rare and previously unseen photos. Disc 1, the original debut album, has been remastered from the original source tapes and disc 2 features 10 rare remixes, demos & freestyles from the era. "With Illmatic, I didn't think about it. I just did it. I believe everybody has good instincts. Now I'm a man from that past and I'm supremely grateful. There's a Nigerian proverb 'What is past is prologue'. I'm here today because of Illmatic." - Nas