Editing Stillmatic (section)

== Critical reception ==
{{Music ratings
| MC = 69/100<ref name="MC"/>
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref name="Bush">{{AllMusic|last=Bush|first=John|class=album|id=r564036}}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="Pappademas"/>
| rev3 = ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref name="Baker">{{cite magazine|last=Baker|first=Soren|author-link=Soren Baker|date=December 23, 2001|title=A Return to Aggressive Form for Nas|magazine=[[Los Angeles Times]]|page=F.71}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[NME]]''
| rev4score = 7/10<ref name="Needham">{{cite magazine|last=Needham|first=Alex|url=https://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews-nme-5983-335068 |title=Review: ''Stillmatic'' |magazine=[[NME]] |date=January 11, 2002|access-date=August 1, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021002120846/http://www.nme.com/reviews/10104.htm |archive-date=October 2, 2002 }}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev5score = 9.1/10<ref>{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/nas-stillmatic/|title=Nas: Stillmatic Album Review|website=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]|last=Thompson|first=Paul A.|date=January 29, 2023|access-date=January 29, 2023}}</ref> 
| rev6 = ''[[Rolling Stone]]''
| rev6score = {{Rating|2.5|5}}<ref name="McGuire"/>
| rev7 = ''[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]''
| rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="source">{{cite magazine|last=Osorio|first=Kim|author-link=Kim Osorio|date=February 2002|issue=149|title=Record Report: Nas – Stillmatic|url=http://www.thesource.com/articles/7782/NAS-5-Mic/?thesource-prod=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120928045432/http://www.thesource.com/articles/7782/NAS-5-Mic/?thesource-prod=|archive-date=September 28, 2012|magazine=[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]|page=127|location=New York|access-date=August 1, 2024}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''
| rev8score = 7/10<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Ryan|first=Chris|page=107|title=Reviews|magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]|date=February 2002}}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[USA Today]]''
| rev9score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}<ref name="Jones"/>
| rev10 = ''[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]''
| rev10score = {{Rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="Berry"/>
}}

''Stillmatic'' was met with generally positive reviews. At [[Metacritic]], which assigns a [[Standard score|normalized]] rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an [[weighted mean|average]] score of 69, based on 12 reviews.<ref name="MC">{{cite web|title=Stillmatic by Nas|url=http://www.metacritic.com/music/stillmatic|website=[[Metacritic]]|access-date=August 1, 2024}}</ref>

''[[The Source (magazine)|The Source]]'' awarded the album a perfect "[[The Source (magazine)|five-mic]]" rating,<ref name="source"/> and ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''{{'s}} Alex Pappademas praised it as "a surprising return to form".<ref name="Pappademas">{{cite magazine|last=Pappademas|first=Alex|date=February 2002|title=Review: Stillmatic|magazine=[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]|publisher=Alpha Media Group|issue=5|page=114}}</ref> Reviewing for ''[[The Village Voice]]'', [[Selwyn Seyfu Hinds]] said: "''Stillmatic'' isn't merely a reunion or rehash of ''[[Illmatic]]'' themes. The Nas on this record has grown, with the emotional expansion such maturation suggests. For one, he has never before drawn upon his anger, with a burning focus and controlled intensity that underscores nearly every song. Some of it can surely be ascribed to the [[Nas#2001–2006: Feud with Jay-Z, Stillmatic, God's Son, and double album|Jay-Z battle]], but more seems due to the deeper, internal struggle Nas has waged against the fallout from his early, precocious success".<ref name="Hinds"/>  Steve Jones of ''[[USA Today]]'' stated, "diss songs aside, Nas' strength has always been his incisive lyrical analyses of current events."<ref name="Jones">{{cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Steve|date=December 18, 2001|title=Put musical trust in 'R' and Nas, Gene and Ginny ; Hits keep coming for Lil' Bow Wow, Bell Biv DeVoe and 8-Ball|url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/95727928.html?dids=95727928:95727928&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+18,+2001&author=Steve+Jones;+Brian+Mansfield&pub=USA+TODAY&desc=Put+musical+trust+in+'R'+and+Nas,+Gene+and+Ginny+;+Hits+keep+coming+for+Lil'+Bow+Wow,+Bell+Biv+DeVoe+and+8-Ball&pqatl=google|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130131151245/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/USAToday/access/95727928.html?dids=95727928:95727928&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Dec+18,+2001&author=Steve+Jones;+Brian+Mansfield&pub=USA+TODAY&desc=Put+musical+trust+in+'R'+and+Nas,+Gene+and+Ginny+;+Hits+keep+coming+for+Lil'+Bow+Wow,+Bell+Biv+DeVoe+and+8-Ball&pqatl=google|archive-date=January 31, 2013|magazine=[[USA Today]]|page=D.06|access-date=August 1, 2024}}</ref> John Bush from [[AllMusic]] said: "Dropping many of the mainstream hooks and featured performers in order to focus his rapping, Nas proves he's still a world-class rhymer, but he does sound out of touch in the process of defending his honor. Despite the many highlights, a few of the tracks just end up weighing him down".<ref name="Bush"/> Elizabeth Mendez Berry of ''[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]'' called it "infuriatingly inconsistent" but also "an exercise in lyrical courage and musical might".<ref name="Berry">{{cite magazine|last=Berry|first=Elizabeth Mendez|date=February 2002|title=Revolutions: Nas – Stillmatic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yCUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA120|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220422093359/https://books.google.com/books?id=yCUEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA120&dq=#v=onepage&q&f=false|archive-date=April 22, 2022|magazine=[[Vibe (magazine)|Vibe]]|page=120|location=New York|access-date=August 1, 2024}}</ref>

Some reviewers were more critical. ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine's Kathryn McGuire said: "Striving to maintain street cred while reaching for pop success has left Nas vacillating clumsily on past projects, and this record is riddled with similar inconsistencies. One moment he casts himself as a gritty cat who feels most at home on a project bench, calling out neighborhood snakes ('Destroy and Rebuild') and ducking gunshots ('One Mic'). The next, he's delivering dumbed-down verses over the Track Masters' rinky-dink rendition of Tears for Fears' 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World.'"<ref name="McGuire">{{cite magazine|last=McGuire|first=Kathryn|date=January 31, 2002|issue=888|title=Recordings: Nas – Stillmatic|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/stillmatic-20020108|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|page=53|access-date=August 1, 2024}}</ref> In ''The Village Voice''{{'s}} "Consumer Guide", [[Robert Christgau]] found the release unworthy of a review and instead relegated it to a listing of ungraded "duds" in the column.<ref>{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=March 12, 2002|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv302-02.php|title=Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|access-date=September 17, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com}}</ref>

Retrospective appraisals have been relatively positive. In ''[[The New Rolling Stone Album Guide]]'' (2004), Chris Ryan wrote that ''Stillmatic'' "finds Nas sticking with what works, creative storyraps and trenchant social commentary. He still errs when he makes attempts at club tracks, but the album is largely a success."<ref name="RSguide">{{cite book|last=Ryan|first=Chris|editor-first1=Nathan|editor-last1=Brackett|editor-link1=Nathan Brackett|editor-first2=Christian|editor-last2=Hoard|editor-link2=Christian Hoard|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|url=https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/568|via=[[Internet Archive]]|url-access=registration|publisher=[[Fireside Books]]|location=New York|date=2004|access-date=January 21, 2024|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|page=569}}</ref> Writing in the ''[[Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]'', [[Colin Larkin]] commended Nas for "rebuilding his creative and commercial standing" in the early 2000s with ''Stillmatic''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|year=2011|title=[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th|isbn=978-0857125958|page=1993}}</ref> In 2005, [[Chris Rock]] compiled a list of his Top 25 Hip-Hop Albums of all time, to which he ranked ''Stillmatic'' at number 20, commenting "It's like ''[[Mama Said Knock You Out]]'' eleven years earlier, where a guy just reclaimed his spot with some great records".<ref>{{cite magazine|last=Rock|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Rock|date=December 15, 2005|issue=989|title=The Chris Rock 25|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|pages=98–99|location=New York|issn=0035-791X}}</ref>