After the critically divisive I Am… and the leaked material controversy, Nas needed a statement. Stillmatic functions as that statement: reconciliatory toward his legacy while fiercely competitive. The album is often framed as Nas’s answer to contemporaries and critics, most notably in the feud with Jay-Z. “Ether,” the scathing diss track, became instant hip-hop lore and re-established Nas’s place in rap debates.