Nastradamus

On his second album of 1999, Nastradamus, this gangsta griot balances apocalyptic boho poetry and roughneck gun talk with a sniper’s precision and a philosopher’s depth. Amid inner-city symphonics, blaxploitation wahwah guitars, soul vocalizing, and Toto samples, Nas raps tales of betrayal, paranoia, honor, and redemption that would give Scarface pause.