Before Kendrick Lamar raised the bar with good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kanye West walked with Jesus, and the deadly East-West Coast rivalry, there was a young kid observing life and crime through his project window. That kid, who would initially start out as Kid Wave and then adopt the moniker Nas, gradually became molded and hardened by the effects of the crack era and Rudy Giuliani's New York, like the other thousands of youth from the same time period. With a future outside of the projects looking slim, Nas took up his childhood love of hip-hop and used world-weary intellect and a quick tongue to filter the hardships he experienced through a level of poetry that's never been seen before. A 20-year-old Nas dropped the seminal Illmatic in 1994. The second coming of Rakim had lived up to the hype, and it was still only the start of a legend.

It's debatable whether or not Nas was able to attain the level he reached on Illmatic ever again, but nevertheless the majority of his discography trumps that of his peers and many other lesser rappers. All at once, Nas' career came to represent hip-hop at its finest and its crippling contradictions. Fans have been listening to Nas leak wisdom for over 20 years, and he's respected enough for many to be willing to do so for 20 more.

From the misses to triumphs, we've ranked his albums from worst to best. See where they fall, and let us know how you would rank them in the comment section.

As you may have heard, Nas' Illmatic turned 20 today, and NahRight and UpNorthTrips have celebrated by releasing a tribute tape. The #Illmatic20 Tribute Mixtape features contributions from NYC rappers like Smoke DZA, Troy Ave, Mr. Muthafuckin Exquire, Bodega Bamz, Al-Doe, Euro League, Doley Bernays, YC The Cynic and many more.

Apart from a Nas interlude and three remixes at the end of the tape, it follows the basic structure of Illmatic, with beats remaining intact while the MCs spit new verses over them. It's a dope and imaginative way to pay respect to the now-legendary album, and it makes us wish more classics would get similar tribute treatments.

Whose version of an Illmatic classic is the best? Let us know your opinion in the comments.

Also, be sure to check out our 'Classic Rotation' feature on Illmatic that went up today.