On Stillmatic, his fifth album, Nas continues the war of words with rival rapper Jay-Z. The two began a feud with Jay-Z’s The Blueprint album, which fueled the fire with the track “Takeover.”

Stillmatic was released in December and remains high on the charts, pulling rank in the Top 10 on both the Billboard 200 and Billboard’s Top R&B/Hip-Hop.

Nas cut his teeth as a young lyricist around the Queensbridge Projects, N.Y., in the early ‘90s, spitting rhymes clever enough to earn him comparison to Rakim. His debut in 1994, Illmatic, helped him earn a top slot in the hip-hop community and his sophomore release, It Was Written, sealed his spot.