Despite the fact I'm an electronic music head, what it all comes down to is that the debut album by Nas is one of the finest albums I have ever come across. The only other hip hop related albums which even came close to impressing me as much are the debuts by Ras Kass, Souls Of Mischief, Eric B & Rakim, and any given album by OK.
"Illmatic" displays intricate and smooth lyricism, not seen since "Paid In Full", it packs powerful and utterly immaculate production, not executed this well since Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back" and "Fear Of A Black Planet", it depicts the most visual and honest true to life situation of the street life, not done this well since the old Boogie Down Productions releases, and most of all, it has a furious clash of flawless and potent vocal abilities delivering a strong message backed with striking and raw beats and scratches, in the same vein as NWA's "Straight Outta Compton".

To sum it all up: "It drops deep as it does in my breath
I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death
Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined
I think of crime when I'm in a New York state of mind."

Timeless stuff, regardless of the type of music you're currently into. A modern classic.