Actually, criminal WAS a lyrical song. In terms of rhyming and emotion, it was. And it had a non-pop beat and no catchy sing-song chorus. Just cos it was different, doesnt mean it wasnt lyrical. I am NOT on eminems dick. I dont even listen to him these days. I also consider nas my favourite rapper, therefore i cannot be dickriding eminem. And i did mention Nas Is Like was a great song. That doesnt make an album a classic. Thats just like saying because of a pretty good song called "many men" on 50 cents album, then 50 cents album is a classic cos of that one good song, even if the rest is garbage. And you forget that NY state of mind was from illmatic, Nas best days, and the second version featured Rakim. Nas also went back to his old style in 2001-2003, which explains why it was a lyrical song. I Am and Nastradamus are from 1999, when his music was sub-par.