Nas - The best rapper alive??

With 13 yrs in the game and his new album 'life is good' out now can Nas still bring it!?
With Big names like Jigga, Weezy, Kanye, Drake and Rick Ross dominating the hip hop game, is the queens bridge rap veteran still relevant?
Back in 1994 Nas released his debut album 'Illmatic' an album that inspired hip hop artists and artists of all genres alike. It's considered one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time but that came with a price. When you've made an album- a classic album- how can u top it?? Many would say he never has, so the gift he gave US has become HIS curse. But how many other artists have done this? I couldn't possibly name them all because there have been so many and with that, they've faded away out of the game, but not Nas, he's still bringing out albums (hes on his 10th solo effort) and listeners are still buying them so clearly he's doing somethin right to keep everyone's attention. Which is a great feat considering he hasn't sold out to popular demand (making dance inspired or radio friendly tracks) he's stuck to his hip hop roots and real rap fans appreciate that. Not saying that making those kind of tracks is a bad thing, Eminem and Jay-z for example have always kicked off the promo of their new albums with a radio friendly pop style track to much success. Nas may not get the single and ringtone sales but thats what i love about him.

It's hard to find a rap artist who's albums I always get excited about hearing and Nas does that for me. With the exception of kanyes 'my beautiful dark twisted fantasy' and Drizzys 'take care' LP I haven't felt the excitement and love for hip hop as I had in previous years (back in the early 90s).
With his latest offering 'life is good' my personal opinion is Nas is still a rap heavy weight and STILL my favourite rapper,the album has a massive jazz feel to it (thanks to his upbringing as his father was a jazz artist) as did 'Ilmatic' and you can tell he's enjoyin life and enjoying hip hop again (especially after stating before that 'hiphop is dead') . With more guest appearances than ever ('champion' on Nicki Minaj's LP, 'outro' on Weezys 'tha Carter 4' and 'mirage' on Chris Browns 'fortune' to name a few), he's clearly having fun with it and reaching out to new listeners.

In my opinion to have a career spanning 13 yrs and still be relevent and get people excited (even other rap artists) and most of all makin real hip hop he's definatly the greatest rapper alive.