Twenty years since the lyrical genius Nas debuted with the timeless hip-hop staple Illmatic, there still seems to be questions on the man, his breakout album and what it all means to today's budding rappers. Meet Nas: Time Is Illmatic, a full-circle, One9-directed, biographical documentary on the man, his fascinating lyrical craft and his towering Queensbridge projects influences with appearances by Pharell Williams and Alicia Keys.
Nas, whose real name is Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, finds himself present day with the Harvard University Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship. To wit, he has a film career tracing back to Belly alongside DMX and a slew of accolades for the Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large Professor. L.E.S and DJ Premier produced Illmatic. Let's not forget he has the power to sell more than 25 million records and a "33 1/3" book in his honor.
The flick dispels almost all of his sorted childhood, including growing up to avant-garde jazz trumpeter Olu Dara Jones to friends who are in jail or have died from gunshot wounds to his eventual rap career escape. His father was featured on Illmatic’s "Life’s a Bitch" and later on "Bridging the Gap," "Street’s Disciple," "Dance" and "Jungle Jay."
It is no wonder Illmatic scored a five-mic score from The Source in 1994 and an almost impossible 10 from Pitchfork for last year's reissue. His metaphorical lyrics are full of alliteration and unheard of grammatical content. The track "It Ain’t Hard to Tell" gives the perfect example: "My poetry's deep / I never fell / Nas's raps should be locked in a cell / It ain't hard to tell.”
The film, then, focuses on how the record claimed and transfixed a moment in hip-hop time. A Tribeca Film Festival favorite, Time Is Illmatic made its New York debut at the Museum of Modern Art Tuesday, Sept. 30, and is now playing at Tribeca Films and AMC Empire 25.
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