The celebration for the 20th anniversary of Nas‘ Illmatic is kicking into full gear, and the visual component is almost here. On Friday (April 11), the trailer for “Time Is Illmatic,” the upcoming documentary about the classic album, was released online.
“When I made Illmatic, I was trying to make the perfect album,” Nas says in the trailer for the film, which is set to debut on April 16 at the Tribeca Film Festival. “I was trying to make you experience my life. I wanted you to look at hip-hop differently. I wanted you to feel that hip-hop was changing and becoming something more real.”
The documentary is just one component of a full rollout to commemorate the landmark disc. On Tuesday, Illmatic XX is set to drop. In addition to remastered versions of the album’s 10 tracks, the release will offer remixes, demos and other decades-old, rarely heard gems.
Last week, the Queens rapper brought his promo to where he and Q-Tip performed “One Love.” The song, which was the seventh track on Illmatic,, was produced by Tip.
As the trailer for “Time Is Illmatic” — which borrows its title from a line on the album’s third song, “Life’s a Bitch” — comes to a close, Nas drops more wisdom.
“I gave you what the streets felt like,” he says. “What it sounded like, tasted like, smelled like, all in that album. And I tried to capture it like no one else could.”
Now, the film will attempt to do some capturing of its own — of the album’s impact.
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