Nas Announces Re-masted Album "Illmatic XX", Docu-Film and US Tour
On April 19, 1994 in Queensbridge, New York a rapper dropped an album that would change the face of the hip hop as we knew it. Debuting at number 12 on the Billboard charts by selling 59,000 copies in its first week, the album soon became a game changer in hip-hop, and music period! The prolific story teller and poet behind this body of work enlisted hip-hop's finest producers Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S., and DJ Premier, creating a masterpiece that would go on to solidify East Coast "hardcore" rap for decades to come. Kid Wave, Ill Will, Nasir, Nasty Nas, whatever you wanna call him- Nas is one of the best to ever do it. The album we speak of is the critically acclaimed Illmatic! Nas's first major release after being signed to Columbia Records in 1992, with the help of Michael Berrin of 3rd Bass - who also executive produced "Illmatic".
To celebrate twenty years of the seminal Illmatic, Nas is releasing a special edition of the album titled "Illmatic XX", featuring unreleased tracks, freestyles and remixes, followed by a feature length documentary film "Time Is Illmatic". According to the press release the film "tracks the musical legacy of the Jones family, handed down to Nas from his jazz musician father, Olu Dara. It also examines the social conditions and environmental influences that contributed to Nas’ worldview". "Illmatic has become a hip-hop benchmark that encapsulates the socio-political outlook, enduring spirit, and collective angst of a generation of young black men searching for their voice in America." Nas will also head back on the road with a US tour - with special performances at both the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as well as this year’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival.
“With Illmatic, I didn't think about it. I just did it. I believe everybody has good instincts. Now I’m a man from that past and I'm supremely grateful. There's a Nigerian proverb ‘What is past is prologue’. I'm here today because of Illmatic.” - Nas
"Illmattic" Tracklisting: Disc 1: Remastered original album
1. The Genesis
2. N.Y. State Of Mind
3. Life's A Bitch
4. The World Is Yours
5. Halftime
6. Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)
7. One Love
8. One Time 4 Your Mind
9. Represent
10. It Ain't Hard To Tell
Disc 2: Demos, Remixes & Live Radio
1. I'm A Villain (previously unreleased)
2. The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show on WKCR October 28, 1993 (previously unreleased freestyle)
3. Halftime (Butcher Remix)
4. It Ain't Hard To Tell (Remix)(promo single)
5. One Love (LG Main Mix)
6. Life’s A Bitch (Arsenal Mix)(promo single)
7. One Love (One L Main Mix)
8. The World Is Yours (Tip Mix)
9. It Ain't Hard To Tell (The Stink Mix)(UK single)
10. It Ain't Hard To Tell (The Laidback Remix)(UK single)