Nas celebrated the 20th anniversary of Illmatic with a stellar performance at the Beacon after the big Tribeca Film Festival premiere of his documentary Time Is Illmatic. See the pics and performance clips inside...
True artistry was on full display last night. And they just don't make 'em like this anymore.
The 13th Tribeca Film Festival kicked off Wednesday night with the Nas documentary Time is Illmatic, directed by multimedia artist and first-time director One9. Nasty Nas hit the carpet before the big night looking dapper.
The movie chronicles Nasir' journey from the Queens projects to the debut of his 1994 record Illmatic. Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Jane Rosenthalsaid “The nature of the subject is about surviving and thriving. That’s what New York did post-9/11. And that’s what Nas has done in his career. It’s about bridging cultures and bridging communities — that’s what his work is about.”
The viewing was held at NYC's Beacon Theatre and follow a performance of the entire Illmatic album.
On the red carpet.....
Wale posed on for he cameras.
Famed actor and Tribeca FIlm Festival founder Robert De Niro attended with wife Grace Hightower. Mr. De Niro said, “The fact we’re here at the Beacon is great. I’ve seen so many plays and music performances here over the years and so it’s a perfect place to open with this movie.”
And then he took it to his after set to rock the stage.
Alicia Keys played the intro to "N.Y. State of Mind" and introduced Nas.
According to The Huffington Post, Nas reflected on his upbringing during the film saying,
"Queensbridge, to me, it looked messed up. It looked like a buried diamond. I had a chance to have a childhood for at least a little bit, and then I felt like I had to become a man early to deal with my environment. I saw the difference early on, the type of parents I came from. Good people, hard workers. We had color television, we had a VCR, we had a carpet. We had nice things in our place, compared to some of my other friends who had nothing. Who ate hot dogs for dinner. Who had no furniture, just living bad. We didn't really lack food. My mom was a great cook. Everybody wanted to come to our house. 'Ms. Jones cooking? I'm over there!' She had a great spirit. She didn't talk with cuss words. She didn't talk street stuff. She was not like that. If we needed stuff she said, 'I don’t want y'all to go out there and do it [in the streets], find another way to get it.'"
Check out the full interview with the doc's director about how the classic NYC Festival chose Nas' album over all others to feature.
After the premiere and concert, everyone headed over to Providence night club where guests enjoyed specialty Hennessy cocktails.
Raekwon, Pete Rock, Eric B. (atop) and Steve Stoute (background) were in attendance.
Nas' little brother Jungle posed with a bottle of Hennessy V.S “Wild Rabbit”. You'll recall that Nas is the face of the campaign.
DJ D-Nice kept the party moving and the records flowing. Nice!
Watch Nas on stage at the Beacon:
Photos via KirillWasHere.com
