Nasir Jones, the incomparable emcee known as Nas, Nasty Nas, Nastradamus, Esco, Escobar, God’s Son, took the stage at Synovus Bank Amphitheater at Chastain Park in Atlanta on July 5 as one man with “One Mic,” and an entire symphony orchestra behind to perform Illmatic: Live. His debut album-turned cult classic—of the same name—turned 31 years old this past April.
The Queens, New York, native made performing in an all-white suit and hard-bottoms in 90-degree weather look effortless and received a standing ovation as he kicked off his hour and 30-minute set with “N.Y. State of Mind” and “Life’s a Bitch,” giving a shout-out to AZ, his collaborator on the 1994 hit.
Before delving into the lyricism of “One Love,” an epistolary rap song, Nas prepped the audience. He revisits colloquialisms from in the song and from his youth that some listeners may not be familiar with; one being MDC, the men’s house—the men’s detention center on Rikers Island, the largest correctional facility in New York City, which is just a stone’s throw from Queensbridge, also the largest public housing project in NYC.
He then takes the crowd on the lyrically pleasing correspondence, of one of his most poignant songs, in which he writes a letter to his homie who is serving a bid, updating his incarcerated comrade on the goings-on in the hood. The precursor is nostalgic.
The laidback emcee humored the crowd here and there with anecdotal introductions between tracks. In particular, he joked about SWV eclipsing “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” with the Teddy Riley-produced track “Right Here.” Both songs sampled Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature.”
“—And SWV just stomped on it,” Nas said. “‘Right here, be right here.’”
“My sh*t was out first,” the Grammy Award-winning rapper continued. “Love to Teddy Riley and SWV.”
Nas blazed through Illmatic songs, then gracefully pivoted and moved down the list of hip-hop bangers from his catalog: “If I Ruled The World” and “Street Dreams” from It Was Written; Singles chart, “Hate Me Now” and “Nas Is Like” from I am; “You Owe Me” and “Oochie Wally” of Nostradamus. The Hip-Hop is Dead artist left no crumbs as he ate through the last quarter of the show and a bevy of hits from Stillmatic, his 5-mic approved album, compliments of Source Magazine. Song after song, much of the audience mouthed lyrics, but “Made You Look” had folks rapping along with their chest.
As Nas approaches his 52nd birthday, the last three decades look good on him. Queensbridge’s finest has maintained the cool, calm, and collected demeanor he’s known for and has become a multimillionaire in the process through various business ventures and investments. Fannie Ann and Oludara’s Son remains as lit and relevant as he’s always been, despite the unreliable spiel of a rapper who is hardly his contemporary. Nas closed out the show in the same fashion he entered—with “‘One Mic,’ one beat, and one stage.”
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