Nas: Time Is Illmatic (2014) - full transcript
Time Is Illmatic is a feature length documentary film that delves deep into the making of Nas' 1994 debut album, Illmatic, and the social conditions that influenced its creation. Twenty years after its release, 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.
Who would have thought it?
I dropped out of school
in eighth or ninth grade.
I didn't finish.
My mother was probably worried
for me and my brother.
We didn't know what we wanted,
but we wanted to be something.
But I didn't know what
what would happen in the future.
There was a glimmer of hope in the darkness.
My son, Nas, came into the world.
It felt like a king was born.
His rhyme was the best
I had ever heard.
He was ten and talking and the devil
and God. No one else rhymed like that.
How many have "Illmatic"?
One, two, three.
"Illmatic" was a new beginning in rap.
It was like being a gangster,
but with the help of poetry.
He was a genius.
"Illmatic" from 1994 was prophetic.
He dared to tell the truth about
the shadow side of black existence.
"Illmatic" changed hip-hop.
A hundred years from now, it will stand out
as one of hip-hop's best.
What he did with his lyrics
changed the playing field for MCs.
It was honest.
It will always be
one of the best albums of all time.
When I recorded "Illmatic"
I was trying to make a perfect record.
I wanted
I wanted you to experience my life.
-to look at hip-hop differently-
- and feel that hip-hop
was becoming something real.
I showed what the streets felt like,
the way the streets sounded, tasted and smelled on the record.
I tried to capture it in a way
that nobody had ever done before.
When I'm going on a gig
I usually think:
"Wow! I can't believe this is my job."
I made a choice, and it became
reality. Now I do this all the time.
If you're from Queens
it doesn't get any better than this.
The music didn't start with me.
I come a from musical and
artistic family. It's innate.
I am an extension of what they were.
My artistic roots
can be traced all the way back to Natchez.
-Natchez, Mississippi.
Nas's father, Olu Dara,
in front of "Father Blues"
My father's name is Olu Dara.
NAS PAPPA
It means "God is good".
I was born in the United States, in Natchez in
Mississippi. It's on the river.
It was segregation
and the Ku Klux Klan was rampant.
You saw burning crosses all the time.
Many of my father's family were musicians.
He and my godfather had a band,
the Mellowderes, and traveled all over the United States.
The family has consisted of
musicians, artists, teachers.
- tenants,
farmers and prostitutes.
But they took pride in it.
They didn't cower in the dust.
Were they prostitutes
they were the best at it.
They did it as dignified as they could.
I was in the Navy for four years
and got discharged in New York.
That's when I met Na's mom.
I stayed too long, so the money
ran out. Then I got stuck here.
And then came Nas
and his brother were born.
It was tough for their mother
and me, for the whole family.
I started to travel to Europe
to get money.
And she moved to Queensbridge.
I was worried, because I knew that
it was going to be tough for her there.
QUEENSBRIDGE FEDERAL
HOUSING PROJECT, NEW YORK
In the '70s, there were moms and dads,
in the '80s, there were moms...
- and in the 90s
children were raised by grandmothers.
It was a historic bill
that would offer all educational
- credit and accommodation,
so you could leave the inner city.
The blacks benefited from a very
of that housing, only 2.1%.
That's how you excluded the blacks
from the white middle class.
And then they build houses
where people have to live like packed pigs.
Down with poverty, disease,
crime and fire hazards.
Let in the sunlight and the sky.
A new day dawns over a new America.
Thank you very much,
Mayor Laguardia.
History says they were built for
the working class, regardless of color.
But the color barrier was so strong in the United States,
so when the blacks left the South.
- and came to the cities and
filled the projects, the whites fled.
The white flight resulted in
the money disappearing from the city.
Queensbridge looks like a mess.
It looks like a buried diamond.
I got the chance
to be a kid for a little while.
Then I felt like I had to
to become a grown man early on.
-to make it in my environment.
I noticed
that my parents were different.
They were good people, hard working.
We had color TVs and video players.
We had carpeting and nice
stuff. My friends had nothing.
They had hot dogs for dinner and
had no furniture. It was poor.
We had food.
Mom was good at cooking.
Everyone wanted to come
and eat Mrs. Jones' food.
She had sparkle, she didn't swear.
She didn't talk like those on the street.
If we needed anything
she'd get it for us.
Dad had a whole library.
He had all kinds of books.
- Everything from "The Book of the Dead"...
- To "Malcolm X".
Sun Tzu
and the history of Chinese philosophy.
- "They came before Columbus."
- "Aesop's fables."
"Afrocentricity."
"From Superman to Man."
The Bible and "Trials and Tribulations
of Ghetto Life".
Dad had travelled all over the world
playing music.
He told many stories
about other places.
- beyond the neighborhood, beyond
New York and beyond the United States.
We had a xylophone, trumpet,
guitars and maracas.
They were like toys to me. We beat
on them every time Dad went out.
I thought Nas would be
a good trumpet player.
He played the trumpet every day
with the drummers on the street.
I took the trumpet from him
and said he might ruin the lip.
He had to wait until he was seven
and the lip more mature. He loved it.
But when he was seven and got back
he had found something else.
He used to wake me up because
to listen to his rhymes.
Because he woke me up, I said:
"I didn't like that."
Then he came and woke me up again.
"Is this better?"
I knew he was the best
the first time I heard his rhyme.
I had a friend named William
Graham. We called him Will.
We played music together when we were little.
Will and I recorded music on tape
and played for our friends.
We loved recording tapes.
Will lived above us.
He was like an extra son.
He saw the world differently.
Together they were like an explosion.
I was with him when he was baking
brownies and videotaping them.
He said it to a girl. "I bake
brownies and recording on video."
Then he started laughing.
That sounded a bit lame.
After that he always said that
when someone called.
He made you laugh.
We were like clay and long straw.
We played music all the time.
But then it was just for fun.
Everything sounded different then.
They used TR-808 drum machines.
People were having fun.
The style felt new.
It was colourful and lavish.
People were having a party in the park. A DJ
came from my neighborhood, DJ Hot Day.
Hot Day was famous in the neighborhood. Man
you could always see him with his equipment.
People carried the equipment to the park,
and sometimes I helped.
It was vibrant, big and promising.
It was only later
I noticed the decay
- and the effect of it
they began to call crack.
We're fighting for a drug-free America
on several fronts.
The city was going off the rails.
It was sad.
It didn't just affect the gangsters.
Anyone could make money from crack.
It was all about survival.
The economic collapse has
shaped an economy based on drugs.
Those who were older than me
made money from it.
It spread everywhere.
I just sat and watched.
I know an addict
Who's a real businessman
But you get no respite
You're gonna get caught
Strong men always keep their eyes open
The sleep you get is zero
I wanted to show you
what New York's nightlife is like.
You hear gunshots every night.
You see pregnant women
smoking crack.
- The turnover is 100 billion.
- Crack crime is on the rise.
It's guys who want to rob you. Man
have to try to get through unscathed.
The police are crazy to go into
that area at night. It's chaos.
The place was full of kids
It was too loud for them
It's a different ball game now
They're on a completely different level than you
Their corners are no place to be
The kids are so impressionable
With guns, there's payback
The guys are high on crack
A snitch on the street
messed up like hell
It was a hell
trying to take care of the family.
Especially if you didn't get help,
and we didn't get it.
My parents reached a breaking point.
Dad sat down and said the same thing
he probably said to his brother.
He said I had to be the man in
the house now, because he was moving out.
One day they had a big fight,
and Dad never came back.
I looked out the window. Mom
said he wasn't coming home.
He wasn't allowed to come home. She said
I couldn't let him in.
I was completely devastated,
because I was so small.
My mother never spoke
to me as a child.
As if I understood what was going on.
When she told me what was going on
I knew she was serious.
And he never came home again.
He moved to Harlem.
And I went to see him.
My mother never spoke ill of my father.
Mom felt unfairly treated,
I guess.
She worked hard and took care
taking care of all of us, Dad too.
He didn't work all the time.
She provided for everybody.
Dad was talented.
We inherited our giftedness from him.
The talent came from his side
of the family, and the intelligence.
But reason came from mother.
Mother is dead now.
Dad is still alive.
I want Dad to...
I love Dad, but Mom
deserves as much thanks as he does.
Especially when it comes to Nas.
Without mom, we wouldn't have made it.
Sometimes when mom cried
or was sad...
- or when she held us when we
when we were little and told us everything would be okay.
- were great moments.
We had a nice home in that neighborhood.
For the most part, home was good.
And we got a lot of love.
She was positive.
She was often happy and laughing.
We laughed a lot together.
She wanted me to
and my brother to be well.
I took this route to school.
Sometimes you saw people being shot
early in the morning.
There were hardly any police,
so it was tough.
And my school was like a prison.
Here is the school.
In New York, they didn't get any embrace
education of their entire family.
He had never known
such a lack of love before.
When I enrolled them in school.
- I felt like
sending them to hell.
I was completely turned off.
I felt bad.
Both my father and I
went to remedial schools.
But my own children in New York
have to go to something like this.
I liked the school at first.
In primary school, there were good teachers,
I had Miss Braconi.
Nasir's class was good
in first and second grade.
I remember a project
where the kids had to make a face.
They would make a mask
of their own face.
I hung them on the wall.
- looked at them
and noticed Nasir's mask.
For some reason
he was not happy that day.
And he had managed to catch
his own expression perfectly.
And I thought: "Wow, this kid
can really express his feelings."
They wanted to put me in a class
for slow learning.
But my mother scolded them
and got me out.
I dreamed of taking art and
design classes at some other school.
- that could stimulate
the talent I thought I had.
But when you grow up in an environment
- where the taxpayers don't bring in as much
there's no money for school.
And when schools don't have money
you get an education accordingly.
Then people become unmotivated.
- and start looking for others,
faster ways.
I stopped listening
and just daydreamed.
I was expelled in middle school
and changed schools. I didn't care.
When I was about to start high school
I had lousy grades.
I didn't care.
I talked to the deputy
principal and the math teacher.
"Your kid doesn't belong here."
They didn't care.
They were old enough then. I myself felt
like a man when I was 13 or 14.
I said to them, "Get a job
and make some money. This is America."
"Quit school if you want to do something with
your lives. Concentrate on your art."
"I support you."
My mom and my sisters called and
screaming: "How can you do something like that?"
I couldn't stand myself
if I had let them stay.
The teachers didn't care about the children.
He said if they don't teach me something
I'll have to learn on my own.
I was smarter than the teachers anyway.
They just held us back.
He said the whole school system
was holding black men and boys back.
So he told us to read the books
we wanted to and teach ourselves.
He knew
that we were going to be entrepreneurs.
-and didn't have to go to school.
Mom disagreed.
But it worked for us.
Mom's worst nightmare
was when we dropped out of school.
My friends were drug dealers, but
I didn't want to do that full time.
I didn't want to do it at all.
And I didn't have to.
I was really going to be something.
I was playing music and writing.
I wanted to be something in the arts.
I told myself
that that wasn't my career.
I was passionate about creation,
so that had to be my way out.
We came here tonight to start
something good, before it gets out of hand
At that time, Roxanne Shante
a well-known rapper in the area.
Once she was in my high-rise
and heard us rapping.
And Shante said: "I want
to perform with me."
We had heard of
about the Queensbridge party.
She wanted to bring us along as her crew.
So we worked hard.
Then she realized we weren't good.
But she asked us to rap,
and we tried.
But we just started laughing.
She said, "I'll kick your ass if
if you don't fix it next time I see you."
She was older and taller than us.
And we believed her.
Around 1984 I started to sample
at home in Queensbridge.
I don't record records
for the money.
I played with the windows open.
If someone walked by without taking any
I'd try a new beat.
Ladies and gentlemen,
MC Shan and Marley Marl are here.
They want to tell you
about the place they come from.
In 1985 I was eleven
or twelve years old.
Then a friend comes and says
that MC Shan is singing about our area.
It wasn't meant for a record, but
was just supposed to be intermission music at a festival.
But the band spread across Queensbridge
and became a hit in Queensbridge.
The rest is history.
You want to hear the story again and again
about how it all started once
When I heard the song, I stopped
I just stopped and thought: "Damn."
You knew it was a hit.
Everyone was so proud. We had our own
song, and it was playing on the radio.
I couldn't believe they lived
in our area. It was amazing.
You could see Shan walking around
and Marley in his car.
People didn't know the area,
but that song changed everything.
I went south for a while. I liked
Shan and was proud of my area.
When I came back
everyone was talking about the "South Bronx" song.
"What?", I said.
"They diss Shan and Marley in one song."
"I have to hear that one."
They tracked down on us.
"They want to be like Shan and Marley."
But it was real.
South Bronx, South South Bronx.
Nice beat.
Then Shan released "Kill That Noise".
Rapping any style or category
Fresh freestyles real live stories
If you know what I know
then you'd kill that noise
And then came "The Bridge Is Over".
Then everything went quiet.
It was just "oh well".
"Well, they're not kidding?"
Bronx creates and creates
Queens is just playing
- Seriously.
- It was a battle.
Shan did his thing and KRS One did his.
The mood was low... t
That was our life. Not just ours,
but all of Queensbridge.
KRS One sang "The Bridge Is Over."
We were little kids and went at it
it. "The Bridge is not over at all."
"We must let the world know
how awesome we are."
"Are you guys crazy? We are awesome."
Either I had to ignore the hate
or tear it down.
I decided to tear it down.
You grow up with this worry
You could die tomorrow
The street corners are crawling with gangsters
But we're enthusiasts
Let's get these guys out of here
if they want to survive till tomorrow
The police are after us
Show who's boss
I was a kid then
and I thought that every day...
- was a step
further away from the end.
Me and my buddies Will and Bo
went to see "Aliens 3".
Will never smoked pot, but we
loved it. We could relax.
Will was unpredictable
and slammed anyone who said the wrong thing.
I thought if he smoked
maybe he'd calm down.
We were watching a movie and Will said:
"Can I try?" And he went on.
Then we went home, and me and Bo
went out to buy some weed.
That day he collected
money for a barbecue.
He raised money
from the dealers too.
And someone thought he was stealing
their money and hit him.
He had a Mercedes Benz medallion,
and she broke it.
And he was high
and reacted instinctively.
He hit a girl, and she
called her boyfriend and brother.
They came up to me. Here I was.
He had never hit a girl before.
If someone hit a girl
he was the one who defended her.
But in the heat of the moment
react instinctively to insults.
That was the first time.
I sat here and they asked:
"Where is that Will?"
I looked at one of them
that he was serious.
They weren't joking.
I lied and said he went that way.
When Will arrived, they were standing over there,
and they saw us.
I said, "Will, they're after you."
He said, "I'm not running from anybody."
Then the guy fired. I looked at him,
and he looked at me with big eyes.
I saw life disappear. His eyes
did not move. He was dead.
I thought I was going to die. I
got shot in the shoulder and in the pants.
One here, in the shoulder up here.
It scraped off some flesh.
And one went through the leg
and came out there.
Nas came out of this house.
He came and saw me on the ground.
I said, "Don't tell mom."
It's true.
Just as if Mom wouldn't
notice that I'd been shot.
When I heard the shots
I knew they were nearby.
I ran down and went outside.
The first person I saw was my brother.
He was lying on the ground.
His eyes were open,
and he was fine.
Then I saw my buddy.
And...
He didn't move.
Then we thought: "How could we
let them get to one of us?"
That was the end.
Then we might as well all be dead.
Nothing mattered anymore.
I'm not blaming anyone, but I
I would have moved if my son got shot.
I told my mother:
"Why didn't we move?"
I was traumatized by
seeing the place every day.
That's what made me a
crazy and started shooting.
Give me a cigarette, will you?
Life itself didn't feel valuable.
Someone else's, mine,
nobody's life felt important at the time.
Will meant a lot to Nas.
He was creative.
Just like Nas.
And he was a generalist.
They read a lot and had
the same opinions. They were like brothers.
He changed after that
and became more cynical.
He was carrying a sadness. It hurt.
I still see that
in him sometimes.
He started to take life seriously.
He was getting record deals.
Either he had to sell drugs
for the rest of his life or do music.
After Will died
we barely saw him.
We knew what he was doing.
He and Will wanted to do music.
After he died, I felt
like he was conducting from above.
That's when we felt
something good was about to happen.
My buddies Joe Fatal and Melquan
introduced me to Nas.
They came and said he wanted to record
a demo. He could pay.
He wanted
me to make a beat.
He was working with Eric B, Rakim,
Kool G Rap and other big names.
And I felt
it was my big chance.
It was in that studio
you recorded the hip-hop records.
A lot of the guys on the street were hanging out
there. Nas and I were only 15 or 16.
We went in and Large said: "Go in.
booth." Everybody was talking around us.
He whispered, "Get in the booth."
Nas went into the booth
and started rhyming. Everyone fell silent.
I was in Mecca.
I was where everyone wanted to be.
Here's what I was thinking:
"This is what you wanted. Now it's
here you are, kid. Now you're here."
"This is it. Do your thing."
This rhythmic explosion
is my vision
Your brains collide
when you hear my version
Listen to my rhymes and my reasoning
and come down to a deeper dimension
I have my own disciples
They think I'm king
I rhyme without platitudes
The rhyme is bigger than Stallone's muscles
My rhymes crush
and can make guns go off
My poetry is deep
When you hear Nas you understand
"Who is it?" "Who is it?"
"That sounds great.
How old are you?"
We thought it sounded great.
How good he was.
I was really happy, so we continued.
Let me introduce my buddy
- rapper Nas, Nasty Nas.
I started with
"Live at the Barbecue".
Everyone was excited. We thought it was
would change things.
I have my own disciples
They think I'm king
The microphone can't stand my rhymes
When I rap I'm awesome
My rhymes are verbal mafiosos
When I was twelve they shot Jesus dead
Nas is a rebel in America
and causes hysteria
My gang has a fight
I made a start
I'm getting chicks on a roll
I see the gun in your hand
You have no plan
You work like the Ku Klux Klan
I am a godsend
Talk to Jehovah
Don't track my MC
I hardly have aphasia
You'd better take cover
I'm wearing a medal
My rap gets you high
I'm the Spielberg of rap
My poetry attacks
It can't be replicated
My rap is supernatural
My voice is dangerous
That was the coolest verse
we'd ever heard.
"When I was twelve
my rhymes shot Jesus dead."
I think I rewound
and listened a hundred times.
The record was brilliant. But who was he?
After a week
everyone wanted to know who he was.
Nas sang: "When I was twelve
my rhymes shot Jesus dead."
I wondered who he was.
That was twisted.
I tried to find him.
I met Nas in 1992.
But I didn't get to know him until
"Back to the Grill Again" came along.
I have a weapon in my office
I'm the doctor of lyrics
I perform murder on paragraphs
words and stanzas
You know how it goes
I aim automatic weapons at nuns
I rob priests in church
I'm the one you should worship
"I point automatic weapons at nuns."
The text was not shocking.
It wasn't just about the text.
It was about a feeling.
And that was an example.
"I'm so angry at the system."
"I have to direct that anxiety
and frustration-"
- "with automatic weapons against nuns."
I have a song here
Hotter than a whore with gonorrhea
You have to expect wordplay
Kick 'em in the Grill
MC Serch called.
Serch said he had found the guy
I was looking for, Nasty Nas.
He had two demos too.
I told my boss I was just
have to sign this guy.
And he said okay.
That's how it started.
I had always dreamed of a record deal
with Columbia, they seemed serious.
When I was invited
I felt it was about time.
I saw its history on the walls
and looked around.
"You have been waiting for me." I spoke
with the walls, the paintings and the floor.
"You have prepared for my arrival."
That's how I felt.
It was my home.
He never told me about the contract.
He just came home with the money.
He had some money,
but he never said how much.
"Go shopping at Macy's."
He bought me Guess jeans.
Stuff like that. "I'll take care of you."
I didn't know how that happened.
I just thought it was cool.
We would never
have that kind of money again.
I thought he was going to record
some videos and come back.
I didn't know it would
spread all over the world.
- Here's a beat from "The Bridge".
- That's where you're from, right?
Bridge in da house.
People have been waiting for this record.
How's it coming along?
The album will be released in January.
It's called "Illmatic".
"Live at the Barbecue" and
"Back to the Grill Again" were ready.
Now the album was about to be released. "N.Y.. State
of Mind" would be the first song.
"I'll take you
from hell and back."
I wanted a slow song,
a little dark and swingy.
It has to make you want to do
like this. And it did.
My rap and rhythm make you dumb
They make you feel stupid
It's like snorting cocaine
I can't get back in
I have bullet holes in my eyes
You can see it from far away
When I wrote about the record, I knew
that it would change hip-hop.
I just knew
that it would change me.
"Illmatic" represents the '90s
and my childhood.
I could relate to the lyrics.
I'm from Dallas, and "Illmatic"
was my secret and my weapon.
It was the inspiration
for the sound of "Baduizm".
I was nine years old in 1994, and it wasn't
everything that reached North Carolina.
He gave us an insight into how to
of being a black man in the United States.
- Fab 5 Freddy, here's my buddy.
- It's Nas, it's "Illmatic".
Nas called
and wanted me on the record.
"Come to the studio
and bring your beats."
I barely got to play anything.
He took the first beat.
I'm from Brooklyn,
and the murder rate there was through the roof.
When I wrote "Life's a Bitch"
another one of my buddies had died.
That was the third one. A lot of people were in jail.
I played it for a friend,
and it went straight to my heart.
My life is not a game
We live without pay and love
What I think and say is true
I'm living the dream of those who disappeared
Sin is our judgment
Many are behind bars
Some are dead, some are in jail
I'll keep their memory alive
The street has taught us how to do
Though we know we all must die
We just gotta get out of here
Then we'll have something in our pockets
Everybody's gonna die, you get high
You put the money in a pile
Life's a Bitch
The escape he got to
with those rhymes was superb.
The phrase "I'm living the dream
for those who disappeared"-
- along with that street talk
gives hope.
On my birthday I woke up
How did I get up here?
If I didn't do the best, tell me
Of the life God gave me
I rhyme all year round
The microphone feels it's getting heavy
I have a headache
It's like a vice
When I was young, I used to commit robberies
But I got away
Then it was a fun thing
I got my first girl
It was all about the money
Now they sleep in prison beds
I had to rethink
I wouldn't do what they did
I stood there once
But crack got me going
The times are Illmatic
We're not just statistics
Life's a bitch and then you die
That's why we get high
Daddy said
I could be the man of the house.
Mom said
that he still loved us.
That's how it was.
I guess I wasn't very happy.
But that was my reality.
I just had to fight on.
The song felt jazzy.
I could hear Dad in there.
I asked him to play something that reminded me
of when we were kids and the neighborhood.
The record still speaks
to people today.
It's still me.
Those words are almost philosophical.
They're about life.
The nineteen-year-old
was the beginning of me.
That was the beginning of who I am today.
If I hadn't been like that then
people wouldn't be hanging out with me today.
The song was inspired by Tony Montana
in "Scarface".
It said "The World is Yours"
on the airship. It was memorable.
It was like a sign.
I saw a jazz record
with Amal Jamal.
I listened to it
while I was cleaning.
That's when I heard the loop.
And then I added drums. I
didn't want any of the usual banging.
I wanted something like this...
That was the first beat. When he heard
I could tell he froze.
He closed his eyes and kept on playing.
He wanted me to sing
the melody loop.
He sang like this
as he wanted me to sing.
- Who's world is this?
- The world is yours. It's mine
I raise champagne
and working on my rap campaign
Watch me work the mic
It's the worst kick
Hip-hop is the worst thief
It drills into me like a screw
And creates a dependency
I am captivated and give it confidence
I sweat on the tank machine
It feels like withdrawal
I fight more and more
but I'm falling further and further down
But I never reach the bottom
Always climbing to the top
Who will represent me?
Who's world is this?
The world is yours.
"I name my daughter after my Strength
My son will be the revival."
I baptize my daughter into my Strength
My son Star becomes the revival
He will be my resurrection
I didn't know that I
would have children in that order.
- what gender they would be.
But it turned out like the rhymes on the record.
I get chills.
- Peace.
- Peace.
This is where I was born.
Snacky Boy! What's up?
- Damn! What's up?
- What's up, man?
Karate K! What's up?
He was beating me up every day.
If the shoes were dirty...
-he sent me home. He's the best.
- I'm a big fan.
- Thank you.
Is it okay that the cameras are here?
I just wanted to check with you guys first.
What's up?
You've gotten so big.
- I'm no Little Messiah anymore.
- Now you're a Big Messiah.
What's up? Hey, guys.
Peace. What's up?
- Love you, Nas.
- I love you too.
I never thought I would
come this far and think back.
I can't believe I made it this far.
Someone has to tell the story. It had
told by MC Shan, Marley Marl.
- Craig G, Shante,
Juice Crew, Tragedy.
They had told,
and I'm an extension of that.
They paved the way for me.
What's up, dude?
Get over here and give me the gimbal.
- What's up, man? What's your name?
- Noah.
Nice to meet you, Noah.
What's your middle name?
Nasir? Give me the gimbal!
You know, everyone named that is a king.
We are kings, okay? Don't forget that.
Never believe otherwise. You're a king.
Buddy!
Take care.
What's up? Give me the gimbal.
I remember one time
when I came back from Europe.
I went to Queensbridge. A man
with a camera said: "There are your boys."
They ran up to me
and hugged me. Then the card was taken.
They were always in my mind.
They had gotten a little bigger.
They had been released
from their mother's arms.
They were out playing and having fun.
I knew exactly which card
that was the cover of "Illmatic".
You can see from the card that it was at the
his consciousness opened up.
He seemed to be saying:
"Wow! What a world. What a world."
This was the background
on the cover of "Illmatic".
The photographer, Danny Clinch,
showed this picture.
In it you get a chance to see the area
in a holistic perspective.
It was a great day for me,
because the record was about to be released.
We were going to shoot for the record.
We didn't have a stylist. We just had
enough budget for a photographer.
It was the biggest day of my life,
so we celebrated.
Nas said
that we should come out and take pictures.
Everybody knew Nas was rapping and
was going to release a song, so everybody came out.
There were a lot of people who wanted to kill each other
who were united that day.
Just for the pictures.
That day was crazy.
No one went safe in Queensbridge
Some became killers, some became
some were beaten, some went to prison.
But everyone has a story to tell.
I can tell you what happened
to every single person on that card.
He got fifteen years in prison,
he was charged with murder.
He got a life sentence,
he's just gone to prison.
My buddy here-
- has been in jail for a long time in North
Carolina. His life is all screwed up.
He also has
been in jail several times.
That's life in the housing projects.
It is distorted.
It's so distorted.
Look what's happening.
If it weren't for the music
the guy on the bench would have gone the same way.
If it wasn't for the music, I would have
might not even have been on the card.
I didn't wish that fate on anyone
on the card. They were my friends.
It's twisted.
I usually have dreams that I live
still living. I don't know what they mean.
The area is haunted by all the guys
who went here. They're still there.
They helped create the place.
They control it,
in a spiritual way.
Those who died are still remembered
so that we might live on.
I feel like I'm giving
those who have passed on a voice.
Because I was here. It was my life.
This is what life was like.
The song is dedicated to all who love!
And especially all those who are in prison.
L!
O!
That's true love!
And V!
E!
Let me hear you scream Love!
Say love!
Say love!
Large Professor suggested
that I work with Nas.
Large, Akinyele and Nas came by.
Phife had a studio in his basement.
Nas said:
"I need that stuff you do."
"That mysterious stuff."
Then I played
what would become "One Love".
I received a letter
from friends who were inside.
I told them what happened out here,
and he told me what was going on in there.
We sent letters back and forth,
and I tried to encourage them.
I hadn't heard a song that
about writing letters.
-from a street perspective.
"One Love" was about
pepping up those who were inside.
I remember when they took you
You should have gone home to me
But now it happened
I heard you had a son
He looks just like you.
Why doesn't the girl write to you?
"He looks like you
Why doesn't the girl write to you?"
Those lines describe what happens
when you go to prison.
It's almost like a disease
among young African-Americans.
You lock up black men.
You don't lock
you don't just lock them up physically.
You also lock up their masculinity,
their identity and their spark.
I remember when they took you
You should have gone home to me
But now it happened
I heard you had a son
He looks like you
Why doesn't the girl write to you?
I told her to come visit
Then she started fencing and hitting
In our neighborhoods, they talk about
girls who are faithful if you go in.
The kind that don't lie around.
People who make sure you have visitors.
She's got your back.
But like black,
in bad neighborhoods in America.
-it's hard to make a living.
- and the women are surrounded
by dysfunction.
The line "Why write
the girl to you?" shows-
- how the prison system
destroys relationships
-and love and entire families.
It destroys promise and hope.
Not just for the locked up,
but also those who know him.
Why doesn't the girl write to you?
I told her to come visit
Then she started fencing and hitting
She doesn't care, your girl
Says "he didn't listen to me"
You know who got shot?
Jerome, that idiot.
Little Rob has started dealing
and hanging out with the others
The evenings have gotten worse
Have you seen Cormega?
In that case, stay together in there.
Say hello to everyone else in there.
And tell them One Love.
Hands in the air! One Love!
For all those who are not here
Hands in the air
for all who are not here
One Love! One Love!
- Let me hear it!
- One Love! One Love! One Love!
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Yes. Rest in peace my friend, Draws.
Rest in peace, Ill Will.
Rest in peace Barkim.
Represent to all my buddies.
We are still thinking of you.
We love you.
Hip Hop Archive at Harvard
will promote hip-hop culture.
Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellowship
will demonstrate that knowledge is strength.
Welcome Professor Morgan, Mr.
Nasir Jones and Professor Skip Gates.
No one I grew up with
graduated from college.
Nobody owns a store or a bank.
These guys got life in prison,
some are dead.
The boys are hanging in the streets
and see no way out.
When the record was released...
- I couldn't have imagined
to be contacted by Harvard.
The Nasir Jones Fellowship is about
people who are working on building something
-that contributes to a better world.
Many years ago I said that we don't
we had no chance of getting into Yale.
Here we are.
They realize it's an art form
that you can study at Harvard.
- and that is kept in an archive of
of its talents, like Nas Jones.
I represent the friends who do not
made it, because they helped me.
The conversations we had and what we did
together as teenagers.
Everything they told me,
and what I told them.
What we went through,
what we lost.
I represent my boys
who didn't make it here with me.
The ones who were there from the beginning.
I didn't trust anything
outside the world I lived in.
I didn't care about politics
or the United States.
Because I didn't think
that they believed me.
I'm grateful that I'm still here.
I rode out the storm.
This is a great honour for me
and for hip-hop too.
A round of applause.
A kid who dropped out of school
in the housing projects in New York.
And he was valued.
It's not just about music.
I wanted "Illmatic" to show
my voice, my philosophy and my ideas.
-in the form of music, in the form of rap.
It would be a proof of
that I once existed.
I dropped out of school
in eighth or ninth grade.
I didn't finish.
My mother was probably worried
for me and my brother.
We didn't know what we wanted,
but we wanted to be something.
But I didn't know what
what would happen in the future.
There was a glimmer of hope in the darkness.
My son, Nas, came into the world.
It felt like a king was born.
His rhyme was the best
I had ever heard.
He was ten and talking and the devil
and God. No one else rhymed like that.
How many have "Illmatic"?
One, two, three.
"Illmatic" was a new beginning in rap.
It was like being a gangster,
but with the help of poetry.
He was a genius.
"Illmatic" from 1994 was prophetic.
He dared to tell the truth about
the shadow side of black existence.
"Illmatic" changed hip-hop.
A hundred years from now, it will stand out
as one of hip-hop's best.
What he did with his lyrics
changed the playing field for MCs.
It was honest.
It will always be
one of the best albums of all time.
When I recorded "Illmatic"
I was trying to make a perfect record.
I wanted
I wanted you to experience my life.
-to look at hip-hop differently-
- and feel that hip-hop
was becoming something real.
I showed what the streets felt like,
the way the streets sounded, tasted and smelled on the record.
I tried to capture it in a way
that nobody had ever done before.
When I'm going on a gig
I usually think:
"Wow! I can't believe this is my job."
I made a choice, and it became
reality. Now I do this all the time.
If you're from Queens
it doesn't get any better than this.
The music didn't start with me.
I come a from musical and
artistic family. It's innate.
I am an extension of what they were.
My artistic roots
can be traced all the way back to Natchez.
-Natchez, Mississippi.
Nas's father, Olu Dara,
in front of "Father Blues"
My father's name is Olu Dara.
NAS PAPPA
It means "God is good".
I was born in the United States, in Natchez in
Mississippi. It's on the river.
It was segregation
and the Ku Klux Klan was rampant.
You saw burning crosses all the time.
Many of my father's family were musicians.
He and my godfather had a band,
the Mellowderes, and traveled all over the United States.
The family has consisted of
musicians, artists, teachers.
- tenants,
farmers and prostitutes.
But they took pride in it.
They didn't cower in the dust.
Were they prostitutes
they were the best at it.
They did it as dignified as they could.
I was in the Navy for four years
and got discharged in New York.
That's when I met Na's mom.
I stayed too long, so the money
ran out. Then I got stuck here.
And then came Nas
and his brother were born.
It was tough for their mother
and me, for the whole family.
I started to travel to Europe
to get money.
And she moved to Queensbridge.
I was worried, because I knew that
it was going to be tough for her there.
QUEENSBRIDGE FEDERAL
HOUSING PROJECT, NEW YORK
In the '70s, there were moms and dads,
in the '80s, there were moms...
- and in the 90s
children were raised by grandmothers.
It was a historic bill
that would offer all educational
- credit and accommodation,
so you could leave the inner city.
The blacks benefited from a very
of that housing, only 2.1%.
That's how you excluded the blacks
from the white middle class.
And then they build houses
where people have to live like packed pigs.
Down with poverty, disease,
crime and fire hazards.
Let in the sunlight and the sky.
A new day dawns over a new America.
Thank you very much,
Mayor Laguardia.
History says they were built for
the working class, regardless of color.
But the color barrier was so strong in the United States,
so when the blacks left the South.
- and came to the cities and
filled the projects, the whites fled.
The white flight resulted in
the money disappearing from the city.
Queensbridge looks like a mess.
It looks like a buried diamond.
I got the chance
to be a kid for a little while.
Then I felt like I had to
to become a grown man early on.
-to make it in my environment.
I noticed
that my parents were different.
They were good people, hard working.
We had color TVs and video players.
We had carpeting and nice
stuff. My friends had nothing.
They had hot dogs for dinner and
had no furniture. It was poor.
We had food.
Mom was good at cooking.
Everyone wanted to come
and eat Mrs. Jones' food.
She had sparkle, she didn't swear.
She didn't talk like those on the street.
If we needed anything
she'd get it for us.
Dad had a whole library.
He had all kinds of books.
- Everything from "The Book of the Dead"...
- To "Malcolm X".
Sun Tzu
and the history of Chinese philosophy.
- "They came before Columbus."
- "Aesop's fables."
"Afrocentricity."
"From Superman to Man."
The Bible and "Trials and Tribulations
of Ghetto Life".
Dad had travelled all over the world
playing music.
He told many stories
about other places.
- beyond the neighborhood, beyond
New York and beyond the United States.
We had a xylophone, trumpet,
guitars and maracas.
They were like toys to me. We beat
on them every time Dad went out.
I thought Nas would be
a good trumpet player.
He played the trumpet every day
with the drummers on the street.
I took the trumpet from him
and said he might ruin the lip.
He had to wait until he was seven
and the lip more mature. He loved it.
But when he was seven and got back
he had found something else.
He used to wake me up because
to listen to his rhymes.
Because he woke me up, I said:
"I didn't like that."
Then he came and woke me up again.
"Is this better?"
I knew he was the best
the first time I heard his rhyme.
I had a friend named William
Graham. We called him Will.
We played music together when we were little.
Will and I recorded music on tape
and played for our friends.
We loved recording tapes.
Will lived above us.
He was like an extra son.
He saw the world differently.
Together they were like an explosion.
I was with him when he was baking
brownies and videotaping them.
He said it to a girl. "I bake
brownies and recording on video."
Then he started laughing.
That sounded a bit lame.
After that he always said that
when someone called.
He made you laugh.
We were like clay and long straw.
We played music all the time.
But then it was just for fun.
Everything sounded different then.
They used TR-808 drum machines.
People were having fun.
The style felt new.
It was colourful and lavish.
People were having a party in the park. A DJ
came from my neighborhood, DJ Hot Day.
Hot Day was famous in the neighborhood. Man
you could always see him with his equipment.
People carried the equipment to the park,
and sometimes I helped.
It was vibrant, big and promising.
It was only later
I noticed the decay
- and the effect of it
they began to call crack.
We're fighting for a drug-free America
on several fronts.
The city was going off the rails.
It was sad.
It didn't just affect the gangsters.
Anyone could make money from crack.
It was all about survival.
The economic collapse has
shaped an economy based on drugs.
Those who were older than me
made money from it.
It spread everywhere.
I just sat and watched.
I know an addict
Who's a real businessman
But you get no respite
You're gonna get caught
Strong men always keep their eyes open
The sleep you get is zero
I wanted to show you
what New York's nightlife is like.
You hear gunshots every night.
You see pregnant women
smoking crack.
- The turnover is 100 billion.
- Crack crime is on the rise.
It's guys who want to rob you. Man
have to try to get through unscathed.
The police are crazy to go into
that area at night. It's chaos.
The place was full of kids
It was too loud for them
It's a different ball game now
They're on a completely different level than you
Their corners are no place to be
The kids are so impressionable
With guns, there's payback
The guys are high on crack
A snitch on the street
messed up like hell
It was a hell
trying to take care of the family.
Especially if you didn't get help,
and we didn't get it.
My parents reached a breaking point.
Dad sat down and said the same thing
he probably said to his brother.
He said I had to be the man in
the house now, because he was moving out.
One day they had a big fight,
and Dad never came back.
I looked out the window. Mom
said he wasn't coming home.
He wasn't allowed to come home. She said
I couldn't let him in.
I was completely devastated,
because I was so small.
My mother never spoke
to me as a child.
As if I understood what was going on.
When she told me what was going on
I knew she was serious.
And he never came home again.
He moved to Harlem.
And I went to see him.
My mother never spoke ill of my father.
Mom felt unfairly treated,
I guess.
She worked hard and took care
taking care of all of us, Dad too.
He didn't work all the time.
She provided for everybody.
Dad was talented.
We inherited our giftedness from him.
The talent came from his side
of the family, and the intelligence.
But reason came from mother.
Mother is dead now.
Dad is still alive.
I want Dad to...
I love Dad, but Mom
deserves as much thanks as he does.
Especially when it comes to Nas.
Without mom, we wouldn't have made it.
Sometimes when mom cried
or was sad...
- or when she held us when we
when we were little and told us everything would be okay.
- were great moments.
We had a nice home in that neighborhood.
For the most part, home was good.
And we got a lot of love.
She was positive.
She was often happy and laughing.
We laughed a lot together.
She wanted me to
and my brother to be well.
I took this route to school.
Sometimes you saw people being shot
early in the morning.
There were hardly any police,
so it was tough.
And my school was like a prison.
Here is the school.
In New York, they didn't get any embrace
education of their entire family.
He had never known
such a lack of love before.
When I enrolled them in school.
- I felt like
sending them to hell.
I was completely turned off.
I felt bad.
Both my father and I
went to remedial schools.
But my own children in New York
have to go to something like this.
I liked the school at first.
In primary school, there were good teachers,
I had Miss Braconi.
Nasir's class was good
in first and second grade.
I remember a project
where the kids had to make a face.
They would make a mask
of their own face.
I hung them on the wall.
- looked at them
and noticed Nasir's mask.
For some reason
he was not happy that day.
And he had managed to catch
his own expression perfectly.
And I thought: "Wow, this kid
can really express his feelings."
They wanted to put me in a class
for slow learning.
But my mother scolded them
and got me out.
I dreamed of taking art and
design classes at some other school.
- that could stimulate
the talent I thought I had.
But when you grow up in an environment
- where the taxpayers don't bring in as much
there's no money for school.
And when schools don't have money
you get an education accordingly.
Then people become unmotivated.
- and start looking for others,
faster ways.
I stopped listening
and just daydreamed.
I was expelled in middle school
and changed schools. I didn't care.
When I was about to start high school
I had lousy grades.
I didn't care.
I talked to the deputy
principal and the math teacher.
"Your kid doesn't belong here."
They didn't care.
They were old enough then. I myself felt
like a man when I was 13 or 14.
I said to them, "Get a job
and make some money. This is America."
"Quit school if you want to do something with
your lives. Concentrate on your art."
"I support you."
My mom and my sisters called and
screaming: "How can you do something like that?"
I couldn't stand myself
if I had let them stay.
The teachers didn't care about the children.
He said if they don't teach me something
I'll have to learn on my own.
I was smarter than the teachers anyway.
They just held us back.
He said the whole school system
was holding black men and boys back.
So he told us to read the books
we wanted to and teach ourselves.
He knew
that we were going to be entrepreneurs.
-and didn't have to go to school.
Mom disagreed.
But it worked for us.
Mom's worst nightmare
was when we dropped out of school.
My friends were drug dealers, but
I didn't want to do that full time.
I didn't want to do it at all.
And I didn't have to.
I was really going to be something.
I was playing music and writing.
I wanted to be something in the arts.
I told myself
that that wasn't my career.
I was passionate about creation,
so that had to be my way out.
We came here tonight to start
something good, before it gets out of hand
At that time, Roxanne Shante
a well-known rapper in the area.
Once she was in my high-rise
and heard us rapping.
And Shante said: "I want
to perform with me."
We had heard of
about the Queensbridge party.
She wanted to bring us along as her crew.
So we worked hard.
Then she realized we weren't good.
But she asked us to rap,
and we tried.
But we just started laughing.
She said, "I'll kick your ass if
if you don't fix it next time I see you."
She was older and taller than us.
And we believed her.
Around 1984 I started to sample
at home in Queensbridge.
I don't record records
for the money.
I played with the windows open.
If someone walked by without taking any
I'd try a new beat.
Ladies and gentlemen,
MC Shan and Marley Marl are here.
They want to tell you
about the place they come from.
In 1985 I was eleven
or twelve years old.
Then a friend comes and says
that MC Shan is singing about our area.
It wasn't meant for a record, but
was just supposed to be intermission music at a festival.
But the band spread across Queensbridge
and became a hit in Queensbridge.
The rest is history.
You want to hear the story again and again
about how it all started once
When I heard the song, I stopped
I just stopped and thought: "Damn."
You knew it was a hit.
Everyone was so proud. We had our own
song, and it was playing on the radio.
I couldn't believe they lived
in our area. It was amazing.
You could see Shan walking around
and Marley in his car.
People didn't know the area,
but that song changed everything.
I went south for a while. I liked
Shan and was proud of my area.
When I came back
everyone was talking about the "South Bronx" song.
"What?", I said.
"They diss Shan and Marley in one song."
"I have to hear that one."
They tracked down on us.
"They want to be like Shan and Marley."
But it was real.
South Bronx, South South Bronx.
Nice beat.
Then Shan released "Kill That Noise".
Rapping any style or category
Fresh freestyles real live stories
If you know what I know
then you'd kill that noise
And then came "The Bridge Is Over".
Then everything went quiet.
It was just "oh well".
"Well, they're not kidding?"
Bronx creates and creates
Queens is just playing
- Seriously.
- It was a battle.
Shan did his thing and KRS One did his.
The mood was low... t
That was our life. Not just ours,
but all of Queensbridge.
KRS One sang "The Bridge Is Over."
We were little kids and went at it
it. "The Bridge is not over at all."
"We must let the world know
how awesome we are."
"Are you guys crazy? We are awesome."
Either I had to ignore the hate
or tear it down.
I decided to tear it down.
You grow up with this worry
You could die tomorrow
The street corners are crawling with gangsters
But we're enthusiasts
Let's get these guys out of here
if they want to survive till tomorrow
The police are after us
Show who's boss
I was a kid then
and I thought that every day...
- was a step
further away from the end.
Me and my buddies Will and Bo
went to see "Aliens 3".
Will never smoked pot, but we
loved it. We could relax.
Will was unpredictable
and slammed anyone who said the wrong thing.
I thought if he smoked
maybe he'd calm down.
We were watching a movie and Will said:
"Can I try?" And he went on.
Then we went home, and me and Bo
went out to buy some weed.
That day he collected
money for a barbecue.
He raised money
from the dealers too.
And someone thought he was stealing
their money and hit him.
He had a Mercedes Benz medallion,
and she broke it.
And he was high
and reacted instinctively.
He hit a girl, and she
called her boyfriend and brother.
They came up to me. Here I was.
He had never hit a girl before.
If someone hit a girl
he was the one who defended her.
But in the heat of the moment
react instinctively to insults.
That was the first time.
I sat here and they asked:
"Where is that Will?"
I looked at one of them
that he was serious.
They weren't joking.
I lied and said he went that way.
When Will arrived, they were standing over there,
and they saw us.
I said, "Will, they're after you."
He said, "I'm not running from anybody."
Then the guy fired. I looked at him,
and he looked at me with big eyes.
I saw life disappear. His eyes
did not move. He was dead.
I thought I was going to die. I
got shot in the shoulder and in the pants.
One here, in the shoulder up here.
It scraped off some flesh.
And one went through the leg
and came out there.
Nas came out of this house.
He came and saw me on the ground.
I said, "Don't tell mom."
It's true.
Just as if Mom wouldn't
notice that I'd been shot.
When I heard the shots
I knew they were nearby.
I ran down and went outside.
The first person I saw was my brother.
He was lying on the ground.
His eyes were open,
and he was fine.
Then I saw my buddy.
And...
He didn't move.
Then we thought: "How could we
let them get to one of us?"
That was the end.
Then we might as well all be dead.
Nothing mattered anymore.
I'm not blaming anyone, but I
I would have moved if my son got shot.
I told my mother:
"Why didn't we move?"
I was traumatized by
seeing the place every day.
That's what made me a
crazy and started shooting.
Give me a cigarette, will you?
Life itself didn't feel valuable.
Someone else's, mine,
nobody's life felt important at the time.
Will meant a lot to Nas.
He was creative.
Just like Nas.
And he was a generalist.
They read a lot and had
the same opinions. They were like brothers.
He changed after that
and became more cynical.
He was carrying a sadness. It hurt.
I still see that
in him sometimes.
He started to take life seriously.
He was getting record deals.
Either he had to sell drugs
for the rest of his life or do music.
After Will died
we barely saw him.
We knew what he was doing.
He and Will wanted to do music.
After he died, I felt
like he was conducting from above.
That's when we felt
something good was about to happen.
My buddies Joe Fatal and Melquan
introduced me to Nas.
They came and said he wanted to record
a demo. He could pay.
He wanted
me to make a beat.
He was working with Eric B, Rakim,
Kool G Rap and other big names.
And I felt
it was my big chance.
It was in that studio
you recorded the hip-hop records.
A lot of the guys on the street were hanging out
there. Nas and I were only 15 or 16.
We went in and Large said: "Go in.
booth." Everybody was talking around us.
He whispered, "Get in the booth."
Nas went into the booth
and started rhyming. Everyone fell silent.
I was in Mecca.
I was where everyone wanted to be.
Here's what I was thinking:
"This is what you wanted. Now it's
here you are, kid. Now you're here."
"This is it. Do your thing."
This rhythmic explosion
is my vision
Your brains collide
when you hear my version
Listen to my rhymes and my reasoning
and come down to a deeper dimension
I have my own disciples
They think I'm king
I rhyme without platitudes
The rhyme is bigger than Stallone's muscles
My rhymes crush
and can make guns go off
My poetry is deep
When you hear Nas you understand
"Who is it?" "Who is it?"
"That sounds great.
How old are you?"
We thought it sounded great.
How good he was.
I was really happy, so we continued.
Let me introduce my buddy
- rapper Nas, Nasty Nas.
I started with
"Live at the Barbecue".
Everyone was excited. We thought it was
would change things.
I have my own disciples
They think I'm king
The microphone can't stand my rhymes
When I rap I'm awesome
My rhymes are verbal mafiosos
When I was twelve they shot Jesus dead
Nas is a rebel in America
and causes hysteria
My gang has a fight
I made a start
I'm getting chicks on a roll
I see the gun in your hand
You have no plan
You work like the Ku Klux Klan
I am a godsend
Talk to Jehovah
Don't track my MC
I hardly have aphasia
You'd better take cover
I'm wearing a medal
My rap gets you high
I'm the Spielberg of rap
My poetry attacks
It can't be replicated
My rap is supernatural
My voice is dangerous
That was the coolest verse
we'd ever heard.
"When I was twelve
my rhymes shot Jesus dead."
I think I rewound
and listened a hundred times.
The record was brilliant. But who was he?
After a week
everyone wanted to know who he was.
Nas sang: "When I was twelve
my rhymes shot Jesus dead."
I wondered who he was.
That was twisted.
I tried to find him.
I met Nas in 1992.
But I didn't get to know him until
"Back to the Grill Again" came along.
I have a weapon in my office
I'm the doctor of lyrics
I perform murder on paragraphs
words and stanzas
You know how it goes
I aim automatic weapons at nuns
I rob priests in church
I'm the one you should worship
"I point automatic weapons at nuns."
The text was not shocking.
It wasn't just about the text.
It was about a feeling.
And that was an example.
"I'm so angry at the system."
"I have to direct that anxiety
and frustration-"
- "with automatic weapons against nuns."
I have a song here
Hotter than a whore with gonorrhea
You have to expect wordplay
Kick 'em in the Grill
MC Serch called.
Serch said he had found the guy
I was looking for, Nasty Nas.
He had two demos too.
I told my boss I was just
have to sign this guy.
And he said okay.
That's how it started.
I had always dreamed of a record deal
with Columbia, they seemed serious.
When I was invited
I felt it was about time.
I saw its history on the walls
and looked around.
"You have been waiting for me." I spoke
with the walls, the paintings and the floor.
"You have prepared for my arrival."
That's how I felt.
It was my home.
He never told me about the contract.
He just came home with the money.
He had some money,
but he never said how much.
"Go shopping at Macy's."
He bought me Guess jeans.
Stuff like that. "I'll take care of you."
I didn't know how that happened.
I just thought it was cool.
We would never
have that kind of money again.
I thought he was going to record
some videos and come back.
I didn't know it would
spread all over the world.
- Here's a beat from "The Bridge".
- That's where you're from, right?
Bridge in da house.
People have been waiting for this record.
How's it coming along?
The album will be released in January.
It's called "Illmatic".
"Live at the Barbecue" and
"Back to the Grill Again" were ready.
Now the album was about to be released. "N.Y.. State
of Mind" would be the first song.
"I'll take you
from hell and back."
I wanted a slow song,
a little dark and swingy.
It has to make you want to do
like this. And it did.
My rap and rhythm make you dumb
They make you feel stupid
It's like snorting cocaine
I can't get back in
I have bullet holes in my eyes
You can see it from far away
When I wrote about the record, I knew
that it would change hip-hop.
I just knew
that it would change me.
"Illmatic" represents the '90s
and my childhood.
I could relate to the lyrics.
I'm from Dallas, and "Illmatic"
was my secret and my weapon.
It was the inspiration
for the sound of "Baduizm".
I was nine years old in 1994, and it wasn't
everything that reached North Carolina.
He gave us an insight into how to
of being a black man in the United States.
- Fab 5 Freddy, here's my buddy.
- It's Nas, it's "Illmatic".
Nas called
and wanted me on the record.
"Come to the studio
and bring your beats."
I barely got to play anything.
He took the first beat.
I'm from Brooklyn,
and the murder rate there was through the roof.
When I wrote "Life's a Bitch"
another one of my buddies had died.
That was the third one. A lot of people were in jail.
I played it for a friend,
and it went straight to my heart.
My life is not a game
We live without pay and love
What I think and say is true
I'm living the dream of those who disappeared
Sin is our judgment
Many are behind bars
Some are dead, some are in jail
I'll keep their memory alive
The street has taught us how to do
Though we know we all must die
We just gotta get out of here
Then we'll have something in our pockets
Everybody's gonna die, you get high
You put the money in a pile
Life's a Bitch
The escape he got to
with those rhymes was superb.
The phrase "I'm living the dream
for those who disappeared"-
- along with that street talk
gives hope.
On my birthday I woke up
How did I get up here?
If I didn't do the best, tell me
Of the life God gave me
I rhyme all year round
The microphone feels it's getting heavy
I have a headache
It's like a vice
When I was young, I used to commit robberies
But I got away
Then it was a fun thing
I got my first girl
It was all about the money
Now they sleep in prison beds
I had to rethink
I wouldn't do what they did
I stood there once
But crack got me going
The times are Illmatic
We're not just statistics
Life's a bitch and then you die
That's why we get high
Daddy said
I could be the man of the house.
Mom said
that he still loved us.
That's how it was.
I guess I wasn't very happy.
But that was my reality.
I just had to fight on.
The song felt jazzy.
I could hear Dad in there.
I asked him to play something that reminded me
of when we were kids and the neighborhood.
The record still speaks
to people today.
It's still me.
Those words are almost philosophical.
They're about life.
The nineteen-year-old
was the beginning of me.
That was the beginning of who I am today.
If I hadn't been like that then
people wouldn't be hanging out with me today.
The song was inspired by Tony Montana
in "Scarface".
It said "The World is Yours"
on the airship. It was memorable.
It was like a sign.
I saw a jazz record
with Amal Jamal.
I listened to it
while I was cleaning.
That's when I heard the loop.
And then I added drums. I
didn't want any of the usual banging.
I wanted something like this...
That was the first beat. When he heard
I could tell he froze.
He closed his eyes and kept on playing.
He wanted me to sing
the melody loop.
He sang like this
as he wanted me to sing.
- Who's world is this?
- The world is yours. It's mine
I raise champagne
and working on my rap campaign
Watch me work the mic
It's the worst kick
Hip-hop is the worst thief
It drills into me like a screw
And creates a dependency
I am captivated and give it confidence
I sweat on the tank machine
It feels like withdrawal
I fight more and more
but I'm falling further and further down
But I never reach the bottom
Always climbing to the top
Who will represent me?
Who's world is this?
The world is yours.
"I name my daughter after my Strength
My son will be the revival."
I baptize my daughter into my Strength
My son Star becomes the revival
He will be my resurrection
I didn't know that I
would have children in that order.
- what gender they would be.
But it turned out like the rhymes on the record.
I get chills.
- Peace.
- Peace.
This is where I was born.
Snacky Boy! What's up?
- Damn! What's up?
- What's up, man?
Karate K! What's up?
He was beating me up every day.
If the shoes were dirty...
-he sent me home. He's the best.
- I'm a big fan.
- Thank you.
Is it okay that the cameras are here?
I just wanted to check with you guys first.
What's up?
You've gotten so big.
- I'm no Little Messiah anymore.
- Now you're a Big Messiah.
What's up? Hey, guys.
Peace. What's up?
- Love you, Nas.
- I love you too.
I never thought I would
come this far and think back.
I can't believe I made it this far.
Someone has to tell the story. It had
told by MC Shan, Marley Marl.
- Craig G, Shante,
Juice Crew, Tragedy.
They had told,
and I'm an extension of that.
They paved the way for me.
What's up, dude?
Get over here and give me the gimbal.
- What's up, man? What's your name?
- Noah.
Nice to meet you, Noah.
What's your middle name?
Nasir? Give me the gimbal!
You know, everyone named that is a king.
We are kings, okay? Don't forget that.
Never believe otherwise. You're a king.
Buddy!
Take care.
What's up? Give me the gimbal.
I remember one time
when I came back from Europe.
I went to Queensbridge. A man
with a camera said: "There are your boys."
They ran up to me
and hugged me. Then the card was taken.
They were always in my mind.
They had gotten a little bigger.
They had been released
from their mother's arms.
They were out playing and having fun.
I knew exactly which card
that was the cover of "Illmatic".
You can see from the card that it was at the
his consciousness opened up.
He seemed to be saying:
"Wow! What a world. What a world."
This was the background
on the cover of "Illmatic".
The photographer, Danny Clinch,
showed this picture.
In it you get a chance to see the area
in a holistic perspective.
It was a great day for me,
because the record was about to be released.
We were going to shoot for the record.
We didn't have a stylist. We just had
enough budget for a photographer.
It was the biggest day of my life,
so we celebrated.
Nas said
that we should come out and take pictures.
Everybody knew Nas was rapping and
was going to release a song, so everybody came out.
There were a lot of people who wanted to kill each other
who were united that day.
Just for the pictures.
That day was crazy.
No one went safe in Queensbridge
Some became killers, some became
some were beaten, some went to prison.
But everyone has a story to tell.
I can tell you what happened
to every single person on that card.
He got fifteen years in prison,
he was charged with murder.
He got a life sentence,
he's just gone to prison.
My buddy here-
- has been in jail for a long time in North
Carolina. His life is all screwed up.
He also has
been in jail several times.
That's life in the housing projects.
It is distorted.
It's so distorted.
Look what's happening.
If it weren't for the music
the guy on the bench would have gone the same way.
If it wasn't for the music, I would have
might not even have been on the card.
I didn't wish that fate on anyone
on the card. They were my friends.
It's twisted.
I usually have dreams that I live
still living. I don't know what they mean.
The area is haunted by all the guys
who went here. They're still there.
They helped create the place.
They control it,
in a spiritual way.
Those who died are still remembered
so that we might live on.
I feel like I'm giving
those who have passed on a voice.
Because I was here. It was my life.
This is what life was like.
The song is dedicated to all who love!
And especially all those who are in prison.
L!
O!
That's true love!
And V!
E!
Let me hear you scream Love!
Say love!
Say love!
Large Professor suggested
that I work with Nas.
Large, Akinyele and Nas came by.
Phife had a studio in his basement.
Nas said:
"I need that stuff you do."
"That mysterious stuff."
Then I played
what would become "One Love".
I received a letter
from friends who were inside.
I told them what happened out here,
and he told me what was going on in there.
We sent letters back and forth,
and I tried to encourage them.
I hadn't heard a song that
about writing letters.
-from a street perspective.
"One Love" was about
pepping up those who were inside.
I remember when they took you
You should have gone home to me
But now it happened
I heard you had a son
He looks just like you.
Why doesn't the girl write to you?
"He looks like you
Why doesn't the girl write to you?"
Those lines describe what happens
when you go to prison.
It's almost like a disease
among young African-Americans.
You lock up black men.
You don't lock
you don't just lock them up physically.
You also lock up their masculinity,
their identity and their spark.
I remember when they took you
You should have gone home to me
But now it happened
I heard you had a son
He looks like you
Why doesn't the girl write to you?
I told her to come visit
Then she started fencing and hitting
In our neighborhoods, they talk about
girls who are faithful if you go in.
The kind that don't lie around.
People who make sure you have visitors.
She's got your back.
But like black,
in bad neighborhoods in America.
-it's hard to make a living.
- and the women are surrounded
by dysfunction.
The line "Why write
the girl to you?" shows-
- how the prison system
destroys relationships
-and love and entire families.
It destroys promise and hope.
Not just for the locked up,
but also those who know him.
Why doesn't the girl write to you?
I told her to come visit
Then she started fencing and hitting
She doesn't care, your girl
Says "he didn't listen to me"
You know who got shot?
Jerome, that idiot.
Little Rob has started dealing
and hanging out with the others
The evenings have gotten worse
Have you seen Cormega?
In that case, stay together in there.
Say hello to everyone else in there.
And tell them One Love.
Hands in the air! One Love!
For all those who are not here
Hands in the air
for all who are not here
One Love! One Love!
- Let me hear it!
- One Love! One Love! One Love!
Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Yes. Rest in peace my friend, Draws.
Rest in peace, Ill Will.
Rest in peace Barkim.
Represent to all my buddies.
We are still thinking of you.
We love you.
Hip Hop Archive at Harvard
will promote hip-hop culture.
Nasir Jones Hip Hop Fellowship
will demonstrate that knowledge is strength.
Welcome Professor Morgan, Mr.
Nasir Jones and Professor Skip Gates.
No one I grew up with
graduated from college.
Nobody owns a store or a bank.
These guys got life in prison,
some are dead.
The boys are hanging in the streets
and see no way out.
When the record was released...
- I couldn't have imagined
to be contacted by Harvard.
The Nasir Jones Fellowship is about
people who are working on building something
-that contributes to a better world.
Many years ago I said that we don't
we had no chance of getting into Yale.
Here we are.
They realize it's an art form
that you can study at Harvard.
- and that is kept in an archive of
of its talents, like Nas Jones.
I represent the friends who do not
made it, because they helped me.
The conversations we had and what we did
together as teenagers.
Everything they told me,
and what I told them.
What we went through,
what we lost.
I represent my boys
who didn't make it here with me.
The ones who were there from the beginning.
I didn't trust anything
outside the world I lived in.
I didn't care about politics
or the United States.
Because I didn't think
that they believed me.
I'm grateful that I'm still here.
I rode out the storm.
This is a great honour for me
and for hip-hop too.
A round of applause.
A kid who dropped out of school
in the housing projects in New York.
And he was valued.
It's not just about music.
I wanted "Illmatic" to show
my voice, my philosophy and my ideas.
-in the form of music, in the form of rap.
It would be a proof of
that I once existed.