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Nas Doesn’t Want to Celebrate Illmatic Album Anymore: “Thank You for Appreciating That Record, But It’s Over”
Nas' debut album Illmatic is considered by many fans to be his finest LP and one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. However, after 25 years of celebrating the anniversary of the critically-acclaimed album, Esco is over going out of his way to honor the project.
In an interview with Haute Living, published on Friday (Oct. 18), the Queens rap legend revealed his reluctance to big-up the album moving forward.
“I’m tired of celebrating it,” Nas said. “I’m grateful, but it has started to take on a life of its own. I just did the 20th anniversary with the National Symphony Orchestra five years ago and, the next thing you know, five years go by and it’s a calendar that I didn’t ask for showing me how fast time moves.”
He added, “Twenty-five years is a lifetime. So I did another Symphony Orchestra show for Illmatic this year; I got another plaque for it. I’m very grateful—it’s so crazy—but to celebrate one album when I’ve made over 10, all the things I’ve worked on—and I’ve been working for so long—to celebrate one album over all else is corny to me. I don’t want to celebrate another Illmatic anything. I’m done. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for appreciating that record, but it’s over.”
While Nas is done dwelling on past wins, he is looking to the future. He also revealed he is hard at work on a new album.
“I’m not taking a break; it’s time that I do an album,” he said. “I wanted to get The Lost Tapes 2 out of the way first, but I’ve been working on [new material]. I won’t be away from the studio any time soon. I know what I feel like saying, so I’m going to block out everything and just go with it; I’m just going to let it go.”
Nas' most recent album, Nasir, was released in June 2018.
See 65 Hip-Hop Albums Turning 20 in 2019
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