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Nas has reflected on his iconic Illmatic to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary re-release, stating that he always knew it would be an important album.
On his most recent tour dates Nas has been performing the album in full, in order to celebrate the 20th anniversary of its release. At the same time he put his rivalry with Jay Z behind him at the weekend, appearing with the rapper at Coachella. Now, in an interview with the Huffington Post, he has discussed his career in an extended segment of their live broadcast.
"I knew that it would be an important album at the time," he said, talking about the release of Illmatic, "but I just thought at the time and maybe five years from there, but not this far."
Watch Nas discuss Illmatic in the video below
At the same time the rapper chose to discuss the feuds of his era, including the comparisons with Jay Z's Blueprint: “It was something that had to be done at the time, but great things came out of it,” he said. “Hip-hop changed after it and it became all battle. It was like a rebirth of hip-hop.”
He also said that he missed "class act" Biggie Smalls and spoke of Tupac as a god who he had "too much respect for".
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