1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.BZ 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.BZ 3 00:00:43,844 --> 00:00:45,479 NAS: Who would have thunk it? 4 00:00:47,481 --> 00:00:50,318 I'm an eighth grade dropout. 5 00:00:50,384 --> 00:00:51,385 Ninth grade? 6 00:00:52,753 --> 00:00:54,355 I left school early. 7 00:00:56,390 --> 00:00:57,925 You know, my mom, 8 00:00:57,991 --> 00:01:00,228 I'm sure I worried her a lot, you know? 9 00:01:00,294 --> 00:01:02,263 Me and my bro worried her a lot, 10 00:01:02,330 --> 00:01:04,798 you know, early on, not knowin' what we wanted. 11 00:01:04,864 --> 00:01:06,534 But we didn't want to become nothing. 12 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:08,836 We wanted to be something and, 13 00:01:08,902 --> 00:01:11,472 you know, I didn't know 14 00:01:11,539 --> 00:01:12,840 what my future would hold. 15 00:01:17,445 --> 00:01:19,813 There was a little, little hope 16 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:21,249 that came in that darkness. 17 00:01:29,623 --> 00:01:31,625 OLU DARA: Along came my son, Nas, you know. 18 00:01:32,826 --> 00:01:34,362 I just felt like a king was born. 19 00:01:35,729 --> 00:01:36,530 (CHEERING) 20 00:01:38,499 --> 00:01:40,768 JUNGLE: Every rhyme was like the best shit I ever heard in my life. 21 00:01:42,770 --> 00:01:46,674 WIZ: Eight, nine, 10-years-old, talking about the devil and God. 22 00:01:46,740 --> 00:01:48,776 Nobody was really rhyming like that back then. 23 00:01:48,842 --> 00:01:50,844 (CHEERING) (SHOUTING) How many people 24 00:01:50,911 --> 00:01:53,314 have Illmatic ? One, two, three! 25 00:01:53,381 --> 00:01:53,781 (CROWD CHEERING) 26 00:01:59,920 --> 00:02:03,491 JUNGLE: Illmatic was the new beginning of rap. 27 00:02:03,557 --> 00:02:06,427 AZ: It was like, living a hustler's life, through poetry. 28 00:02:06,494 --> 00:02:07,328 (CHEERING) 29 00:02:10,631 --> 00:02:11,465 BOBBITO: That was a genius at work. 30 00:02:14,402 --> 00:02:15,736 1994 classic Illmatic , 31 00:02:15,803 --> 00:02:17,738 he was prophetic. 32 00:02:17,805 --> 00:02:20,541 He had the courage to tell the truth about 33 00:02:20,608 --> 00:02:24,478 the dark side of black existence in America. 34 00:02:24,545 --> 00:02:28,349 Illmatic is one of those transformative moments in hip-hop. 35 00:02:28,416 --> 00:02:32,486 A hundred years from now, that title is just going to stand out, 36 00:02:32,553 --> 00:02:34,722 from one of the strongest pillars in hip-hop. Period. 37 00:02:34,788 --> 00:02:36,490 What he was able to do lyrically, 38 00:02:37,491 --> 00:02:38,959 completely shifted the climate 39 00:02:39,026 --> 00:02:41,429 of how the MC was supposed to rhyme. 40 00:02:44,798 --> 00:02:46,934 It was so honest and it's so truthful 41 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:50,838 that it's never gonna not be 42 00:02:50,904 --> 00:02:52,373 one of the best albums of all time. 43 00:02:54,842 --> 00:02:57,911 NAS: When I made Illmatic , I was trying to make the perfect album. 44 00:02:57,978 --> 00:03:00,648 It comes from the days of Wild Style. 45 00:03:00,714 --> 00:03:03,817 I was trying to make you experience my life. 46 00:03:03,884 --> 00:03:07,388 I wanted you to look at hip-hop differently. 47 00:03:07,455 --> 00:03:09,757 I wanted you to feel that hip-hop was changing, 48 00:03:09,823 --> 00:03:11,892 and becoming something more real. 49 00:03:11,959 --> 00:03:14,795 I gave you what the streets felt like, 50 00:03:14,862 --> 00:03:17,765 what it sounded like, tasted like, smelled like, 51 00:03:17,831 --> 00:03:19,533 all in that album. 52 00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:21,869 And I tried to capture it like no one else could. 53 00:03:56,537 --> 00:03:57,771 Going to a concert, 54 00:04:01,008 --> 00:04:03,777 I think to myself, "Wow, this is what I do for a living. 55 00:04:05,513 --> 00:04:06,947 "I chose this, 56 00:04:07,014 --> 00:04:08,616 "and then it happened? 57 00:04:08,682 --> 00:04:10,951 "And now, this is what I do on the regular?" 58 00:04:14,054 --> 00:04:17,425 You know, being from Queens, 59 00:04:17,491 --> 00:04:20,027 that's as good as it gets right there. 60 00:04:21,060 --> 00:04:22,730 Begin. 61 00:04:22,796 --> 00:04:23,997 Uh. 62 00:04:24,064 --> 00:04:25,533 (MUSIC PLAYING) 63 00:04:34,775 --> 00:04:37,911 My musical journey ain't start with me. 64 00:04:37,978 --> 00:04:39,847 I come from a long line of musicians and artists. 65 00:04:41,114 --> 00:04:41,949 It's in my blood. 66 00:04:45,786 --> 00:04:47,888 What I am today is an extension of what they were then. 67 00:04:49,523 --> 00:04:50,290 * New York state of mind * 68 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:55,028 You can trace my artistic roots 69 00:04:55,095 --> 00:04:56,964 all the way to Natchez. 70 00:04:57,030 --> 00:04:58,666 (SONG ENDS) (CHEERING) 71 00:04:58,732 --> 00:04:59,967 Natchez, Mississippi. 72 00:05:04,705 --> 00:05:06,974 (BLUES GUITAR STRUMMING) 73 00:05:10,811 --> 00:05:11,979 (OLU DARA SINGING) 74 00:05:24,558 --> 00:05:26,794 My ancestral name 75 00:05:26,860 --> 00:05:27,728 is Olu Dara. 76 00:05:32,733 --> 00:05:33,901 It means, "God is good." 77 00:05:36,737 --> 00:05:38,772 I was born in America, 78 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:40,674 a place called Natchez, Mississippi, 79 00:05:40,741 --> 00:05:41,809 which is right on the river, 80 00:05:43,944 --> 00:05:45,813 during the heart of segregation, 81 00:05:45,879 --> 00:05:46,914 the Klan or whatever like that. 82 00:05:48,148 --> 00:05:50,518 You could see the, 83 00:05:50,584 --> 00:05:52,620 the burning of the crosses 84 00:05:52,686 --> 00:05:55,055 at all times. 85 00:05:55,122 --> 00:05:58,926 You had musicians all over the place, you know, on my father's side. 86 00:05:58,992 --> 00:06:01,529 He and my godfather, they had a group called the Mellowderes. 87 00:06:01,595 --> 00:06:02,630 They traveled all around America. 88 00:06:04,665 --> 00:06:06,634 Well, the family has been like this. 89 00:06:06,700 --> 00:06:08,736 A lot of musicians, artists, 90 00:06:08,802 --> 00:06:10,604 teachers, you know, 91 00:06:10,671 --> 00:06:13,040 sharecroppers, farmers, 92 00:06:13,106 --> 00:06:15,142 hoes, prostitutes. 93 00:06:15,208 --> 00:06:18,812 But they all had a higher grade of how they dealt with it. 94 00:06:18,879 --> 00:06:21,114 It was never like some low, squaloring stuff. 95 00:06:21,181 --> 00:06:22,683 But it was always, 96 00:06:22,750 --> 00:06:24,017 if they were gonna ho, 97 00:06:24,084 --> 00:06:24,985 they'd ho at the top of hoedom. 98 00:06:26,654 --> 00:06:28,055 Whatever we did, we always did it 99 00:06:28,121 --> 00:06:29,623 on the top and made it dignified. 100 00:06:33,093 --> 00:06:35,028 I did four years in the Navy. 101 00:06:35,095 --> 00:06:37,865 I was discharged in New York City. 102 00:06:37,931 --> 00:06:38,999 That's when I met Nas's mother. 103 00:06:40,801 --> 00:06:42,870 So I stayed a couple of days too long 104 00:06:42,936 --> 00:06:44,838 and ran out of money and I got stranded here. 105 00:06:47,808 --> 00:06:50,077 And at the same time, along came Nas and his brother. 106 00:06:52,746 --> 00:06:54,414 It was tough 107 00:06:54,482 --> 00:06:57,751 for the mother and me, for the whole family then. 108 00:06:57,818 --> 00:06:59,953 What I started to do was going back and forth to Europe, 109 00:07:00,020 --> 00:07:01,789 so I could have some kind of money. 110 00:07:01,855 --> 00:07:03,691 And she moved to Queensbridge, 111 00:07:03,757 --> 00:07:05,626 you know? 112 00:07:05,693 --> 00:07:07,728 And I was worried. I was really worried. 113 00:07:07,795 --> 00:07:09,096 Because I knew it was going to be rough out there for her 114 00:07:09,162 --> 00:07:10,430 and the kids, you know. 115 00:07:48,702 --> 00:07:50,904 In the '70s, you had mothers and fathers. 116 00:07:50,971 --> 00:07:52,606 In the '80s, you had a lot of single mothers. 117 00:07:52,673 --> 00:07:56,644 In the '90s, you had people being raised by their grandmothers. 118 00:07:56,710 --> 00:07:58,078 DR. WEST: Historically speaking, you gotta keep in mind 119 00:07:58,145 --> 00:07:59,547 the GI Bill was a bill in which 120 00:07:59,613 --> 00:08:01,815 persons had access to education, 121 00:08:01,882 --> 00:08:04,652 credit, they gained access to houses, 122 00:08:04,718 --> 00:08:07,087 so you could live in suburbs away from the city. 123 00:08:07,154 --> 00:08:10,157 So, black folk received very little of the GI Bill money, 124 00:08:10,223 --> 00:08:13,160 in terms of housing, only 2.1 percent. 125 00:08:13,226 --> 00:08:14,762 That's why you could create a white middle class 126 00:08:14,828 --> 00:08:18,198 with black folk gaining no access to it. 127 00:08:18,265 --> 00:08:21,669 And then they create these housing projects that go all the way up 128 00:08:21,735 --> 00:08:23,503 to pack folk in, like sardines. 129 00:08:23,571 --> 00:08:25,005 MAYOR FIORELLO LAGUARDIA: (ON RECORDING) Down with hovels, 130 00:08:25,072 --> 00:08:27,575 down with disease, down with crime, 131 00:08:27,641 --> 00:08:28,976 down with fire traps. Let in the sun! 132 00:08:29,042 --> 00:08:30,711 Let in the sky! 133 00:08:30,778 --> 00:08:32,279 A new day is dawning. 134 00:08:32,345 --> 00:08:35,182 A new life! A new America! 135 00:08:35,248 --> 00:08:39,219 (PEOPLE CLAPPING) MAN: (ON RECORDING) Thank you, Mayor La Guardia. 136 00:08:39,285 --> 00:08:42,022 DR. WEST: Historically, they were built for working class families, 137 00:08:42,089 --> 00:08:44,692 no matter what color. 138 00:08:44,758 --> 00:08:47,260 But because the color line is so thick in America, 139 00:08:47,327 --> 00:08:50,698 once black folk made their way from the south 140 00:08:50,764 --> 00:08:54,134 into the cities and began to, in significant numbers, 141 00:08:54,201 --> 00:08:57,270 fill up the projects, you got white flight. 142 00:08:57,337 --> 00:09:02,843 And that white flight resulted in a withdrawal of money and wealth 143 00:09:02,910 --> 00:09:04,011 from the city. 144 00:09:15,823 --> 00:09:18,225 You know, I tell you, Queensbridge to me, it looked messed up. 145 00:09:19,392 --> 00:09:21,929 It looked like a buried diamond. 146 00:09:24,231 --> 00:09:26,800 I had a chance to have a childhood 147 00:09:26,867 --> 00:09:28,802 for at least a little bit, you know. And then... 148 00:09:30,804 --> 00:09:33,173 You know, you had to... I felt like I had to become a man early, 149 00:09:34,241 --> 00:09:35,976 to deal with my environment. 150 00:09:40,981 --> 00:09:44,184 I saw the difference early on in the type of parents I came from. 151 00:09:44,251 --> 00:09:45,953 Good people, 152 00:09:46,019 --> 00:09:47,520 hard workers. 153 00:09:47,587 --> 00:09:50,057 We had a color television, we had VCR. 154 00:09:50,123 --> 00:09:51,925 You know, we had a carpet. 155 00:09:51,992 --> 00:09:53,961 We had nice things in our places, 156 00:09:54,027 --> 00:09:56,329 compared to some of our other friends who had nothing, 157 00:09:56,396 --> 00:09:58,899 who ate hot dogs for dinner, 158 00:09:58,966 --> 00:10:01,268 who had no furniture, 159 00:10:01,334 --> 00:10:03,837 you know, who was living bad. 160 00:10:03,904 --> 00:10:05,238 Like, we didn't really lack food. 161 00:10:05,305 --> 00:10:06,807 My mom was a great cook. 162 00:10:06,874 --> 00:10:08,375 Everybody wanted to come to our house. 163 00:10:08,441 --> 00:10:11,812 "Ms. Jones is cooking? I'm over there." 164 00:10:11,879 --> 00:10:12,913 She had a great spirit. She didn't talk with curse words. 165 00:10:12,980 --> 00:10:15,883 She didn't talk street stuff. 166 00:10:15,949 --> 00:10:18,952 You understand? She was not like that. 167 00:10:19,019 --> 00:10:21,188 We needed stuff, she'd say, "I don't want y'all to go out there and do it, 168 00:10:21,254 --> 00:10:23,891 "find another way to get it. I will get you it." 169 00:10:23,957 --> 00:10:25,826 JUNGLE: My father had a library in the crib. 170 00:10:25,893 --> 00:10:27,327 He had, like, a wall unit. 171 00:10:27,394 --> 00:10:30,097 It was a library, he had all kinds of books. 172 00:10:30,163 --> 00:10:31,732 Everything, from the Book of the Dead... 173 00:10:31,799 --> 00:10:33,967 JUNGLE: Egyptian books about King Tut... 174 00:10:34,034 --> 00:10:37,137 OLU DARA: Psychology of the modern man. NAS: Malcolm X . 175 00:10:37,204 --> 00:10:38,338 OLU DARA: Sun Tzu. JUNGLE: Instant facts about the world. 176 00:10:38,405 --> 00:10:41,141 OLU DARA: History of Chinese Philosophy. 177 00:10:41,208 --> 00:10:43,143 NAS: They Came Before Columbus by Ivan Van Sertima. 178 00:10:43,210 --> 00:10:45,879 OLU DARA: Aesop's Fables. NAS: Afrocentricity. 179 00:10:45,946 --> 00:10:48,181 OLU DARA: Adowa the King. NAS: From Superman To Man by J.A. Rogers. 180 00:10:48,248 --> 00:10:49,683 OLU DARA: The Bible, proverbs . 181 00:10:49,750 --> 00:10:52,285 The trials and tribulations of ghetto life. 182 00:10:52,352 --> 00:10:54,087 I found that helped them a lot. 183 00:10:54,154 --> 00:10:57,257 NAS: My pop had been all over the world in the Navy, 184 00:10:57,324 --> 00:10:59,993 and then traveling through his music. 185 00:11:00,060 --> 00:11:03,296 So he had a lot of stories to tell me and my brother about 186 00:11:03,363 --> 00:11:06,166 places outside the block, 187 00:11:06,233 --> 00:11:08,235 outside the neighborhood, outside New York, 188 00:11:08,301 --> 00:11:09,269 outside America. 189 00:11:15,208 --> 00:11:17,144 So there would be a xylophone made of wood, 190 00:11:17,210 --> 00:11:20,180 trumpets, guitars, maracas. 191 00:11:20,247 --> 00:11:22,415 They were toys to me, man. 192 00:11:22,482 --> 00:11:25,352 When Pops would leave, we'd just be banging on those things, 193 00:11:25,418 --> 00:11:27,454 you know what I'm saying? 194 00:11:27,520 --> 00:11:31,158 OLU DARA: See, Nas... I thought Nas was going to be a great trumpeter. 195 00:11:31,224 --> 00:11:32,692 He would play trumpet every day 196 00:11:32,760 --> 00:11:36,163 with drummers outside our building. 197 00:11:36,229 --> 00:11:38,398 I took the trumpet away from him. I said, "You can't play now because 198 00:11:38,465 --> 00:11:40,433 "your lip might get, get messed up. 199 00:11:40,500 --> 00:11:44,171 "Wait till you're like seven, eight-years-old, when your lip is more, more mature." 200 00:11:44,237 --> 00:11:46,907 He was very... He was furious about that. He loved it. 201 00:11:46,974 --> 00:11:50,177 So, by the time he got to be seven, 202 00:11:50,243 --> 00:11:54,214 you know, I offered him the horn again, he said, "No, I'm into something else." 203 00:11:54,281 --> 00:11:56,449 JUNGLE: He used to wake me up in the morning with rhymes every day 204 00:11:56,516 --> 00:11:59,186 like, "Yo, how this sound? How this sound?" 205 00:11:59,252 --> 00:12:01,221 But, since he was waking me up in the morning, 206 00:12:01,288 --> 00:12:02,489 I would tell him, "Yo. 207 00:12:02,555 --> 00:12:05,192 "Yeah, I didn't like that word. 208 00:12:05,258 --> 00:12:06,927 "You said this, you should have said..." 209 00:12:06,994 --> 00:12:08,295 You know what I mean? And he used to come back, 210 00:12:08,361 --> 00:12:12,165 wake me up again, "Yo, how this sound? This is better." 211 00:12:12,232 --> 00:12:14,334 But I knew he was the best as soon as I ever heard him rhyme. 212 00:12:17,004 --> 00:12:18,305 NAS: I had a friend, 213 00:12:18,371 --> 00:12:20,941 a real friend, William Graham. 214 00:12:21,008 --> 00:12:23,276 We called him Will. 215 00:12:23,343 --> 00:12:26,914 We used to play around and make music when we was young. 216 00:12:26,980 --> 00:12:29,149 Uh, me and Will, we'd make tapes and, 217 00:12:29,216 --> 00:12:33,020 and stuff like that and play 'em for our friends. 218 00:12:33,086 --> 00:12:35,388 We looked forward to getting together and making tapes. 219 00:12:35,455 --> 00:12:37,357 OLU DARA: Willie lived right upstairs. 220 00:12:37,424 --> 00:12:39,026 He was like my surrogate son also. 221 00:12:39,092 --> 00:12:42,029 He had another way of looking at the world. 222 00:12:42,095 --> 00:12:43,463 And the combination of the two with their minds was like, 223 00:12:43,530 --> 00:12:45,532 boom, like an explosion. 224 00:12:45,598 --> 00:12:47,300 I used to go upstairs, his crib, 225 00:12:47,367 --> 00:12:48,969 and he'd be baking brownies 226 00:12:49,036 --> 00:12:50,537 and taping videos, so 227 00:12:50,603 --> 00:12:52,539 one time he said it to a girl on the phone. 228 00:12:52,605 --> 00:12:54,474 She said, "What you doing?" He said, 229 00:12:54,541 --> 00:12:56,977 "Baking brownies and taping videos." 230 00:12:57,044 --> 00:13:00,313 And he bust out laughing. 231 00:13:00,380 --> 00:13:03,550 You know, I guess to him, it sounded real soft. (CHUCKLES) 232 00:13:03,616 --> 00:13:06,987 So, every day, he'd say to somebody, "What you doin'? 233 00:13:07,054 --> 00:13:09,289 "Baking brownies, taping videos?" 234 00:13:09,356 --> 00:13:10,924 He'd say this to everybody. 235 00:13:10,991 --> 00:13:11,859 WILL: (ON RECORDING) It's all I wanna hear . 236 00:13:11,925 --> 00:13:13,260 NAS: He made you laugh. 237 00:13:13,326 --> 00:13:16,496 He was all about having a good time. 238 00:13:16,563 --> 00:13:20,367 That's how we was. We was like two peas in a pod, you know? 239 00:13:20,433 --> 00:13:24,004 And, uh, we was working on music all the time. 240 00:13:24,071 --> 00:13:26,273 But back then, it was, like, just playing around. 241 00:13:26,339 --> 00:13:27,807 (RAPPING) 242 00:13:34,181 --> 00:13:36,216 (MUSIC PLAYING) 243 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:43,390 Back then the vibe was different, the music was, you know 244 00:13:43,456 --> 00:13:46,426 bass, 808s in the music. 245 00:13:46,493 --> 00:13:49,029 And people was having a good time. 246 00:13:49,096 --> 00:13:51,364 The style was like fresh. 247 00:13:51,431 --> 00:13:55,302 It was colorful. It was rich. 248 00:13:55,368 --> 00:13:56,836 Well, they used to have the jams in the park 249 00:13:56,904 --> 00:13:59,106 and one of the DJs was from my block. 250 00:13:59,639 --> 00:14:01,074 DJ Hot Day. 251 00:14:03,610 --> 00:14:07,014 Hot Day was known throughout the neighborhood for bringing out his equipment. 252 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:09,416 Everybody hear that the jam was getting ready to happen. 253 00:14:09,482 --> 00:14:11,584 You see them carrying the equipment to the park. 254 00:14:11,651 --> 00:14:13,020 And sometimes I tried to help. 255 00:14:15,588 --> 00:14:19,626 It was life, it was greatness. It was, like, so much potential out there. 256 00:14:19,692 --> 00:14:23,163 It wasn't until later that I started to see the deterioration 257 00:14:23,230 --> 00:14:26,333 and, um, see the effects of, 258 00:14:26,399 --> 00:14:27,534 of what they started to call crack. 259 00:14:31,471 --> 00:14:33,606 We're fighting the crusade for a drug-free America on many fronts. 260 00:14:36,276 --> 00:14:38,511 NAS: The city was about to look crazy. 261 00:14:38,578 --> 00:14:40,613 It's sad. 262 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,083 And it wasn't just a gangster thing. 263 00:14:43,150 --> 00:14:44,451 Any and everybody made money off crack. 264 00:14:47,420 --> 00:14:50,057 It was survival 265 00:14:50,123 --> 00:14:52,159 to the fullest. 266 00:14:52,225 --> 00:14:53,126 REPORTER: (ON RECORDING) The collapse of the inner city economy 267 00:14:53,193 --> 00:14:55,428 has created a new way of life, 268 00:14:55,495 --> 00:14:57,897 an economy based on drugs. 269 00:14:57,965 --> 00:15:00,300 NAS: People that was older than me were more hip to what was happening. 270 00:15:00,367 --> 00:15:01,501 They were making money off of it, 271 00:15:01,568 --> 00:15:03,470 so, you know, 272 00:15:03,536 --> 00:15:04,671 it spread everywhere. 273 00:15:06,706 --> 00:15:08,375 And I'm just sitting back, watching. 274 00:15:11,311 --> 00:15:12,645 ( NY STATE OF MIND PLAYING) 275 00:15:26,726 --> 00:15:29,329 NAS: I wanted to give you that feeling 276 00:15:29,396 --> 00:15:31,298 of New York at nighttime. 277 00:15:38,171 --> 00:15:39,539 You know you look at things, 278 00:15:39,606 --> 00:15:41,474 like shots goin' off every night. 279 00:15:46,513 --> 00:15:49,316 You're seeing what's happening around you. 280 00:15:49,382 --> 00:15:52,152 Pregnant ladies trying to smoke crack. 281 00:15:52,219 --> 00:15:55,155 MALE REPORTER: (ON RECORDING) It's a $100 billion a year business. 282 00:15:55,222 --> 00:15:57,557 FEMALE REPORTER: (ON RECORDING) Crack-related crime is soaring. 283 00:15:57,624 --> 00:16:00,560 NAS: Dudes is late night waiting to rob you, 284 00:16:00,627 --> 00:16:03,196 and you're just maneuvering your way through that. 285 00:16:05,665 --> 00:16:07,667 And then the crazy cops coming through 286 00:16:07,734 --> 00:16:09,536 'cause they had to be crazy running after somebody 287 00:16:09,602 --> 00:16:11,204 in that neighborhood at night. 288 00:16:11,271 --> 00:16:13,173 The atmosphere was lit. 289 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:14,641 ( NY STATE OF MIND CONTINUES) 290 00:16:44,671 --> 00:16:48,341 OLU DARA: To survive here with a family at that time was hell. 291 00:16:48,408 --> 00:16:49,776 Believe me. Especially if you didn't have any help. 292 00:16:49,842 --> 00:16:51,244 And we had no help. 293 00:16:59,252 --> 00:17:01,454 NAS: Yeah, my parents had reached, like, a final breaking point, 294 00:17:01,521 --> 00:17:03,523 you know, where it was it. 295 00:17:03,590 --> 00:17:06,593 My pop just kneeled down to me 296 00:17:06,659 --> 00:17:09,195 and gave me that one-on-one. I'm sure he said, 297 00:17:09,262 --> 00:17:11,431 you know, what he had to say to my brother, too. 298 00:17:11,498 --> 00:17:14,300 When he came to talk to me, he gave me that "You're the man of the house" speech. 299 00:17:14,367 --> 00:17:16,502 "Now, I'm not going to be around now" speech. 300 00:17:16,569 --> 00:17:18,671 One day, they had a crazy fight, 301 00:17:18,738 --> 00:17:21,208 and my father never came back. 302 00:17:21,273 --> 00:17:23,510 And I used to look out the window 303 00:17:23,576 --> 00:17:26,346 and my moms told me he wasn't never coming back to the house. 304 00:17:26,413 --> 00:17:28,748 She said he can't come in. If he do knock on the door, 305 00:17:28,815 --> 00:17:31,551 and I'm there and she ain't there, don't let him in. 306 00:17:31,618 --> 00:17:33,586 And that shit just some... 307 00:17:33,653 --> 00:17:36,789 That shit fucked me up in the mind, a little bit. 308 00:17:36,856 --> 00:17:39,559 'Cause I was so young. My moms never dealt with me as a kid. 309 00:17:39,626 --> 00:17:42,295 She always talked to me as if I was her age, 310 00:17:42,362 --> 00:17:45,532 or I was smart enough to know anything that's going on. 311 00:17:45,598 --> 00:17:48,235 So, when she said that shit, 312 00:17:48,301 --> 00:17:51,238 you know, I just knew it was real. I'm like, "Fuck." 313 00:17:51,304 --> 00:17:53,540 I just kept looking for him out the window, 314 00:17:53,606 --> 00:17:55,475 but he never came back, man. 315 00:17:55,542 --> 00:17:56,143 You know, man. 316 00:17:58,578 --> 00:18:00,480 He moved around Harlem, 317 00:18:00,547 --> 00:18:01,714 you know, somewhere else. 318 00:18:01,781 --> 00:18:03,350 And I'd visit him there. 319 00:18:05,084 --> 00:18:07,687 My mom never spoke anything bad about my father. 320 00:18:07,754 --> 00:18:10,757 My mom felt that, 321 00:18:10,823 --> 00:18:12,859 you know, she had been done wrong. 322 00:18:12,925 --> 00:18:16,429 I guess, you know, she was a hard worker, 323 00:18:16,496 --> 00:18:19,332 who took care of all of us, including my father sometimes. 324 00:18:19,399 --> 00:18:21,000 You know, he wasn't always working. 325 00:18:21,067 --> 00:18:24,304 She was the one who provided for all of us. 326 00:18:24,371 --> 00:18:25,872 JUNGLE: My father had a lot of talent. 327 00:18:25,938 --> 00:18:28,375 We got the talent and stuff from him. 328 00:18:29,676 --> 00:18:32,412 I think that's where, you know, the... 329 00:18:32,479 --> 00:18:35,715 The talent came from his side and, you know, the intelligence. 330 00:18:35,782 --> 00:18:37,717 But the smarts... 331 00:18:37,784 --> 00:18:39,719 And then my moms was so smart, man. 332 00:18:39,786 --> 00:18:41,888 My moms is dead 333 00:18:41,954 --> 00:18:43,790 and my father is alive, 334 00:18:43,856 --> 00:18:47,427 and I don't really want my father to really, 335 00:18:47,494 --> 00:18:50,497 fucking, even know him. Damn, I love you, Dad. 336 00:18:50,563 --> 00:18:52,465 But, yo, my moms, I wish she was here 337 00:18:52,532 --> 00:18:54,601 to be, like, praised as much as he is 338 00:18:54,667 --> 00:18:56,869 for Nas's life, especially for Nas. 339 00:18:56,936 --> 00:18:58,871 Anything to do with Nas, yo. 340 00:18:58,938 --> 00:19:00,873 My mother is the one that... You know what I mean? 341 00:19:00,940 --> 00:19:02,809 Without her, we would be no nothing. We'd have been gone. 342 00:19:11,418 --> 00:19:12,885 NAS: I noticed times 343 00:19:12,952 --> 00:19:15,422 when my mom'd be crying, or 344 00:19:16,656 --> 00:19:19,759 sad or she just... 345 00:19:19,826 --> 00:19:21,694 Moments where she'd be hugging us when we were little 346 00:19:21,761 --> 00:19:24,597 and just talking about how things were going to be all right and all of that. 347 00:19:24,664 --> 00:19:26,533 Those were 348 00:19:26,599 --> 00:19:29,502 great times 'cause we had a beautiful home 349 00:19:29,569 --> 00:19:30,903 inside that neighborhood. 350 00:19:30,970 --> 00:19:33,640 Our home was right 351 00:19:33,706 --> 00:19:36,443 for the most part and, um, 352 00:19:36,509 --> 00:19:39,612 we had a lot of love, you know. So she was just really positive. 353 00:19:39,679 --> 00:19:43,383 And, um, happy, you know. 354 00:19:43,450 --> 00:19:45,818 She laughed, we laughed together, a lot. 355 00:19:45,885 --> 00:19:47,920 Um... 356 00:19:47,987 --> 00:19:49,856 She really just wanted the best for me and my brother. 357 00:20:06,906 --> 00:20:09,942 JUNGLE: I used to be going this way, trying to go to school and shit, 358 00:20:10,009 --> 00:20:12,412 and see all of that early in the morning. 359 00:20:12,479 --> 00:20:14,614 Somebody get shot and all kinds of shit. 360 00:20:14,681 --> 00:20:16,583 It was less police, so shit was real. 361 00:20:19,018 --> 00:20:21,821 I had to go to Junior High School 204, 362 00:20:21,888 --> 00:20:23,690 that shit was like Rikers Island, that shit was like jail. 363 00:20:23,756 --> 00:20:25,692 It was junior high school. 364 00:20:25,758 --> 00:20:27,627 (INDISTINCT TALKING) 365 00:20:31,063 --> 00:20:32,432 OLU DARA: What I found out in New York, 366 00:20:32,499 --> 00:20:33,866 they were not raised like we were raised in the south. 367 00:20:33,933 --> 00:20:36,669 Nurturing, you know, with your own people raising you. 368 00:20:38,705 --> 00:20:41,408 He had never experienced any, any, no love like that before. 369 00:20:43,810 --> 00:20:46,779 And I went over to enroll them into school, 370 00:20:46,846 --> 00:20:48,915 it was almost like enrolling them into hell. 371 00:20:50,583 --> 00:20:53,820 It was shocking to me, I felt very bad. 372 00:20:53,886 --> 00:20:56,723 To see that my father was raised in a nurturing school system, 373 00:20:56,789 --> 00:20:58,958 I was raised in a nurturing school system, 374 00:20:59,025 --> 00:21:01,461 and here come my kids, I have to have kids in New York City 375 00:21:01,528 --> 00:21:02,261 and they into this. 376 00:21:05,632 --> 00:21:06,933 NAS: I did like school in the beginning. 377 00:21:09,068 --> 00:21:12,805 I only remember good teachers in elementary school 378 00:21:12,872 --> 00:21:14,607 and junior high school a little bit. There was Ms. Braconi. 379 00:21:16,242 --> 00:21:17,944 MS. BRACONI: Well, Nas was in a bright class, 380 00:21:18,010 --> 00:21:19,879 in the first and second grade. 381 00:21:19,946 --> 00:21:21,448 And I remember we did a project. 382 00:21:21,514 --> 00:21:22,749 The children had to make 383 00:21:22,815 --> 00:21:24,917 a face, their face, 384 00:21:24,984 --> 00:21:27,687 on a mask-sized form. 385 00:21:27,754 --> 00:21:28,721 I was hanging them up 386 00:21:31,090 --> 00:21:32,859 and then I stepped back to look at them 387 00:21:32,925 --> 00:21:35,795 and I saw Nasir's face. 388 00:21:35,862 --> 00:21:39,065 And he wasn't happy that day for some reason. 389 00:21:39,131 --> 00:21:42,802 And he had captured himself perfectly. 390 00:21:44,604 --> 00:21:45,805 And I thought, 391 00:21:45,872 --> 00:21:47,340 "Wow, 392 00:21:47,407 --> 00:21:49,676 "this kid can express his feelings." 393 00:21:52,645 --> 00:21:56,516 NAS: They tried to put me into like a slow class in elementary school 394 00:21:56,583 --> 00:21:58,718 and my mom raised hell and got me out of there. 395 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:02,955 I still had dreams, like... 396 00:22:03,022 --> 00:22:05,892 I wondered what it would be like if I was in art and design, 397 00:22:05,958 --> 00:22:09,529 or some other school that, you know, 398 00:22:09,596 --> 00:22:11,531 that really would push some of my talents, 399 00:22:11,598 --> 00:22:12,532 you know, that I thought I had. 400 00:22:13,566 --> 00:22:15,101 But, um, 401 00:22:15,167 --> 00:22:17,937 when you grow up in an environment where 402 00:22:18,004 --> 00:22:21,874 the taxpayers are not making a lot of money, 403 00:22:21,941 --> 00:22:24,744 then they don't have the funding for schools. 404 00:22:24,811 --> 00:22:27,547 And, when the schools don't have any money, 405 00:22:27,614 --> 00:22:30,817 you get a no-money education. 406 00:22:30,883 --> 00:22:33,986 And you wind up getting people who's not motivated 407 00:22:34,053 --> 00:22:36,623 and start looking for other ways, faster ways. 408 00:22:39,759 --> 00:22:42,962 I would just stop paying attention, I would just daydream. 409 00:22:43,029 --> 00:22:45,131 And in junior high school, I got kicked out 410 00:22:45,197 --> 00:22:47,567 and put into another junior high school, 411 00:22:47,634 --> 00:22:49,936 where I really didn't care anymore. 412 00:22:50,002 --> 00:22:52,004 So, by the time it was time for high school, 413 00:22:52,071 --> 00:22:54,907 it was like, I mean, grades was terrible 414 00:22:54,974 --> 00:22:56,108 and I didn't care. 415 00:23:00,613 --> 00:23:02,949 So, I found an assistant principal 416 00:23:03,015 --> 00:23:05,051 and a math teacher and they told me, 417 00:23:05,117 --> 00:23:06,986 "Your kids don't belong here, this is not... 418 00:23:07,053 --> 00:23:08,888 "This will destroy them, they don't care." 419 00:23:09,956 --> 00:23:12,592 They were old enough then. 420 00:23:12,659 --> 00:23:14,627 They were men to me. 'Cause I felt I was a man at that age, 421 00:23:14,694 --> 00:23:16,663 13, 14, whatever. 422 00:23:16,729 --> 00:23:18,965 I said, "I tell you what you do. 423 00:23:19,031 --> 00:23:21,901 "Go work, make you some money. This is America. 424 00:23:21,968 --> 00:23:23,870 "Quit school, 425 00:23:23,936 --> 00:23:26,138 "if you want to save your own life. 426 00:23:26,205 --> 00:23:28,174 "Develop your craft, or whatever you want to do 427 00:23:28,240 --> 00:23:30,009 "and I'll back you." 428 00:23:30,076 --> 00:23:31,611 They smiled, 429 00:23:31,678 --> 00:23:33,846 I got calls from my mother, my sisters, 430 00:23:33,913 --> 00:23:37,850 everybody. "How dare you? How could you do it?" You know. 431 00:23:37,917 --> 00:23:40,019 I wouldn't have felt right the rest of my life, 432 00:23:40,086 --> 00:23:42,154 if I had let them just stay in school, 433 00:23:42,221 --> 00:23:44,891 and keep being beat down and the teachers not, 434 00:23:44,957 --> 00:23:46,893 not really having any love for the kids 435 00:23:46,959 --> 00:23:47,960 and stuff like that. 436 00:23:54,033 --> 00:23:56,202 JUNGLE: Yeah, yeah, he told me if they not teaching me nothing, 437 00:23:56,268 --> 00:23:59,138 then don't go, and try and figure out life on my own. 438 00:23:59,205 --> 00:24:01,808 And, and I'm smarter than the teachers, anyway. 439 00:24:01,874 --> 00:24:02,942 And, um. 440 00:24:03,009 --> 00:24:05,011 They was just there to hold us back. 441 00:24:05,077 --> 00:24:09,181 He said the whole school system was 442 00:24:09,248 --> 00:24:12,752 just holding black men back, black little boys back. 443 00:24:12,819 --> 00:24:14,921 So, he told us don't... Um, you know, read our own books again, 444 00:24:14,987 --> 00:24:17,757 and, you know, teach ourselves what's going on. 445 00:24:17,824 --> 00:24:19,058 And, you know, he knew... 446 00:24:19,125 --> 00:24:21,694 I think he knew that we was going to be entrepreneurs. 447 00:24:21,761 --> 00:24:24,664 So he told us we didn't need school. 448 00:24:24,731 --> 00:24:27,233 My mother didn't agree with that shit, but it worked for us, yo. 449 00:24:29,902 --> 00:24:33,239 You know, my mom's biggest fear was us not doing school. 450 00:24:33,305 --> 00:24:35,942 And at the end of the day, I didn't want to hurt her. 451 00:24:36,008 --> 00:24:39,078 My friends, you know, all of them were in the game. 452 00:24:39,145 --> 00:24:41,681 I didn't want to do that full-time. 453 00:24:41,748 --> 00:24:44,183 I didn't want to do that at all, really. 454 00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:46,152 And I really didn't have to. 455 00:24:46,218 --> 00:24:48,120 I planned to be something, 456 00:24:48,187 --> 00:24:49,689 like, really something. 457 00:24:49,756 --> 00:24:53,025 You know, I was just really into music, 458 00:24:53,092 --> 00:24:55,962 writing, whatever. Just anything around arts. 459 00:24:56,028 --> 00:24:58,798 And I just kept telling myself, 460 00:24:58,865 --> 00:25:00,800 this can't be my career, this other thing. 461 00:25:00,867 --> 00:25:02,769 It can't. 462 00:25:02,835 --> 00:25:05,672 I had a passion for creating things. 463 00:25:05,738 --> 00:25:07,239 So, that was going to be my out. 464 00:25:10,142 --> 00:25:11,711 (CHEERING) 465 00:25:11,778 --> 00:25:13,045 (MUSIC BEATS) 466 00:25:13,112 --> 00:25:16,883 * We came here tonight to get started 467 00:25:16,949 --> 00:25:19,752 * To cold act ill or get retarded * 468 00:25:19,819 --> 00:25:21,053 (BEATBOXING) 469 00:25:27,794 --> 00:25:31,097 NAS: Back in the days, Roxanne Shante was getting a name 470 00:25:31,163 --> 00:25:32,799 as this big rapper in the neighborhood. 471 00:25:32,865 --> 00:25:35,201 (RAPPING) 472 00:25:35,267 --> 00:25:37,970 And she came in my building one time 473 00:25:38,037 --> 00:25:39,906 and she heard us in the hallway, trying to rap 474 00:25:39,972 --> 00:25:41,974 and Shante said, "Look, 475 00:25:42,041 --> 00:25:45,077 "I want y'all to come perform with me." 476 00:25:45,144 --> 00:25:47,847 There was like some Queensbridge park jam that was going to happen, 477 00:25:47,914 --> 00:25:50,416 that we heard about and she wanted to bring us on as her crew. 478 00:25:50,482 --> 00:25:53,753 We was like, "Oh wow!" So we were talking about this every day, working on it. 479 00:25:53,820 --> 00:25:56,155 That's when we started to realize we're not really good. 480 00:25:56,222 --> 00:25:57,990 So she asked us, 481 00:25:58,057 --> 00:25:59,992 you know, to spit for her at a different time. 482 00:26:00,059 --> 00:26:02,228 And we tried to rap. 483 00:26:02,294 --> 00:26:04,831 And we started laughing because it wasn't coming out right. 484 00:26:04,897 --> 00:26:07,066 She didn't laugh. She said, "Listen, 485 00:26:07,133 --> 00:26:08,100 "if y'all don't have your routine the next time I see y'all, 486 00:26:08,167 --> 00:26:10,937 "I'm fucking both of y'all up." 487 00:26:11,003 --> 00:26:13,840 She's older than us and taller than us and we believed her. 488 00:26:15,274 --> 00:26:17,777 MARLEY MARL: Basically, around '84, 489 00:26:17,844 --> 00:26:20,847 I started sampling at the crib in Queensbridge. 490 00:26:20,913 --> 00:26:23,015 Now, the funny thing about me making records, 491 00:26:23,082 --> 00:26:25,217 I didn't make records or get into this industry 492 00:26:25,284 --> 00:26:27,787 for the money or anything else. 493 00:26:27,854 --> 00:26:30,322 If I was making a beat in the window and it was blasting out 494 00:26:30,389 --> 00:26:31,991 and somebody was walking through 12th street, 495 00:26:32,058 --> 00:26:34,260 if they didn't stop and do a two-step or something, 496 00:26:34,326 --> 00:26:35,728 I would make a new beat. 497 00:26:35,795 --> 00:26:37,263 ANNOUNCER: (ECHOING) Ladies and gentlemen, 498 00:26:37,329 --> 00:26:40,900 we got MC Shan and Marley Marl in the house tonight. 499 00:26:40,967 --> 00:26:43,235 They just came from off tour. 500 00:26:43,302 --> 00:26:44,203 They want to tell you a little story about where they come from. 501 00:26:44,270 --> 00:26:48,340 1985, maybe I'm 11, maybe I'm 12, 502 00:26:48,407 --> 00:26:50,342 my man comes to get me, "Yo 503 00:26:50,409 --> 00:26:52,444 "there is this new song by MC Shan." 504 00:26:52,511 --> 00:26:55,281 Oh, he's like, "Yo, he got a song called The Bridge about the neighborhood." 505 00:26:55,347 --> 00:26:57,083 ( THE BRIDGE PLAYING) 506 00:27:00,452 --> 00:27:02,621 MARLEY MARL: Which was never meant to be a record, that's crazy. 507 00:27:02,689 --> 00:27:06,392 It was meant to be intermission music for Queensbridge Day. 508 00:27:06,458 --> 00:27:09,228 But the tape went around Queensbridge 509 00:27:09,295 --> 00:27:11,898 and hey, became a Queensbridge hit. 510 00:27:11,964 --> 00:27:12,364 And the rest is history. 511 00:27:14,300 --> 00:27:15,034 ( THE BRIDGE CONTINUES) 512 00:27:19,438 --> 00:27:21,974 When I heard that record, I just stopped everything I was doing 513 00:27:22,041 --> 00:27:22,909 and was, like, 514 00:27:24,043 --> 00:27:25,311 "Oh shit!" 515 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:30,049 You automatically knew it was a smash. 516 00:27:30,116 --> 00:27:32,218 MARLEY MARL: The pride was crazy. 517 00:27:32,284 --> 00:27:34,987 You know, we had an anthem. It was on the radio. 518 00:27:35,054 --> 00:27:37,223 People knew, "Yeah, I'm from Queensbridge." 519 00:27:37,289 --> 00:27:39,291 I couldn't believe they lived in this neighborhood with us. 520 00:27:39,358 --> 00:27:40,960 You know what I'm saying? 521 00:27:41,027 --> 00:27:42,428 So that was amazing to me. 522 00:27:42,494 --> 00:27:44,263 Then, you'd say, "There go Shan. 523 00:27:44,330 --> 00:27:46,966 "There go Marley in his car." 524 00:27:47,033 --> 00:27:48,367 You meet people and tell them where you from, 525 00:27:48,434 --> 00:27:50,269 most people never heard of this place. 526 00:27:50,336 --> 00:27:52,872 That song changed everything. 527 00:27:52,939 --> 00:27:54,874 ( THE BRIDGE CONTINUES) 528 00:27:54,941 --> 00:27:57,343 I go down south and I'm a Shan fan and everything. 529 00:27:57,409 --> 00:27:59,078 I'm a fan of everybody else, 530 00:27:59,145 --> 00:28:01,413 but I'm really feeling good about my neighborhood and everything. 531 00:28:01,480 --> 00:28:03,049 I get back, 532 00:28:03,115 --> 00:28:05,284 the day I get back, 533 00:28:05,351 --> 00:28:07,186 the kids is talking about this South Bronx record. 534 00:28:09,121 --> 00:28:10,723 And I'm like, "What?" And they's like, 535 00:28:10,790 --> 00:28:14,026 "Yo, there's this record. They dissing Shan and Marley." I'm like... 536 00:28:14,093 --> 00:28:14,894 "All right, well, let me hear it." 537 00:28:15,995 --> 00:28:17,296 ( SOUTH BRONX PLAYING) 538 00:28:20,099 --> 00:28:22,134 Aw, man, you know, why are they hating? 539 00:28:22,201 --> 00:28:23,302 You know what I mean? 540 00:28:23,369 --> 00:28:23,970 Uh, they trying to be like Shan and Marley. 541 00:28:25,271 --> 00:28:28,007 But it was also raw, 542 00:28:28,074 --> 00:28:30,209 that he was going "South Bronx," 543 00:28:30,276 --> 00:28:32,444 * South South Bronx, get it South Bronx * 544 00:28:32,511 --> 00:28:35,047 Uh, the beat is tough, I can't front. 545 00:28:35,114 --> 00:28:38,184 So Shan put out Kill that Noise. 546 00:28:38,250 --> 00:28:40,920 * Rapping any style or categories 547 00:28:40,987 --> 00:28:43,489 * Fresh freestyles real live stories 548 00:28:43,555 --> 00:28:45,491 * This jam is dedicated to you and your boys 549 00:28:45,557 --> 00:28:47,493 * And if you knew what I knew then you'd kill that noise * 550 00:28:52,064 --> 00:28:54,066 And then, The Bridge Is Over came. 551 00:28:54,133 --> 00:28:56,468 * I say, the bridge is over the bridge is over 552 00:28:56,535 --> 00:28:57,904 * Biddy-bye-bye the bridge is over 553 00:28:57,970 --> 00:28:58,971 * The bridge is over 554 00:28:59,038 --> 00:28:59,438 * Hey, hey * 555 00:29:00,406 --> 00:29:01,273 Phew! 556 00:29:02,374 --> 00:29:04,944 It was... It just... 557 00:29:05,011 --> 00:29:08,047 It just silenced everything. It was like, "Oh. 558 00:29:08,114 --> 00:29:09,215 "Oh. They not playing." 559 00:29:09,281 --> 00:29:11,317 ( THE BRIDGE IS OVER CONTINUES) 560 00:29:21,127 --> 00:29:22,428 (LAUGHING) Oh! Ho! Ho! 561 00:29:24,396 --> 00:29:26,165 I was like, "It's real." 562 00:29:26,232 --> 00:29:28,500 MARLEY MARL: It was a battle. Shan was in that battle. 563 00:29:28,567 --> 00:29:30,102 Shan did his thing. 564 00:29:30,169 --> 00:29:32,404 KRS One did his thing. 565 00:29:32,471 --> 00:29:35,507 The morale went down in Queensbridge until the Nases came out. 566 00:29:35,574 --> 00:29:37,543 JUNGLE: That was our lives, you know, man. 567 00:29:37,609 --> 00:29:41,147 That was not only our lives, it was the whole Queensbridge lives. 568 00:29:41,213 --> 00:29:42,514 Do you know what I mean? Then we knew... 569 00:29:42,581 --> 00:29:45,184 Fucking KRS One just said 570 00:29:45,251 --> 00:29:46,986 "the Bridge is over" and all that shit. 571 00:29:47,053 --> 00:29:48,988 We was little kids coming up under that shit. 572 00:29:49,055 --> 00:29:50,222 Like, you know, the Bridge ain't over. 573 00:29:50,289 --> 00:29:52,424 We super-ill niggas out here, right? 574 00:29:52,491 --> 00:29:55,361 So, we had to let the world know how ill we was. 575 00:29:55,427 --> 00:29:59,065 When everybody thought in hip hop that the Bridge was over. 576 00:29:59,131 --> 00:30:00,132 Are you fucking crazy? We was ill. 577 00:30:08,074 --> 00:30:09,575 NAS: I already knew I had to prepare 578 00:30:09,641 --> 00:30:11,143 to block that hate out 579 00:30:11,210 --> 00:30:12,478 or to tear that down. 580 00:30:15,047 --> 00:30:16,482 And my choice was to tear it down. ( REPRESENT PLAYING) 581 00:30:22,188 --> 00:30:23,422 ALL: (SINGING) * Represent, represent * 582 00:30:46,612 --> 00:30:48,314 NAS: As a kid back then, 583 00:30:49,281 --> 00:30:51,283 I felt like every day 584 00:30:53,119 --> 00:30:55,121 was one step away from 585 00:30:56,388 --> 00:30:57,389 the end. 586 00:31:02,561 --> 00:31:05,464 Me, my man Will and my man Bo. 587 00:31:05,531 --> 00:31:07,299 We went to see Aliens III. 588 00:31:08,534 --> 00:31:11,603 Will never smoked weed, 589 00:31:11,670 --> 00:31:13,405 but we thought it was the best thing. 590 00:31:13,472 --> 00:31:15,474 Smoking weed just chilled us out. 591 00:31:15,541 --> 00:31:17,509 Especially, Will. He can... 592 00:31:17,576 --> 00:31:19,245 You never know, he's unpredictable. 593 00:31:19,311 --> 00:31:21,547 Somebody come around and say the wrong thing, he's on their head. 594 00:31:23,149 --> 00:31:25,051 So, I felt like if he smoked, 595 00:31:25,117 --> 00:31:25,884 he'd be chill. 596 00:31:28,320 --> 00:31:30,156 We watching the movie and Will said, 597 00:31:30,222 --> 00:31:31,490 "Let me hit that." 598 00:31:31,557 --> 00:31:33,225 And he really hit it. 599 00:31:33,292 --> 00:31:35,394 Yo, we were like, "Ah, this is crazy." 600 00:31:35,461 --> 00:31:37,396 And when we got back to the block, 601 00:31:37,463 --> 00:31:39,331 me and Bo had went to go get some weed, 602 00:31:39,398 --> 00:31:41,767 but Will stayed on the block. 603 00:31:41,833 --> 00:31:44,503 And, I think, he was collecting money 'cause we was throwing a barbecue. 604 00:31:44,570 --> 00:31:46,072 So, everybody that's out there 605 00:31:46,138 --> 00:31:48,174 that's hustling, they gotta put in too. 606 00:31:49,841 --> 00:31:52,378 Somebody thought that he was extorting 'em, 607 00:31:52,444 --> 00:31:55,381 and started yellin' and smacked him. 608 00:31:55,447 --> 00:31:58,650 He had a big Gucci link chain with a big Mercedes Benz medallion 609 00:31:58,717 --> 00:32:01,087 and she popped it. 610 00:32:01,153 --> 00:32:03,122 He was already on one. We was lit up from the movie, 611 00:32:03,189 --> 00:32:03,689 so he just reacted back. 612 00:32:05,591 --> 00:32:08,160 He beat up this girl and shit and um, 613 00:32:08,227 --> 00:32:11,197 she called her baby father and her boyfriend. 614 00:32:11,263 --> 00:32:13,099 Her baby father and her brother. 615 00:32:13,165 --> 00:32:14,666 And the niggas had stepped to me. 616 00:32:14,733 --> 00:32:17,136 I remember I was sitting right here. 617 00:32:17,203 --> 00:32:19,405 NAS: My man ain't never hit no girl in his life. 618 00:32:19,471 --> 00:32:21,273 Matter of fact, if a girl got hit out there, 619 00:32:21,340 --> 00:32:23,175 they could come get him 620 00:32:23,242 --> 00:32:25,544 and he's stepping to somebody for the girl. 621 00:32:25,611 --> 00:32:27,679 It's just like, in the heat of the moment, 622 00:32:27,746 --> 00:32:30,416 certain violations, 623 00:32:30,482 --> 00:32:34,120 you know, you react to 'em, and that was a first. 624 00:32:34,186 --> 00:32:37,456 I was sitting right here and the niggas had stepped to me like, "Yo, 625 00:32:37,523 --> 00:32:39,358 "Where's ill Will at? Where's ill Will at?" 626 00:32:39,425 --> 00:32:41,660 And one nigga was like... 627 00:32:41,727 --> 00:32:43,729 You know, man, he was gonna do it. 628 00:32:43,795 --> 00:32:45,731 You know, man? So, I knew they wasn't playing. 629 00:32:45,797 --> 00:32:48,334 I tried to lie to them, but they was serious. 630 00:32:48,400 --> 00:32:51,270 So I told them a super lie, like, "He went that way." 631 00:32:51,337 --> 00:32:53,372 Then, when he came, when Will came, 632 00:32:53,439 --> 00:32:55,274 I was like... He was over there where them kids are at. 633 00:32:55,341 --> 00:32:56,475 And they saw us. 634 00:32:56,542 --> 00:32:58,710 And I was like, "Will, they coming now." 635 00:32:58,777 --> 00:33:01,480 He said, "Nigga, I'm not running from nobody." 636 00:33:01,547 --> 00:33:03,349 And then, when the dude just did the shots... 637 00:33:03,415 --> 00:33:04,716 (GUNSHOTS) 638 00:33:04,783 --> 00:33:07,186 I looked at him and he looked at me, 639 00:33:07,253 --> 00:33:09,721 and his eyes opened up wide and I saw the life leave. 640 00:33:09,788 --> 00:33:12,458 His eyes stayed, stayed in one position 641 00:33:12,524 --> 00:33:14,460 and I was like, "Oh shit, he's dead!" 642 00:33:14,526 --> 00:33:16,462 I thought, I was like, "Oh, shit! 643 00:33:16,528 --> 00:33:18,197 "Today is the day that everybody was going to die." 644 00:33:18,264 --> 00:33:19,665 I thought I was going to die, too. 645 00:33:19,731 --> 00:33:22,601 And I felt the bullets plucking through my shirt and my pants. 646 00:33:22,668 --> 00:33:25,437 One right here in the shoulder up there. 647 00:33:25,504 --> 00:33:27,739 It grazed me, took a little meat off. 648 00:33:27,806 --> 00:33:30,209 And then, uh, one came through my leg 649 00:33:30,276 --> 00:33:32,578 from the back and came out right there. 650 00:33:32,644 --> 00:33:34,646 Nas came out of this building right here. 651 00:33:34,713 --> 00:33:36,748 He was talking to a girl in this building. 652 00:33:36,815 --> 00:33:39,651 He came out this building right here and walked over there, 653 00:33:39,718 --> 00:33:41,287 looked at me on the floor and I said, 654 00:33:41,353 --> 00:33:42,588 "Yo, don't tell Mommy." 655 00:33:42,654 --> 00:33:45,457 I swear to God. I told that nigga, "Don't tell Mommy." 656 00:33:45,524 --> 00:33:49,361 Like I could strength that shot and somehow, 657 00:33:49,428 --> 00:33:52,564 spend the night out and come home without my moms knowing I got shot. 658 00:33:52,631 --> 00:33:54,700 When I heard the shots, I came, you know, I knew that 659 00:33:54,766 --> 00:33:57,236 the shots were happening in the area where we at. 660 00:33:57,303 --> 00:33:59,271 So, I went downstairs, 661 00:33:59,338 --> 00:34:00,772 and I came outside 662 00:34:00,839 --> 00:34:03,709 and the first person I saw was my bro. 663 00:34:03,775 --> 00:34:06,678 It was Jungle, he was on the ground. 664 00:34:06,745 --> 00:34:09,481 And his eyes... He was... His eyes were open. 665 00:34:09,547 --> 00:34:10,349 He was good. 666 00:34:12,518 --> 00:34:13,585 Then I see my man. 667 00:34:16,755 --> 00:34:17,723 And um... 668 00:34:23,629 --> 00:34:25,264 So, he wasn't moving. 669 00:34:29,435 --> 00:34:32,271 I mean, at that point, it was like, 670 00:34:32,338 --> 00:34:34,773 "We let somebody take one of us out?" 671 00:34:34,840 --> 00:34:37,376 You know what I mean? Like, we... This is it, man. 672 00:34:37,443 --> 00:34:39,545 We might as well all go. 673 00:34:39,610 --> 00:34:41,380 Nothing mattered no more, we... 674 00:34:41,447 --> 00:34:42,380 Whatever. 675 00:34:46,552 --> 00:34:47,585 JUNGLE: I ain't blaming nobody, but... 676 00:34:48,754 --> 00:34:50,688 I would have moved. 677 00:34:50,755 --> 00:34:52,858 You know, man, if my son got shot, 678 00:34:52,924 --> 00:34:55,293 and I used to tell my mother this shit. 679 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:57,429 Why didn't we move, yo? 680 00:34:57,496 --> 00:34:59,731 I had to come outside and look at this block again 681 00:34:59,798 --> 00:35:01,567 and all that shit was traumatizing. 682 00:35:01,633 --> 00:35:04,603 That shit made me into, like, a crazy person. 683 00:35:04,670 --> 00:35:06,872 That shit made me a shooter and all that shit. That shit made me like that. 684 00:35:06,938 --> 00:35:08,440 Give me a cigarette, yo. 685 00:35:14,646 --> 00:35:17,383 You know, at that point, even life itself didn't seem too valuable. 686 00:35:17,449 --> 00:35:19,618 Somebody else's, 687 00:35:19,685 --> 00:35:22,321 mine, nobody's seemed valuable at that point. 688 00:35:24,556 --> 00:35:26,392 OLU DARA: Will was a lot of things to Nasir. 689 00:35:26,458 --> 00:35:28,760 He was very creative. 690 00:35:28,827 --> 00:35:32,664 Just like Nas was. He was very knowledgeable about a lot of things. 691 00:35:32,731 --> 00:35:36,302 They read. Basically, they thought basically the same. 692 00:35:36,368 --> 00:35:38,837 They were basically brothers in a way. Yeah. 693 00:35:38,904 --> 00:35:42,574 So I noticed his demeanor did change, he got more... 694 00:35:42,641 --> 00:35:45,611 Uh, maybe cynical about the world or whatever. 695 00:35:45,677 --> 00:35:47,613 He had a little sadness in him. 696 00:35:47,679 --> 00:35:49,515 A little hurt. 697 00:35:49,581 --> 00:35:50,682 I can still see that in him sometimes. 698 00:35:53,519 --> 00:35:56,021 JUNGLE: To me, it made him take life serious. 699 00:35:56,087 --> 00:35:59,591 'Cause he was right on the verge of getting that record deal around that time. 700 00:35:59,658 --> 00:36:02,594 And it was either you sell drugs and be in the hood forever 701 00:36:02,661 --> 00:36:04,396 or you do this music shit. 702 00:36:04,463 --> 00:36:06,632 Once Will died, he did music, 703 00:36:06,698 --> 00:36:08,434 we didn't even barely see him no more. 704 00:36:08,500 --> 00:36:11,470 'Cause Will was down with what he was trying to do. 705 00:36:11,537 --> 00:36:13,905 They was all together, trying to do the music shit. 706 00:36:13,972 --> 00:36:17,643 After he passed, it was like he was... 707 00:36:17,709 --> 00:36:19,545 Was orchestrating things from upstairs. 708 00:36:22,581 --> 00:36:24,516 It was around that time, man, 709 00:36:24,583 --> 00:36:26,117 we felt it happening. 710 00:36:26,184 --> 00:36:28,654 We felt like something good was about to happen. 711 00:36:32,758 --> 00:36:36,362 LARGE PROFESSOR: Got introduced to Nas through my homie Joe Fatal, 712 00:36:36,428 --> 00:36:38,664 and his boy, Melquan. 713 00:36:38,730 --> 00:36:40,666 They came to me and said, "Yo, we got this guy, 714 00:36:40,732 --> 00:36:42,401 "and he wants to make a demo. 715 00:36:42,468 --> 00:36:44,236 "You know, he has his own money and everything. 716 00:36:44,303 --> 00:36:48,707 "And he wants to see if you can make a beat for him." 717 00:36:48,774 --> 00:36:50,642 NAS: So, he was like, "Yeah, I'm up here, working with 718 00:36:50,709 --> 00:36:53,445 "Eric B and Rakim and Kool G Rap..." 719 00:36:53,512 --> 00:36:56,382 And all these big names and I'm like, 720 00:36:56,448 --> 00:36:57,716 "Damn." You know, this was it. 721 00:36:59,451 --> 00:37:01,019 This was where, you know, the hit hip-hop albums 722 00:37:01,086 --> 00:37:03,889 were being made in this studio right here. 723 00:37:05,891 --> 00:37:07,459 WIZ: There's a lot of dudes. A lot of street dudes. 724 00:37:07,526 --> 00:37:08,960 And me and Nas, being young, 725 00:37:09,027 --> 00:37:10,862 15, 16, 726 00:37:11,897 --> 00:37:13,932 and we going inside 727 00:37:13,999 --> 00:37:17,569 and um, Large was like, "Yo, go in the booth." 728 00:37:17,636 --> 00:37:19,705 You know, everybody talking. He just, just, 729 00:37:19,771 --> 00:37:20,939 just quietly, like, "Go in the booth." 730 00:37:23,542 --> 00:37:25,577 Nas would go in the booth, he throw in a beat and he start rhyming. 731 00:37:25,644 --> 00:37:26,645 And everybody'd get quiet. 732 00:37:32,518 --> 00:37:34,553 NAS: I was in the Mecca. 733 00:37:34,620 --> 00:37:39,491 I was inside the place that everybody wanted to be. 734 00:37:39,558 --> 00:37:41,727 (LAUGHS) In my mind, this was what I was thinking, right? 735 00:37:41,793 --> 00:37:44,830 "All right, you wanted to do this... 736 00:37:44,896 --> 00:37:46,665 "You here now, baby. 737 00:37:46,732 --> 00:37:48,500 "You here. 738 00:37:48,567 --> 00:37:50,669 "This is it. 739 00:37:50,736 --> 00:37:51,803 "Do your thing." 740 00:37:51,870 --> 00:37:52,904 ( IT AIN'T HARD TO TELL PLAYING) 741 00:37:55,941 --> 00:37:57,042 (NAS RAPPING) 742 00:38:32,143 --> 00:38:33,845 "Who's that back there? Who's that? 743 00:38:33,912 --> 00:38:34,846 "Who's that? Who's that? Who's that? 744 00:38:34,913 --> 00:38:36,682 "Man, that boy nice. 745 00:38:36,748 --> 00:38:38,617 "Goddamn. 746 00:38:38,684 --> 00:38:40,085 "The nigga is... Oh, man! How old are y'all?" 747 00:38:40,151 --> 00:38:41,753 It was just like, 748 00:38:41,820 --> 00:38:43,321 "Yo, that's crazy right there. Like, yo. 749 00:38:45,090 --> 00:38:46,958 "You good, like yo, you good, man." 750 00:38:47,025 --> 00:38:49,060 I'm excellent with that, man, right there, 751 00:38:49,127 --> 00:38:50,562 so we was on from there. 752 00:38:50,629 --> 00:38:52,030 Let me formally introduce my boy. 753 00:38:52,097 --> 00:38:54,600 This is my man, the rapper, Nas. 754 00:38:54,666 --> 00:38:58,937 - Nasty Nas. -(EXCLAIMS INDISTINCTLY) 755 00:38:59,004 --> 00:39:02,007 NAS: I started off on my verse from Live at the Barbeque. 756 00:39:02,073 --> 00:39:04,610 Everybody was just excited, you know. This is something new. 757 00:39:04,676 --> 00:39:06,077 This is going to come up and change the game. 758 00:39:06,144 --> 00:39:07,312 They are not even going to see you coming. 759 00:39:07,379 --> 00:39:09,014 ( LIVE AT THE BARBEQUE PLAYING) 760 00:40:19,117 --> 00:40:21,653 * It's like that y'all * That y'all 761 00:40:21,720 --> 00:40:22,588 * That y'all * That y'all * 762 00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:30,195 MC SERCH: It was one of the illest lines 763 00:40:30,261 --> 00:40:32,798 anyone ever heard an MC say. 764 00:40:32,864 --> 00:40:34,966 "When I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus." 765 00:40:37,836 --> 00:40:40,138 I mean, I must have rewound that, like, 100 times. 766 00:40:42,774 --> 00:40:45,677 This Main Source album is brilliant, but, um, 767 00:40:45,744 --> 00:40:46,845 who is that kid? 768 00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:51,049 Oh, it almost felt like, within a week, 769 00:40:51,116 --> 00:40:54,686 everybody wanted to know who that guy was. 770 00:40:54,753 --> 00:40:57,656 Nas said the line, "When I was twelve, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus," 771 00:40:57,723 --> 00:40:59,224 and I said, 772 00:40:59,290 --> 00:41:02,127 like, "Who is this guy?" You know, it's crazy. 773 00:41:02,193 --> 00:41:04,696 I went on a mission to try to find him. 774 00:41:04,763 --> 00:41:06,031 MC SERCH: I originally met Nas in '92, 775 00:41:06,097 --> 00:41:08,299 when Nas was at G Rap's crib. 776 00:41:08,366 --> 00:41:10,902 It wasn't until '93 when I was working on my solo album that 777 00:41:10,969 --> 00:41:13,104 I really got to know Nas. 778 00:41:13,171 --> 00:41:15,073 He came to the studio when I was doing Back to the Grill Again. 779 00:41:15,140 --> 00:41:17,075 ( BACK TO THE GRILL AGAIN PLAYING) 780 00:41:17,142 --> 00:41:18,810 * Back to the grill again 781 00:41:18,877 --> 00:41:20,679 * Get up and get down 782 00:41:20,746 --> 00:41:21,780 * I told you never stand still 783 00:41:21,847 --> 00:41:22,814 * So here's a true or false 784 00:41:22,881 --> 00:41:23,882 * Tell me if it's fact or bull 785 00:41:23,949 --> 00:41:26,451 * You wanna kill the Klan 786 00:41:26,518 --> 00:41:27,252 * Shoot the fans at a tractor pull 787 00:41:27,318 --> 00:41:28,153 * Got crazy game 788 00:41:28,219 --> 00:41:29,220 * So no one can stop me 789 00:41:29,287 --> 00:41:31,189 * But hey, yo, I'm white 790 00:41:31,256 --> 00:41:32,858 * I guess my game is hockey 791 00:41:32,924 --> 00:41:34,526 * Back to the grill again the grill again 792 00:41:34,593 --> 00:41:35,293 * Back to the grill again the grill again 793 00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:36,628 * MC Serch * 794 00:41:56,081 --> 00:41:58,249 MC SERCH: "Waving automatic guns at nuns." 795 00:41:58,316 --> 00:42:00,752 I never saw those verses 796 00:42:00,819 --> 00:42:01,519 as being shock and awe. 797 00:42:02,954 --> 00:42:06,825 They weren't just about the words themselves. 798 00:42:06,892 --> 00:42:09,027 They were about an emotion and a feeling, 799 00:42:09,094 --> 00:42:11,863 so you had to use an example. 800 00:42:11,930 --> 00:42:15,200 Like, I am so angry at the system 801 00:42:17,202 --> 00:42:22,073 that I have to channel that anguish and that frustration 802 00:42:22,140 --> 00:42:24,810 into waving automatic guns at nuns. 803 00:42:24,876 --> 00:42:26,544 ( BACK TO THE GRILL CONTINUES) 804 00:42:33,952 --> 00:42:36,788 I get a call from my friend, MC Serch. 805 00:42:36,855 --> 00:42:40,025 And Serch says, "I found that kid you're looking for. 806 00:42:40,091 --> 00:42:42,160 "You know, that kid, Nasty Nas from Queensbridge." 807 00:42:42,227 --> 00:42:44,029 And he said, "Not only did I find him, 808 00:42:44,095 --> 00:42:45,997 "but I got two demos on him." 809 00:42:46,064 --> 00:42:47,532 I said to my boss, 810 00:42:47,599 --> 00:42:50,135 "If you never let me sign anything, 811 00:42:50,201 --> 00:42:53,772 "just please let me sign this kid," you know. 812 00:42:53,839 --> 00:42:55,406 And he said, "Okay, all right, all right." 813 00:42:55,473 --> 00:42:57,575 You know, and that's kinda how it happened. 814 00:42:59,878 --> 00:43:01,880 NAS: I always wanted to be on Columbia Records. 815 00:43:01,947 --> 00:43:03,815 They just seemed like the most serious record label to me. 816 00:43:05,250 --> 00:43:08,319 But now I'm invited in. 817 00:43:08,386 --> 00:43:12,123 You know, I mean, I'm like, "It's about time y'all recognize, right?" 818 00:43:12,190 --> 00:43:14,760 And I'm looking at all the history on the walls. 819 00:43:14,826 --> 00:43:16,361 I'm kinda looking around the place like, 820 00:43:16,427 --> 00:43:19,330 "You guys are waiting for me." 821 00:43:19,397 --> 00:43:21,767 You know, I'm talking to the walls and the desks 822 00:43:21,833 --> 00:43:24,069 and the plaques and the, um, 823 00:43:24,135 --> 00:43:25,771 the floors and the people walking, I'm like, 824 00:43:25,837 --> 00:43:29,975 this is... "You guys have been setting, setting this up for me." 825 00:43:30,041 --> 00:43:31,910 And I'm here, that's how I felt. I'm like, 826 00:43:31,977 --> 00:43:33,879 "This is home now." 827 00:43:33,945 --> 00:43:37,082 He never told me, "I got the deal." 828 00:43:37,148 --> 00:43:40,018 He never said that shit. He just came back with the money. 829 00:43:40,085 --> 00:43:42,120 You know what I mean? Like, "Yo, I got some money." 830 00:43:42,187 --> 00:43:43,922 He didn't tell me how much he had or nothing. 831 00:43:43,989 --> 00:43:45,924 He just was like, "Yo, what you want? 832 00:43:45,991 --> 00:43:47,959 "Go to Macy's and get..." You know what I mean? 833 00:43:48,026 --> 00:43:51,129 He brought me some Guess jeans and shit like that, like, 834 00:43:51,196 --> 00:43:54,232 "Yo, here. You want some money, I got you." And all that shit. 835 00:43:54,299 --> 00:43:56,201 I didn't even know what he was doing. I didn't even know how. 836 00:43:56,267 --> 00:43:58,403 I just figured, 837 00:43:58,469 --> 00:44:00,271 "Cool you got this little bit of money. 838 00:44:00,338 --> 00:44:03,274 "That's the most money we ever gonna have. Ever." 839 00:44:03,341 --> 00:44:05,376 And, you know what I mean? "This is the end. 840 00:44:05,443 --> 00:44:07,345 "You gonna do some videos and we good. 841 00:44:07,412 --> 00:44:10,215 "We back in the hood. And that's the shine that we got." 842 00:44:10,281 --> 00:44:12,851 I didn't know that shit meant the world. You know what I mean? 843 00:44:12,918 --> 00:44:15,053 I thought that shit just meant the Bridge. 844 00:44:15,120 --> 00:44:16,154 DJ: (ON RADIO) You know what time it is, y'all hear the Bridge beat. 845 00:44:16,221 --> 00:44:18,824 That's the anthem right here. 846 00:44:18,890 --> 00:44:20,859 BOBBITO: That's where you guys are from, right? 847 00:44:20,926 --> 00:44:22,127 NAS: No Question. MAN: Queensbridge in the house. 848 00:44:24,362 --> 00:44:25,731 BOBBITO: Yo, repeat what I'm sayin', like, 849 00:44:25,797 --> 00:44:27,332 peoples definitely been waiting for the album. 850 00:44:27,398 --> 00:44:30,969 Why don't you let them know what is going on with that. 851 00:44:31,036 --> 00:44:33,138 NAS: (ON RADIO) Yeah, the album getting ready to come out in January. 852 00:44:33,204 --> 00:44:35,140 The name of that is Illmatic. 853 00:44:35,206 --> 00:44:37,142 NAS: You heard Live at The Barbecue, 854 00:44:37,208 --> 00:44:38,877 you heard Back to the Grill Again, 855 00:44:38,944 --> 00:44:42,013 so now it's album time. 856 00:44:42,080 --> 00:44:45,851 NY State Of Mind, which I knew was going to be the first record on the album. 857 00:44:45,917 --> 00:44:48,954 I'm bringing you through hell and back, I'm bringing you in. 858 00:44:49,020 --> 00:44:51,356 Here it is, this is song number one when you pop in that tape. 859 00:44:51,422 --> 00:44:52,457 ( NY STATE OF MIND PLAYING) 860 00:44:55,026 --> 00:44:58,864 Word up! Hey, yo, black this out. It's time, it's time, baby. 861 00:44:58,930 --> 00:45:00,331 (MC SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY) 862 00:45:03,434 --> 00:45:05,636 DJ PREMIER: I said I wanted to do something that's slow. 863 00:45:05,703 --> 00:45:08,339 So I'm already thinking darks and walk-with-me type of joint. 864 00:45:08,406 --> 00:45:10,175 Yo, it gotta make you do this, 865 00:45:10,241 --> 00:45:12,243 and that makes you do that. 866 00:45:12,310 --> 00:45:15,280 * Straight out the fucking dungeons of rap 867 00:45:15,346 --> 00:45:17,248 * Where fake niggas don't make it back 868 00:45:19,985 --> 00:45:21,052 * I don't know how to start this * 869 00:45:40,305 --> 00:45:43,174 MISS INFO: When I wrote the review for Illmatic in The Source magazine, 870 00:45:43,241 --> 00:45:44,943 I didn't know that it was going to change hip-hop. 871 00:45:45,010 --> 00:45:46,511 I only knew that it changed me, 872 00:45:46,577 --> 00:45:49,047 with one listen. 873 00:45:49,114 --> 00:45:52,050 KENDRICK LAMAR: Illmatic is the album for the '90s era when I was growing up. 874 00:45:52,117 --> 00:45:53,952 The stories he was telling was something I could relate to. 875 00:45:54,019 --> 00:45:56,021 Illmatic will always be number one. 876 00:45:56,087 --> 00:45:59,090 ERYKAH BADU: Coming from Dallas, Texas, Illmatic was my secret. 877 00:45:59,157 --> 00:46:02,027 It was my weapon. It was the steel that sharpened my steel, 878 00:46:02,093 --> 00:46:05,496 which set the tone for Baduizm 879 00:46:05,563 --> 00:46:07,498 and everything else that I would do. 880 00:46:07,565 --> 00:46:10,969 J. COLE: In 1994, I was nine-years-old. 881 00:46:11,036 --> 00:46:12,570 I came up in Fayetteville, North Carolina, 882 00:46:12,637 --> 00:46:13,905 so a lot of things didn't make it to me. 883 00:46:13,972 --> 00:46:17,242 He hit us with life lessons and insight 884 00:46:17,308 --> 00:46:20,445 on how to maneuver through this world as just young black men in America. 885 00:46:29,087 --> 00:46:30,188 Fab 5 Freddy, 886 00:46:30,255 --> 00:46:32,457 I'm in the laboratory with my man right here. 887 00:46:32,523 --> 00:46:34,259 It's big Nas, son. 888 00:46:34,325 --> 00:46:35,460 It's Illmatic. 889 00:46:39,597 --> 00:46:42,000 L.E.S.: Nas called me, 890 00:46:42,067 --> 00:46:44,202 and was like, "Yo, I got one more slot on the record. 891 00:46:44,269 --> 00:46:46,071 "Come to the studio, 892 00:46:46,137 --> 00:46:48,373 "bring all your disks, bring all your beats." 893 00:46:48,439 --> 00:46:50,341 I didn't even get a chance to play anything. 894 00:46:50,408 --> 00:46:52,277 The first beat that I pulled up, 895 00:46:52,343 --> 00:46:53,478 was Life's a Bitch . 896 00:46:53,544 --> 00:46:54,479 ( LIFE'S A BITCH PLAYING) 897 00:46:56,314 --> 00:46:58,016 (RAPPING INDISTINCTLY) 898 00:47:10,628 --> 00:47:12,597 AZ: I'm from Brooklyn, I'm from East New York. 899 00:47:12,663 --> 00:47:15,200 You know, where I'm from, 900 00:47:15,266 --> 00:47:18,103 the homicide rate is like an all-time high. 901 00:47:18,169 --> 00:47:20,505 When I wrote Life's a Bitch, 902 00:47:20,571 --> 00:47:22,207 another one of my homies just passed. 903 00:47:22,273 --> 00:47:23,741 That was like the third one. 904 00:47:23,808 --> 00:47:26,177 A lot of brothers was incarcerated. 905 00:47:26,244 --> 00:47:28,313 I shot it at one of my homies, and it was like, 906 00:47:28,379 --> 00:47:30,048 "Damn, son. Like, oh, shit." 907 00:47:31,216 --> 00:47:32,250 I felt it from the heart. 908 00:47:32,317 --> 00:47:34,185 ( LIFE'S A BITCH CONTINUES) 909 00:48:15,326 --> 00:48:17,528 Q-TIP: The rhyme flow from the MC perspective 910 00:48:17,595 --> 00:48:20,231 the nigga put down was crazy. 911 00:48:20,298 --> 00:48:22,367 But when you say "I'm destined to live the dream 912 00:48:22,433 --> 00:48:23,134 "for all my peeps who never made it," 913 00:48:25,203 --> 00:48:27,238 nestled within all of that 914 00:48:27,305 --> 00:48:29,274 street grimy shit the nigga talking, 915 00:48:29,340 --> 00:48:30,375 is hope. 916 00:48:30,441 --> 00:48:32,410 ( LIFE'S A BITCH CONTINUES) 917 00:49:30,268 --> 00:49:32,437 NAS: Early on my pops told me, you know, 918 00:49:32,503 --> 00:49:34,572 "You're going to be the man of the house, I'm out." 919 00:49:34,639 --> 00:49:36,241 My moms told us, you know, 920 00:49:36,307 --> 00:49:39,344 "He's still your father, he still loves you." 921 00:49:39,410 --> 00:49:42,313 You know, that story and it was like... 922 00:49:42,380 --> 00:49:43,648 I'm sure I wasn't happy about it. 923 00:49:43,714 --> 00:49:45,483 But, you know, 924 00:49:45,550 --> 00:49:48,219 to me, I've always been like, "That's life," 925 00:49:48,286 --> 00:49:49,754 you know, "Keep pushing." 926 00:49:49,820 --> 00:49:51,689 * Life's a bitch and then you die 927 00:49:51,756 --> 00:49:53,224 * That's why we get high 928 00:49:53,291 --> 00:49:55,160 * 'Cause you never know when you're gonna go * 929 00:49:55,226 --> 00:49:56,561 NAS: The track 930 00:49:56,627 --> 00:49:58,496 just had a jazzy feel to it. 931 00:49:58,563 --> 00:50:01,599 I just felt like I could hear my pop on it. 932 00:50:01,666 --> 00:50:05,170 I just asked him to play something that reminded him of 933 00:50:05,236 --> 00:50:07,472 when me and my brother was kids in the neighborhood. 934 00:50:07,538 --> 00:50:08,739 (INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYING) 935 00:50:30,495 --> 00:50:34,232 That record is the mind-set 936 00:50:34,299 --> 00:50:36,734 of most people today still. It's still me. 937 00:50:36,801 --> 00:50:39,704 It's still who I am, as far as, 938 00:50:39,770 --> 00:50:42,473 when you listen to those words, 939 00:50:42,540 --> 00:50:45,410 it's sort of like philosophy in a way, you know. It's like... 940 00:50:47,678 --> 00:50:49,314 You know, it's talking about life. 941 00:50:49,380 --> 00:50:50,381 ( THE WORLD IS YOURS PLAYING) 942 00:50:54,619 --> 00:50:57,588 That 19-year-old was 943 00:50:59,324 --> 00:51:00,758 the beginnings of me. 944 00:51:00,825 --> 00:51:04,295 You know, the beginnings of who I am today. 945 00:51:04,362 --> 00:51:08,266 If it wasn't for me in that, in that mind-set then, 946 00:51:08,333 --> 00:51:10,301 you know, people wouldn't know, 947 00:51:10,368 --> 00:51:11,802 people wouldn't be with me today. 948 00:51:11,869 --> 00:51:13,338 * I sip the Dom P 949 00:51:13,404 --> 00:51:14,372 * Watching Gandhi till I'm charged 950 00:51:14,439 --> 00:51:15,606 * Writing in my book of rhymes 951 00:51:15,673 --> 00:51:18,309 * All my words pass the margins 952 00:51:18,376 --> 00:51:19,310 * Behold the mic, I'm throbbing 953 00:51:19,377 --> 00:51:20,445 * Mechanical movement 954 00:51:20,511 --> 00:51:22,547 * Understandable smooth shit 955 00:51:22,613 --> 00:51:23,381 * That murderers move with 956 00:51:23,448 --> 00:51:24,749 * The thief's theme 957 00:51:24,815 --> 00:51:25,783 * Play me at night they won't act right 958 00:51:25,850 --> 00:51:28,453 * The fiend of hip-hop 959 00:51:28,519 --> 00:51:28,586 * Has got me stuck like a crack pipe * 960 00:51:31,156 --> 00:51:35,426 The vibe of that song was straight Tony Montana, Scarface . 961 00:51:35,493 --> 00:51:38,429 "The world is yours," that's what it said on the blimp. 962 00:51:38,496 --> 00:51:42,300 That was it. That, that was serious in the movie when he saw that. 963 00:51:42,367 --> 00:51:44,369 It was like a sign. 964 00:51:46,804 --> 00:51:50,575 PETE ROCK: I saw this jazz album, Ahmad Jamal and... 965 00:51:50,641 --> 00:51:52,710 You know, just threw it on, one day 966 00:51:52,777 --> 00:51:56,447 as I was vacuuming my room and I heard the loop go by. 967 00:52:01,386 --> 00:52:03,421 That's when I started making the drums. 968 00:52:03,488 --> 00:52:06,324 I was like, "Hmm, let me put something in there that's kinda like 969 00:52:06,391 --> 00:52:08,393 "not just your regular boom bap, but 970 00:52:08,459 --> 00:52:08,793 "something else, like..." 971 00:52:09,394 --> 00:52:10,695 (BEATBOXING) 972 00:52:11,796 --> 00:52:13,664 (MUSIC BEATS) 973 00:52:19,570 --> 00:52:20,705 That was the first beat. 974 00:52:21,639 --> 00:52:23,541 When he heard it, 975 00:52:23,608 --> 00:52:25,643 I saw him just freeze, 976 00:52:25,710 --> 00:52:27,545 you know what I'm saying? And just... 977 00:52:27,612 --> 00:52:31,616 You know, just start closing his eyes and getting an idea. 978 00:52:31,682 --> 00:52:33,718 He came up with the idea of me singing the hook 979 00:52:33,784 --> 00:52:35,286 and I wasn't, I wasn't with it. 980 00:52:35,353 --> 00:52:36,887 He was like, "Nah, I want you to sing it, man." 981 00:52:36,954 --> 00:52:39,790 Then he started singing it the way he wanted me to do it. 982 00:52:39,857 --> 00:52:41,192 And I did it, you know what I'm saying? 983 00:52:41,259 --> 00:52:42,793 (SINGING) * Who's world is this? * 984 00:52:48,799 --> 00:52:50,768 ( THE WORLD IS YOURS PLAYING) 985 00:52:52,670 --> 00:52:54,305 * Who's world is this? 986 00:52:54,372 --> 00:52:56,507 * I said the world is yours the world is yours * 987 00:53:44,989 --> 00:53:46,557 NAS: "Thinking of the word best describing my life 988 00:53:46,624 --> 00:53:47,858 "to name my daughter, 989 00:53:47,925 --> 00:53:49,894 "my strength, my son, the star, 990 00:53:49,960 --> 00:53:50,928 "will be my resurrection." 991 00:54:00,971 --> 00:54:03,007 I had no idea 992 00:54:03,073 --> 00:54:04,675 I would have kids in that order, 993 00:54:04,742 --> 00:54:05,976 the way I wrote that rhyme 994 00:54:06,043 --> 00:54:07,612 and what their sexes would be. 995 00:54:07,678 --> 00:54:09,046 It's just, I spoke that on my first album 996 00:54:09,113 --> 00:54:11,582 and that's how life turned out. 997 00:54:11,649 --> 00:54:12,850 That is... 998 00:54:13,884 --> 00:54:14,652 That is chilling. 999 00:54:17,555 --> 00:54:18,923 All right, peace. Peace. 1000 00:54:25,696 --> 00:54:26,797 I was born right here. 1001 00:54:27,932 --> 00:54:29,500 Snacky boy. 1002 00:54:29,567 --> 00:54:30,501 Hey! 1003 00:54:31,836 --> 00:54:33,504 What up? 1004 00:54:33,571 --> 00:54:36,807 Oh, shit! Oh, shit, what up, man? 1005 00:54:36,874 --> 00:54:38,876 Good, baby. What up, man? 1006 00:54:38,943 --> 00:54:40,478 Karate K. 1007 00:54:40,545 --> 00:54:41,579 Look good, baby. 1008 00:54:41,646 --> 00:54:43,047 What's up with you? 1009 00:54:43,113 --> 00:54:46,451 This is the dude here that used to snap on me every day. 1010 00:54:46,517 --> 00:54:48,886 If I came outside and my sneakers was fucked up, 1011 00:54:48,953 --> 00:54:50,988 he would send me back upstairs. 1012 00:54:51,055 --> 00:54:53,023 This dude was the best ever. 1013 00:54:53,090 --> 00:54:55,760 The best. What up baby? I'm a huge fan. 1014 00:54:55,826 --> 00:54:57,127 Since Illmatic. You already know. 1015 00:54:57,194 --> 00:55:00,631 Yo, I can bring cameras, y'all all right with that? 1016 00:55:00,698 --> 00:55:02,500 Just want to check with y'all to make sure. 1017 00:55:02,567 --> 00:55:03,801 Peace. How're you? 1018 00:55:06,737 --> 00:55:07,838 What up, baby? What up? 1019 00:55:07,905 --> 00:55:10,741 Nigga got big as hell. Yeah, I'm home. 1020 00:55:10,808 --> 00:55:12,042 I ain't little Messiah no more. 1021 00:55:12,109 --> 00:55:13,844 You big Messiah, now. 1022 00:55:13,911 --> 00:55:14,545 Welcome home, my nigga. 1023 00:55:16,647 --> 00:55:17,848 Yeah. What's goin' on? 1024 00:55:19,850 --> 00:55:20,885 Hey, y'all. 1025 00:55:23,120 --> 00:55:25,923 Hey, peace. What up? 1026 00:55:25,990 --> 00:55:27,925 I love you, Nas. 1027 00:55:27,992 --> 00:55:29,660 I love you too, baby. 1028 00:55:30,661 --> 00:55:32,663 I never saw that 1029 00:55:32,730 --> 00:55:34,064 I'd be having this day, 1030 00:55:34,131 --> 00:55:35,733 to look back 1031 00:55:35,800 --> 00:55:38,068 and think about where I come from, 1032 00:55:38,135 --> 00:55:40,037 and made it to where I'm at. 1033 00:55:42,607 --> 00:55:44,509 This was a story that needed to be told. 1034 00:55:44,575 --> 00:55:46,544 It was already told by MC Shan 1035 00:55:46,611 --> 00:55:49,647 and Marley Marl, Craig G, 1036 00:55:49,714 --> 00:55:51,081 Shante, the Juice Crew. You know what I'm sayin'? 1037 00:55:51,148 --> 00:55:53,518 It was already told... Tragedy. 1038 00:55:53,584 --> 00:55:55,586 Um, it was already told. 1039 00:55:55,653 --> 00:55:57,688 So, I was just an extension of that. 1040 00:55:57,755 --> 00:56:00,691 You know, I'm sayin', they paved this way. They... 1041 00:56:00,758 --> 00:56:02,827 They made this happen. What's up, little man? 1042 00:56:02,893 --> 00:56:04,028 Come here, give me five. 1043 00:56:07,164 --> 00:56:08,833 How you doin'? What's your name? Noah. 1044 00:56:08,899 --> 00:56:09,734 What's your name? Noah. 1045 00:56:09,800 --> 00:56:12,703 Noah. Nice to meet you, Noah. 1046 00:56:12,770 --> 00:56:14,605 Stay good, man. What's your middle name? 1047 00:56:14,672 --> 00:56:15,606 Nasir. Nasir? 1048 00:56:16,941 --> 00:56:19,009 Give me five, man! 1049 00:56:19,076 --> 00:56:22,112 Yo, look. Everybody with that name are kings. 1050 00:56:22,179 --> 00:56:24,715 So we are kings, okay? 1051 00:56:24,782 --> 00:56:26,717 Just know that for the rest of your life. 1052 00:56:26,784 --> 00:56:28,686 Don't ever think anything else. 1053 00:56:28,753 --> 00:56:29,887 Just know that you are a king, all right? 1054 00:56:29,954 --> 00:56:30,821 My man. 1055 00:56:31,789 --> 00:56:32,757 Be good. 1056 00:56:35,693 --> 00:56:37,662 What's up man? Give me five, give me five. 1057 00:56:48,005 --> 00:56:50,140 OLU DARA: I remember being in Europe 1058 00:56:50,207 --> 00:56:52,877 and I hadn't seen my boys for a long time. 1059 00:56:52,943 --> 00:56:56,180 So I went out to Queensbridge to look for them. 1060 00:56:56,246 --> 00:56:58,082 A man with a camera, a guy I knew, said 1061 00:56:58,148 --> 00:56:59,917 "Hey, there are your boys." 1062 00:56:59,984 --> 00:57:03,020 And they come running over. 1063 00:57:03,087 --> 00:57:05,122 They hugged me and kissed me and shit 1064 00:57:05,189 --> 00:57:06,957 and then they posed for the photograph. 1065 00:57:08,859 --> 00:57:10,928 (SNIFFS) 1066 00:57:10,995 --> 00:57:13,631 I just never forget how they looked. 1067 00:57:13,698 --> 00:57:14,865 'Cause they had, they had changed. 1068 00:57:14,932 --> 00:57:16,967 I had been gone so long. 1069 00:57:17,034 --> 00:57:18,769 But, you can just tell, they were... 1070 00:57:18,836 --> 00:57:21,639 They had been released from their mother's arms. 1071 00:57:21,706 --> 00:57:23,774 And they were just out there. Just having fun. 1072 00:57:23,841 --> 00:57:24,842 You know? 1073 00:57:33,117 --> 00:57:35,085 When I first saw that Illmatic cover, 1074 00:57:35,152 --> 00:57:38,656 I knew exactly where that photograph came from. 1075 00:57:38,723 --> 00:57:40,257 From the looks of the photograph, you can just tell 1076 00:57:40,324 --> 00:57:42,159 that's the way his mind just opened up. 1077 00:57:43,661 --> 00:57:46,163 To me, his mind was saying, "Wow, 1078 00:57:46,230 --> 00:57:47,965 "what a world! 1079 00:57:48,032 --> 00:57:49,166 "What a world." 1080 00:57:53,871 --> 00:57:56,040 NAS: So, you'd have this your background for Illmatic . 1081 00:57:58,809 --> 00:58:00,945 Danny Clinch, the photographer, 1082 00:58:01,011 --> 00:58:02,312 when he showed us this picture, 1083 00:58:02,379 --> 00:58:05,783 it just felt like, you get a chance to see 1084 00:58:05,850 --> 00:58:07,752 the neighborhood in a larger way. 1085 00:58:17,862 --> 00:58:19,697 That day was a big day for me 1086 00:58:19,764 --> 00:58:20,931 because we had made it, 1087 00:58:20,998 --> 00:58:22,567 we were rolling out with an album. 1088 00:58:22,633 --> 00:58:24,268 We were doing a photo shoot for the album. 1089 00:58:26,336 --> 00:58:29,774 There was no stylist, there was no budget 1090 00:58:29,840 --> 00:58:32,710 for anything except a cameraman. 1091 00:58:32,777 --> 00:58:34,745 To get to that point is the biggest day in your life, 1092 00:58:34,812 --> 00:58:36,013 so we were celebrating. 1093 00:58:50,027 --> 00:58:52,029 JUNGLE: Nas said, "Come outside, yo, 1094 00:58:52,096 --> 00:58:55,199 "a camera crew is outside." 1095 00:58:55,265 --> 00:58:58,035 Everybody knew Nas was a rapper, you know, he had a song out. 1096 00:58:58,102 --> 00:58:59,203 So, you know, people came outside. 1097 00:59:03,173 --> 00:59:05,275 There's a lot of people around that want to kill each other, 1098 00:59:05,342 --> 00:59:08,713 that just got together that day, 1099 00:59:08,779 --> 00:59:10,547 just, um, for the pictures and shit. 1100 00:59:12,316 --> 00:59:13,818 That was a crazy day in the hood. 1101 00:59:19,223 --> 00:59:21,859 Everybody got their turn in Queensbridge, 1102 00:59:21,926 --> 00:59:23,227 for somethin' to happen. 1103 00:59:25,262 --> 00:59:26,964 Some of them people are going to catch murders, 1104 00:59:27,031 --> 00:59:28,365 and some of them people are going to get beat up. 1105 00:59:28,432 --> 00:59:32,202 Some of them people are going to go to jail, 1106 00:59:32,269 --> 00:59:34,238 but all them people wanna have a story. 1107 00:59:39,109 --> 00:59:41,746 Everything will happen to each individual 1108 00:59:41,812 --> 00:59:43,113 in that picture, one by one. 1109 00:59:46,917 --> 00:59:47,918 He's doing 15 years. 1110 00:59:50,087 --> 00:59:51,588 He's fighting a murder. 1111 00:59:56,226 --> 00:59:59,263 He's doing life in prison. 1112 00:59:59,329 --> 01:00:01,098 He just got locked up, no bail. 1113 01:00:04,068 --> 01:00:06,871 My man just, um... 1114 01:00:06,937 --> 01:00:09,239 He just did some... A shit load of time in 1115 01:00:09,306 --> 01:00:11,776 fucking North Carolina and Briggs 1116 01:00:11,842 --> 01:00:12,877 crazy ass life. 1117 01:00:14,211 --> 01:00:17,014 He do a bunch of fuckin' time in and out of jail. 1118 01:00:19,984 --> 01:00:22,019 And this shit is real, it's the projects. 1119 01:00:27,157 --> 01:00:28,325 That's fucked up. 1120 01:00:37,201 --> 01:00:38,936 It's so fucked up 1121 01:00:39,003 --> 01:00:41,305 to just see what happened. You know what I'm sayin'? 1122 01:00:41,371 --> 01:00:43,040 Like, it makes me really realize, 1123 01:00:43,107 --> 01:00:44,942 if it wasn't for music, 1124 01:00:45,009 --> 01:00:47,411 you'd have told a story about that kid, too, on the bench. 1125 01:00:47,477 --> 01:00:49,579 if it wasn't for music, 1126 01:00:49,646 --> 01:00:51,348 you would have went along that line, telling that story 1127 01:00:51,415 --> 01:00:54,351 or maybe I wouldn't even have been in that picture. 1128 01:00:54,418 --> 01:00:56,353 That's not what I wanted to see happen 1129 01:00:56,420 --> 01:00:58,823 to nobody in that picture. You know, I wanted... 1130 01:00:58,889 --> 01:01:00,190 I wanted the best for my friends. 1131 01:01:00,257 --> 01:01:02,126 You know what I'm saying? So... 1132 01:01:02,192 --> 01:01:03,227 Yeah. It's crazy. 1133 01:01:11,902 --> 01:01:13,738 I still have dreams about bein' here. 1134 01:01:13,804 --> 01:01:17,174 I still have dreams like I'm here. I don't know what it means. 1135 01:01:17,241 --> 01:01:20,277 I feel like every hood is haunted by the brothers that walked through there. 1136 01:01:20,344 --> 01:01:22,146 You know, the essence of them is still here. 1137 01:01:22,212 --> 01:01:24,448 It helped make this place what it is. 1138 01:01:25,449 --> 01:01:27,885 They kinda like govern it, 1139 01:01:27,952 --> 01:01:29,119 spiritually, you know what I mean? 1140 01:01:29,186 --> 01:01:30,821 So, you always remember the homies. 1141 01:01:30,888 --> 01:01:33,357 You always remember the ones that meant a lot, 1142 01:01:33,423 --> 01:01:34,424 that died for even this neighborhood. 1143 01:01:34,491 --> 01:01:36,360 That died for us to be here. 1144 01:01:38,963 --> 01:01:41,465 I feel like a voice for those ones that 1145 01:01:41,531 --> 01:01:44,068 passed on, you know what I mean? 1146 01:01:44,134 --> 01:01:46,336 Because, I was here. 1147 01:01:46,403 --> 01:01:48,873 This was me, this is what it was about for me, 1148 01:01:48,939 --> 01:01:51,175 you know what I'm sayin'? This was like... 1149 01:01:51,241 --> 01:01:52,109 This was life. 1150 01:01:58,482 --> 01:01:59,950 (CROWD CHEERING) (NAS SHOUTING) 1151 01:02:02,486 --> 01:02:05,990 DJ PREMIER: This song right here, goes out to everybody you love! 1152 01:02:06,056 --> 01:02:09,126 Especially all the motherfuckers on lockdown. 1153 01:02:09,193 --> 01:02:10,427 Hold your head up. 1154 01:02:10,494 --> 01:02:12,963 ( ONE LOVE PLAYING) 1155 01:02:13,030 --> 01:02:15,065 * Hold your head up, nigga hold your head 1156 01:02:15,132 --> 01:02:17,367 * Yo, to the L, to the O 1157 01:02:17,434 --> 01:02:21,105 * To the V, to the E 1158 01:02:21,171 --> 01:02:23,173 * To all my niggas locked down in Queensbridge 1159 01:02:23,240 --> 01:02:25,475 * To all my niggas locked down in New York City 1160 01:02:25,542 --> 01:02:28,478 * To all my niggas locked down in Queensbridge 1161 01:02:28,545 --> 01:02:30,414 * To all my niggas locked down in New York City 1162 01:02:57,141 --> 01:02:58,175 * Say love * 1163 01:03:09,119 --> 01:03:11,989 Q-TIP: Large Professor hit me, told me, "Yo, 1164 01:03:12,056 --> 01:03:15,259 "you need to link up with Nas, I know you got it." 1165 01:03:15,325 --> 01:03:17,394 It was Large and Akinyele 1166 01:03:17,461 --> 01:03:19,229 and Nas that came out. 1167 01:03:19,296 --> 01:03:20,530 We had a little 1168 01:03:20,597 --> 01:03:24,034 set up in Phife's basement. 1169 01:03:24,101 --> 01:03:26,370 Nas was like, "I just need that shit you do." 1170 01:03:26,436 --> 01:03:28,305 You know I'm saying, like, 1171 01:03:28,372 --> 01:03:30,074 that mystic shit. 1172 01:03:31,241 --> 01:03:34,444 I played him what was to become 1173 01:03:34,511 --> 01:03:35,312 One Love. 1174 01:03:54,431 --> 01:03:56,466 NAS: I found myself getting letters 1175 01:03:56,533 --> 01:03:59,303 from friends who were locked up all the time and, 1176 01:03:59,369 --> 01:04:02,606 you know, me saying what's going on in the free world 1177 01:04:02,672 --> 01:04:06,176 and him telling me how he's maintaining and 1178 01:04:06,243 --> 01:04:08,378 asking me questions and that's going back and forth, you know. 1179 01:04:08,445 --> 01:04:10,247 Um, just keeping this brother's head up. 1180 01:04:10,314 --> 01:04:11,882 I never heard a record 1181 01:04:11,949 --> 01:04:13,383 where somebody's writing letters to people. 1182 01:04:13,450 --> 01:04:16,486 If I did, it was like a love song, 1183 01:04:16,553 --> 01:04:19,323 or it was never from a street perspective. 1184 01:04:19,389 --> 01:04:21,291 So, One Love was about keeping people's head up 1185 01:04:21,358 --> 01:04:22,492 in locked up situations. 1186 01:04:25,695 --> 01:04:27,197 ( ONE LOVE PLAYING) 1187 01:04:39,409 --> 01:04:40,544 Q-TIP: "Heard he looks like ya. 1188 01:04:40,610 --> 01:04:42,346 "Why don't your lady write ya?" 1189 01:04:42,412 --> 01:04:45,549 That right there, if you examine those two bars and, 1190 01:04:45,615 --> 01:04:49,186 and just look at what happens when we get incarcerated. 1191 01:04:51,221 --> 01:04:53,357 You know, you're dealing with an African-Ameri... 1192 01:04:53,423 --> 01:04:56,360 A young African-American disease almost, 1193 01:04:56,426 --> 01:04:58,062 is incarcerating black men. 1194 01:05:01,498 --> 01:05:04,134 Not only do you incarcerate them 1195 01:05:04,201 --> 01:05:06,103 in a physical sense, 1196 01:05:06,170 --> 01:05:08,238 but you incarcerate, you emasculate them, 1197 01:05:08,305 --> 01:05:10,274 you incarcerate their 1198 01:05:10,340 --> 01:05:12,676 manhood, their identity, their spirit. 1199 01:05:12,742 --> 01:05:14,311 ( ONE LOVE CONTINUES) 1200 01:05:34,231 --> 01:05:37,301 There's a thing that we say in the hood. 1201 01:05:37,367 --> 01:05:39,403 "Yo, she's a good bitch, she gonna bid with you, 1202 01:05:39,469 --> 01:05:40,504 "if you get locked. 1203 01:05:40,570 --> 01:05:43,707 "She's not fucking around. 1204 01:05:43,773 --> 01:05:46,710 "She's galvanizing all your people, making sure you get visits. 1205 01:05:47,777 --> 01:05:51,115 "She's holding you down." 1206 01:05:51,181 --> 01:05:55,352 But when you are black and in America and in the hood, 1207 01:05:55,419 --> 01:05:59,289 with no income and hard to find a job and crime all around you, 1208 01:05:59,356 --> 01:06:02,392 there's a cloud of dysfunction that just hovers over 1209 01:06:02,459 --> 01:06:03,593 that young sister. 1210 01:06:05,195 --> 01:06:07,564 So just in that line, 1211 01:06:07,631 --> 01:06:10,467 "I heard he looks like you ya. Why don't your lady write ya?" shows 1212 01:06:10,534 --> 01:06:12,569 how the prison system, 1213 01:06:12,636 --> 01:06:15,305 also destroys 1214 01:06:15,372 --> 01:06:16,640 you know, 1215 01:06:16,706 --> 01:06:18,542 union 1216 01:06:18,608 --> 01:06:20,744 and love and family, 1217 01:06:20,810 --> 01:06:22,312 you know what I'm saying? 1218 01:06:22,379 --> 01:06:24,548 And destroys promise and hope. 1219 01:06:24,614 --> 01:06:26,583 Not only for the person who is incarcerated, 1220 01:06:26,650 --> 01:06:29,153 but those people who are attached 1221 01:06:29,219 --> 01:06:30,520 to them on the outside. 1222 01:06:30,587 --> 01:06:32,222 ( ONE LOVE CONTINUES) 1223 01:07:33,350 --> 01:07:34,751 (MUSIC FADES) 1224 01:07:34,818 --> 01:07:36,386 Oh, thank you. 1225 01:07:37,754 --> 01:07:38,722 Thank you. 1226 01:07:39,656 --> 01:07:40,490 Yeah. 1227 01:08:43,587 --> 01:08:45,087 STUDENT MODERATOR: The Hiphop Archive 1228 01:08:45,154 --> 01:08:46,856 was established at Harvard University 1229 01:08:46,923 --> 01:08:48,758 to support art, culture and knowledge of hip-hop, 1230 01:08:48,825 --> 01:08:50,260 and its followers. 1231 01:08:50,327 --> 01:08:51,595 The Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship 1232 01:08:51,661 --> 01:08:54,331 is designed to provide students and artists with 1233 01:08:54,398 --> 01:08:56,500 the opportunity to demonstrate that education is real power. 1234 01:08:56,566 --> 01:08:58,734 Can we all just welcome Professor Morgan, 1235 01:08:58,801 --> 01:09:00,636 Mr. Nasir Jones and Professor Skip Gates. 1236 01:09:04,874 --> 01:09:07,411 NAS: Everybody I grew up with, 1237 01:09:07,477 --> 01:09:08,845 no one finished college, 1238 01:09:08,912 --> 01:09:10,779 no one 1239 01:09:10,846 --> 01:09:12,515 owns a store, 1240 01:09:12,582 --> 01:09:14,350 owns a bank. 1241 01:09:14,417 --> 01:09:16,520 Dudes is doing life. 1242 01:09:16,586 --> 01:09:17,886 You know, dudes are dead. 1243 01:09:17,953 --> 01:09:19,756 Dudes are, 1244 01:09:19,823 --> 01:09:22,426 are, you know, in the streets, 1245 01:09:22,492 --> 01:09:24,493 or don't know where they're at, you know, so 1246 01:09:24,560 --> 01:09:28,365 an album comes out during that period, right? 1247 01:09:28,432 --> 01:09:32,435 Could you imagine being approached by Harvard at that point? 1248 01:09:32,502 --> 01:09:35,604 It's like, if it's going to be the Nasir Jones Fellowship, 1249 01:09:35,671 --> 01:09:39,343 it's gotta be someone who's been consistently working and building. 1250 01:09:39,408 --> 01:09:40,810 You want to 1251 01:09:40,877 --> 01:09:42,712 make a contribution to the world. 1252 01:09:47,817 --> 01:09:50,854 I said, "Our friends be 1253 01:09:50,920 --> 01:09:52,589 "in the projects or jail 1254 01:09:52,656 --> 01:09:55,559 "never Harvard or Yale," years ago. 1255 01:09:55,625 --> 01:09:57,661 And now... And here we are. 1256 01:09:57,727 --> 01:09:59,929 DR. HENRY LOUIS GATES: So that they realize this is an art form, 1257 01:09:59,996 --> 01:10:02,632 this is a contribution to world civilization. 1258 01:10:02,699 --> 01:10:04,468 Being studied at a university like Harvard. 1259 01:10:04,534 --> 01:10:06,336 Being preserved in a hip-hop archive. 1260 01:10:06,403 --> 01:10:09,739 Having fellowships created for the geniuses of the genre, like Nas Jones. 1261 01:10:12,609 --> 01:10:13,877 NAS: I represent my friends that didn't make it. 1262 01:10:13,943 --> 01:10:15,345 I represent all the guys 1263 01:10:15,412 --> 01:10:17,447 'cause they helped me get here. 1264 01:10:17,514 --> 01:10:22,552 Just their conversations, just us riding out together as young teenagers. 1265 01:10:23,453 --> 01:10:24,788 The things they told me, 1266 01:10:24,854 --> 01:10:26,423 the things that I told them. 1267 01:10:26,490 --> 01:10:27,724 And we mixed it all up. 1268 01:10:27,791 --> 01:10:29,593 The things we survived, 1269 01:10:29,659 --> 01:10:31,428 and the things that we lost. 1270 01:10:31,495 --> 01:10:34,831 I represent all my guys, 1271 01:10:34,898 --> 01:10:36,766 you know I'm saying, that didn't make it here with me. 1272 01:10:36,833 --> 01:10:40,970 You know I'm saying, that were there with me from the beginning. 1273 01:10:41,037 --> 01:10:43,507 I didn't trust anything. 1274 01:10:43,573 --> 01:10:45,975 I didn't trust anything outside the world that I lived in. 1275 01:10:46,042 --> 01:10:47,711 I didn't care about politics, 1276 01:10:47,777 --> 01:10:50,714 I didn't care about America that much. 1277 01:10:50,780 --> 01:10:52,849 I didn't care that much 'cause I didn't believe that it believed in me. 1278 01:10:53,517 --> 01:10:54,951 So today, 1279 01:10:55,018 --> 01:10:56,720 you know, thank God I'm here. 1280 01:10:56,786 --> 01:10:58,588 I've made it through the storm 1281 01:10:58,655 --> 01:11:00,990 and this is an amazing honor, 1282 01:11:01,057 --> 01:11:03,893 for myself and if... 1283 01:11:03,960 --> 01:11:06,029 If I may say so, to hip-hop, too. 1284 01:11:06,095 --> 01:11:07,597 Aw, man. Give it up, give it up. 1285 01:11:07,664 --> 01:11:08,665 (CLAPPING) 1286 01:11:12,736 --> 01:11:17,874 NAS: A kid dropped out of school, a kid from the projects in New York, 1287 01:11:17,941 --> 01:11:19,843 you know I'm saying, gets... 1288 01:11:19,909 --> 01:11:21,578 You know, gets recognized. 1289 01:11:21,645 --> 01:11:23,046 This ain't about just music. 1290 01:11:27,551 --> 01:11:29,719 I wanted to do Illmatic 1291 01:11:29,786 --> 01:11:31,054 to leave my voice, my opinions, 1292 01:11:31,120 --> 01:11:32,689 my philosophies, 1293 01:11:32,756 --> 01:11:34,624 my ideas 1294 01:11:34,691 --> 01:11:36,560 in music form, in rap form, 1295 01:11:38,127 --> 01:11:39,963 as something that 1296 01:11:42,532 --> 01:11:43,833 was proof that I was here. 1297 01:11:55,579 --> 01:11:57,080 ( THE WORLD IS YOURS PLAYING) 1298 01:11:57,146 --> 01:12:00,550 * It's yours, yours, yours 1299 01:12:00,617 --> 01:12:02,185 * Whose world is this? 1300 01:12:02,251 --> 01:12:04,721 * The world is yours The world is yours 1301 01:12:04,788 --> 01:12:05,755 * It's mine, it's mine it's mine 1302 01:12:05,822 --> 01:12:08,024 * Whose world is this? 1303 01:12:08,091 --> 01:12:09,559 * It's yours 1304 01:12:09,626 --> 01:12:10,594 * It's mine, it's mine it's mine 1305 01:12:10,660 --> 01:12:13,530 * Whose world is this? 1306 01:12:13,597 --> 01:12:15,699 * The world is yours the world is yours 1307 01:12:15,765 --> 01:12:16,933 * It's mine, it's mine it's mine 1308 01:12:17,000 --> 01:12:18,468 * I sip the Dom P 1309 01:12:18,535 --> 01:12:19,503 * Watching Gandhi till I'm charged 1310 01:12:19,569 --> 01:12:20,737 * Writing in my book of rhymes 1311 01:12:20,804 --> 01:12:23,440 * All my words pass the margins 1312 01:12:23,507 --> 01:12:24,441 * To hold the mic I'm throbbing 1313 01:12:24,508 --> 01:12:25,575 * Mechanical movement 1314 01:12:25,642 --> 01:12:27,677 * Understandable smooth shit 1315 01:12:27,744 --> 01:12:28,612 * That murderers move with 1316 01:12:28,678 --> 01:12:30,013 * The thief's theme * 1317 01:12:30,079 --> 01:12:31,648 (CONTINUES SINGING THE WORLD IS YOURS )