Time Is Illmatic

For any fans of rap/hip hop, One9's insightful and to the point documentary centred around Nas and his cornerstone album The Illmatic is a must see film as it offers an easy to understand and often illuminating look into the beginnings of Nas and what drew him to write material that became such a huge hit commercially and industry wise.

Nas comes across here as a thoughtful and thankful artist that is never unsure of where he came from or why he started doing what he does so well. The film however never focuses for too long on Nas alone and discovers some truly great characters along the way to discuss his life whether it be Nas's father, brother or record producers every talking head here has something informative to say and speaks honestly and openly about the ups and downs of growing up in the rough neighbourhood of Queensbridge New York, that through this documentary becomes alive with history and song.

One9 does a fantastic job or capturing the essence of this neighbourhood, the high-rise apartments and the bustling streets, you can feel how someone in the vein of Nas was inspired, shocked and formed to the artist he became. Loss of live on these streets was a common occurrence, drugs was not only a hobby but a way of live and music was an out, an event that allowed people to vent their frustrations or talk about their lives to those in it and those many worlds away from it. There are some particularly poignant moments here from Nas's personal experiences with the loss of friends or another moment where we realise that those who grew up around Nas are far less fortunate than him, a photo showing faces of young man that have mostly wallowed in a life of crime and violence instead of bettering themselves to a life more abundant.

Time Is Illmatic is neither ground-breaking nor over stylised yet it's a wonderfully down to earth and accessible look into the life of Nas and the creation of an artist born into a particular set of circumstances. We don't go away feeling like we know Nas inside and out but we do get a gage on what makes him tick and also a reminder that for many rap and hip hop is a ways to a better life and also an art form that speaks for generations but also communities.

3 and a half street BBQ's out of 5

Delving deep into the struggles of growing up in the projects and the impact of the landmark album today, "Time is Illmatic" is an expertly crafted and encapsulating look at African American culture and rap told through the eyes of one of the most important artists of the 90's.

High inspiration but i think that we could have gotten a bit more of footage and detail from him. Thank a bunch for the inspiration though 🤘.

Life's a b***

I watched this without knowing much about Nas or why he meant so much to so many people. Watching this made me understand. This documentary did an excellent job of telling Nas' story in a way that made it clear why he was so supported by his community and his fans. He told the story of life in Queensbridge, and he continues to tell that story today, even walking his old streets at several points in this film pointing out locations where he had both good times and horrible things happen to him that shaped him as an artist. Along with the story of the music you get a history of how his music existed in the context of hip hop at the time. There were discussions about where this music came from and what was to come next, really placing "Illmatic" at a place and time in not only hip hop cultural history, but music history.

STAR RATING: ***** Saturday Night **** Friday Night *** Friday Morning ** Sunday Night * Monday Morning

To mark the twentieth anniversary of it's release last year, Nas's Illmatic was re-released for a new generation of hip hop fans to discover. Having recognised Nas as one of my more favoured hip hop performers, I brought a copy myself, and it's not hard to see why it put the musical genre on the map quite as much as it did. He's definitely one of mine, and it would seem many other, people's favourite rap performers, and coinciding with the album, it seems this equally timely and more revealing documentary was also released, delving in to the history of Nas and how his musical influences probably dated back further even than his birth, with his father an accomplished jazz performer, providing him with an inspiration that would propel him away from an almost predestined life of crime to a positive, outspoken role model to millions of fans.

Although he was another rapper who grew up in 'the projects', surrounded by crime in Queensbridge, New York, we learn that Nas enjoyed a more cultured, educated living environment at home than probably the vast majority of those around him did, with access to literature and poetry books from his teacher mother, to the point where his own father supported him in his decision to drop out of school early, feeling unchallenged and uncared for in the education system. Then an unforeseen tragic event propelled him to put everything in to his ambition as a hip hop artist, and by his late teens, he'd wowed the right people, made the right connections and before he knew it, his titular album was on the shelves. As the driving force of the documentary, we delve in to the social significance and emotional resonance behind each of the tracks, gaining insight in to what made the album such an enduring masterpiece.

It's all wrapped up nice and smoothly, at just over seventy minutes, cramming a lot of interesting information in to such a short time frame. It's no less a labour of love, a revealing insight in to one of the more articulate, intriguing, hard hitting and distinctive icons of the hip hop genre. ****