S. Samuel
Nearly two decades after its release, rap veteran Nas' iconic Illmatic album is reportedly going to grace store shelves again as a special collector's edition.
Get On Down Records is reportedly behind the project, although there is no release date information currently available.
Nas has reportedly teamed up with Get On Down Records for a special re-release of his 1994 classic, Illmatic. While details are still currently unknown, an image of the collector’s item is currently featured on GetOnDown.com, showing a black cover with gold lettering spelling out “nas illmatic.” The label is expected to re-package his LP as a premium collection. Stills still await. (Get On Down)
Over the summer, Nas spoke on Illmatic drawing so many jazz connections.
“A couple of years ago, I just started to really appreciate the opportunities that I’ve had, the places that I’ve traveled and the people I met and just the life that God gave me. So I felt like ‘life is good’ was a positive message that we should just say to each other during such challenging times. Just have to remember the important things, you know? A lot of producers that I like, they sample a lot of jazz. They are inspired by jazz, so a lot of their music comes out that way. So a lot of the stuff I rapped on sounds like jazz. I was talking to Sting one time and he had heard Illmatic — someone played it for him — and he said, ‘It’s a jazz album!’ I love that he said that because I got jazz in my soul.” (MTV)
Last year, “God’s Son” talked about needing to get familiar with Illmatic tribute records.
“I wanna get a chance to sit down and vibe to those sh*ts ’cause those are not records that I just wanna play,” Nas, who said he’s flattered whenever MCs pay homage to Illmatic, told XXL. “Those are records I wanna sit down and really get into and see what the h*ll they about on the sh*t. That’s some cool sh*t, though. Real cool sh*t. I love that they did it.” (XXL Mag)
In May 2011, Detroit’s eLZhi hit up SOHH and talked about gaining a few Elmatic co-signs courtesy of people involved with 1994’s Illmatic.
“We gave the [elmatic] music out to Nas’ camp,” eLZhi told SOHH. “Large Professor, I’m hearing, was trying to reach out to me. We finally got a connection and we’re about to sit down and kick it. He heard about it and he’s feeling it. You know what I’m saying? So that’s a blessing right there. Me and Pete Rock go way back, so you know, just to get those stamps of approval from those people, that’s just a blessing right there.” (SOHH)
For more information on Get On Down, just click here.
Check out some recent Nas footage below:
