Live Review: Nas

You’ve gotta love the casual dress code at hip hop gigs; irrespective of how little effort you put into your appearance, you will never feel out of place.

The years count back from 2015 on a large LED screen on the stage’s back wall until, there it is! The important year of Illmatic’s release: 1994. From the millisecond Nas appears onstage, we’re 100% invested and audience chats are non-existent. The crowd knows the drill, we’re being served Illmatic in full and this 20-year-old album still sounds as if it’s from the future. Nas is accompanied by just a DJ, Green Lantern, who operates the wheels of steel like a superhero.

Second track NY State Of Mind, with its characteristic keys, is uplifting. Nas, a self-described “cassette tape man”, boasts flawless diction and manages to sign autographs mid-flow. Life’s A Bitch speaks to many in the house: “Life’s a bitch and then you die/That’s why we get high, ‘cause you never know when you’re gonna go.” Nas’ flow is effortless, the melodic tracks often contrasting disturbing narrative about life in gang-ruled streets. The World Is Yours makes us feel capable of anything. This music sounds ridiculously current – memory lane is constantly shifting. Subtle production touches, such as sleighbells throughout Halftime, sparkle and this longplayer performed in full further cements its cult status. The album’s closer, It Ain’t Hard To Tell (with various samples including Michael Jackson’s Human Nature), arrives all too soon and we pray there’s plenty more to come.   

Lots of fans shout every word back at Nas, but the overall atmosphere created here is one of awe. Hate Me Now (which samples Carl Orff’s O Fortuna) fixes us to the spot as we gawk at the realistic flames igniting on the giant screen. Made You Look rocks the house and makes us wish someone would hand out Grey Goose shots. The chilled pace of Nas’ rhymes allows for full comprehension amid involuntary hands in the air moments. Nas is cocky in his ability, yet has a humble and appreciative demeanour. All assembled remain fully committed from go to ‘WHOA!’. One of the more insistent encore pleas this scribe has ever experienced at Forum Theatre brings the great man back.    

The house lights at the back of the auditorium are up, but fans still aren’t having it and stay put praying for a second encore. Only a few stragglers head toward the exit. But when the venue sound system kicks in we know (sadly) that the dream is most definitely over.