PBS aired Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop on Friday night (February 2) as part of its Great Performances series. The special television event revisited Nas’ 20-year anniversary performance with the National Symphony Orchestra at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center in 2014.
Throughout the evening, the Hip Hop luminary executed symphonic renditions of classics like “N.Y. State of Mind,” “The World Is Yours,” “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in Da Park),” and “It Ain’t Hard to Tell.” The special is also peppered with interview clips featuring the Queens-bred MC and provides insight into his journey that started at the Queensbridge projects.
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“I worked on my thing,” he said in a clip. “I worked on my craft and I stuck to it. I hope that you can look through the dream with me and see the journey I took to be on this stage with an orchestra.”
Watch “One Love” above and find the full video here.
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(The original version of this article was published on January 12, 2018 and can be found below.)
Nas’ debut album,Illmatic, has become a bona fide Hip Hop classic since its 1994 release. Now, a new PBS special will revisit its 20-year anniversary performance where Nas teamed up with the National Symphony Orchestra at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. in 2014.
PBS will broadcast the special event on February 2 as part of its Great Performances series. Titled Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop, the Mass Appeal production isdirected by Jason Goldwatch, and executive produced by Nas, Anthony Saleh and Peter Bittenbender.
Throughout the set, expect the Queens Hip Hop icon to perform songs like “N.Y. State of Mind,” “The World is Yours,” “Memory Lane (Sittin’ In Da Park)” and “It Ain’t Hard to Tell.”
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Nas Live From the Kennedy Center: Classical Hip-Hop will air on PBS on February 2 at 9 p.m. ET and will be available to stream on February 3 on PBS’ website.
Watch the trailer above.
