It is hard to believe it took this long for Nas to be featured on a Golden Age Thursday. The choice to highlight one of the genre’s most long-lasting and undeniable figures is a no-brainer, but deciding what to highlight from the artist’s storied career is the tricky part. The easy choice is to go straight to Illmatic to showcase one of the most celebrated albums in music history or deep dive into Nas’s historic feud with fellow legend Jay-Z. All of these quintessential moments in hip-hop history, but to take the easy route would be to go against Nas’s artistic ethos. The artist chooses his words very carefully, and his head-spinning verses need your undivided attention no matter how many times you’ve spun It Was Written or Stillmatic. Hearing these hip-hop standards delivered live is essential to understanding Nas’s longevity.
Nas has always been celebrated as one of the most impactful artists of his generation, but the reasoning goes deeper than his damn-near-perfect discography. Nas is a pure performer. Whether in the studio or on stage, each word is delivered with an invigorating passion. For this Golden Age Thursday, we take a look back at Nas’s performance at the 1996 American Music Awards. He performs a medley of hits from his It Was Written with “If I Ruled The World” following “Street Dreams.” The theatrical performance has Nas stepping out of a classic car before launching into his performance. The magical part is that Nas sounds as clear as he does on a mixed and mastered record, a testament to his vocal prowess as Naas delivers an unforgettable performance.
