Great Performances

Instrumental Music

NAS

It's crazy you know, I wrote this in the projects in New York City. And here we are in the capitol, you know, of America, Washington D.C.. And you know, a bunch of white people with strings and all of that. Playing, playing this album and they feeling it.

Laughs

STEVEN REINEKE

When the idea came about of collaborating with Nas and the National Symphony Orchestra of course it was something I thought was very, very exciting, but at the same time a little daunting. Because this was the first time me, as a classical orchestra conductor, was going to branch out into the the realm of doing, you know, hip-hop music and rap music and the idea of finally tackling this genre was something I was really looking forward to doing.

NAS (rapping)

I know I can be what I want to be. I think I'm gonna do the chorus first. If I work hard at it, I'll be where I want to be. Yeah. I know I can be what I want to be. If I work hard at it, I'll be where I want to be.

NAS

Oh, man I hope the audience look at me like "yo, look at this kid from the hood, on the stage where he belongs" because there are lots of great artists and writers and vocalists and whoever pianists and musicians that never make it to a stage like this. So when you see one of them that do, you know you gotta say you know this guy's doing it for everybody who didn't make it there.

Instrumental music