The early '90s were considered part of hip-hop's golden age having graduated high school in 1993, I grew up hip-hop spoiled. We heard some of the best releases of the era as they came out, and we listened to them religiously. Everyday. Everywhere. We called De La Soul, The Pharcyde, A Tribe Called Quest and the Beastie Boys our own. I mean, come on — Dr. Dre’s The Chronic and The Pharcyde’s Bizarre Ride II: the Pharcyde both dropped during my senior year. These were the soundtracks to our formative years.
One of the other albums I had on repeat at the time was Nas' 1994 critically-acclaimed breakthough debut, Illmatic. He's since been deemed one of the greatest emcees of all time and he's among my favorites as well. So when I heard Nas was coming to Club Skye, I jumped at the chance to see him and forked over almost $50 for the ticket. I'd never seen him perform live, I actually don’t remember ever having the chance to, though I met him once in New York, which I mention way too often.
The time on the ticket and the promotional show page listed 10 p.m., though it was unclear if this was for doors or the actual start time. We walked by Club Skye around 10, the line was stretched out and unmoving and the club appeared empty. We waited it out with a few drinks at a nearby bar and returned around 11:30; though the line was just as long, people were being admitted, just very, very slowly.
We got inside at approximately 12:15 a.m. and made our way to the middle of the crowd, not too far from the stage. Then we waited, and waited some more. Some local emcees performed and a few DJs kept the crowd entertained with hip-hop anthem sing-a-longs. At 12:50 a.m., Skye staffers came out and set a bucket of iced pink champagne (sparkling rose, perhaps?) and Hennessey on stage. Then we waited some more. At 1 a.m. on the nose, Nas made his grand entrance. Everyone cheered, and then we all waited for him to lay into some lyrics. Instead, he walked around the stage, poured himself some of Hennessy, and then just stood there. He sipped, took selfies with people on stage and continued to stand there. We waited. Fifteen minutes on stage and he still wasn't performing. It was starting to get a little weird and awkward. People were looking around, bemused. I thought maybe Nas was having a moment, some kind of stage fright or internal dilemma, because he was probably on his third glass of Hennessey at this point. I moved to the back of the club as the crowd around me got drunker and more antsy.
In the back of the club, a very nice gold-toothed gentleman commented to me that everyone was getting just what they paid for. That Nas was getting paid simply to be here, for an appearance, and here we were, looking at him. “Does everyone else know that?” I asked. He just smiled at me and took a swig of his Patron bottle. At this point, a handful of little girls had already been dragged out of the club. Was he really not performing? I panicked. I stood by the back entrance to wait it out.
Finally, at 1:25 a.m., Nas picked up the mic and for the next 35 minutes, he cycled through all the hits, a brief live best-of mix tape. The crowd cheered and sang along. He introduced Big Noyd, a Mobb Deep affiliate.
Amid my favorites and highlights of the night were Illmatic’s "It Ain’t hard to Tell" with its delicious Michael Jackson “Human Nature” sample, and “Made you Look," the last hit I truly loved from him off 2002’s God Son. He closed with arguably his best known ode, "N.Y. State of Mind," with the strong lyric “I never sleep, 'cause sleep is the cousin of death.” In contrast, I needed to sleep. I didn't stick around for an encore and have yet to find out if there was one. (My guess is no.)
It was a long night for such a short payout. Nas should know better than his fans wait around for so long. The young ones got drunk while the elder ones, like me, just got tired. Nas is a year older than me and looked like he was just getting the night going. Maybe he took a nap.
At the end of the day, it was freaking Nas, one of the best emcees of all time. I can check him off my bucket list. I would have loved the show to start far earlier, however, and for him to perform for at least another half-hour. Like a mom uttering those dreaded words: I’m not mad at you, Nas. I’m just disappointed.
Set List
Hate Me Know
It Ain’t Hard to Tell
Nas is Like
If I Ruled the World
Got Yourself a Gun
Made You Look
The World is Yours
The Leaning (Burn) (Mobb Deep) performed by Big Noyd
N.Y. State of Mind
