Trailer: "Time Is Illmatic"

We live in the 30 for 30 era; and, as a result, any singular event given weight in my generation's mind will surely spawn a documentary exploring the depths of the story. Depths that are commonplace in today's news, but unknown 20 years ago, when the calmer news cycle of the day never bothered to drill that far.

My excitement for this doc is a cautious one; there are just too many ways in which it could go wrong. To be effective, it has to draw you into the belief that the release of a hip-hop album brought about a momentous change to the world we know. And while hyperbole is the law of the land in the artful realms of hip-hop and cinema, here in the real world I'm struggling to draw a connection between Illmatic and any historic upheavals of political or sociological significance in 1994. I am, to the core, an unabashed Nas fan. But I'm also an out-and-out realist.