Known for his theatrical stage show, Kung Fu Vampire says that seeing Nas perform Illmatic in its entirety at Rock The Bells gave him an additional appreciation for the Queensbridge rapper’s debut album.

“Just to be able to hear like sampled beats or however those beats were made, played live, to be able to feel the bass in your chest from a bass guitar, not a lot of people do that,” Kung Fu Vampire says during an exclusive interview with HipHopDX. “That was the big thing and seeing that next to somebody so different as Damian Marley, it just made me inspired because I wasn’t huge, huge, huge on Nas in general, but the Illmatic album is obviously super dope. I listen to it when I work out, things like that, but to hear it with live elements and then next to Marleys, kind of felt like I was in a moment in time that was never going to be forgotten. You know, like a really epic moment people would talk about 10, 20 years later.” 

Kung Fu Vampire also says that Illmatic, which turns 20 years old tomorrow (April 19), has aged well.

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“Nas’ Illmatic album is still extremely relevant,” Kung Fu Vampire says. “It could have came out last week and people would be like, ‘Oh, brand new.’ You know that’s the key to a classic album.”

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