Twenty-one years ago, Nas released Illmatic — and the hip-hop world came to a standstill. Dubbed an instant classic by music critics and fans alike, Nas’ debut album interwove poetic tales about dilapidated New York City streets with grimy beats by Large Professor, Q-Tip, Pete Rock and DJ Premier.
For One9 (real name Michael Baluyut-Silverman), who will be in Taiwan for the Urban Nomad Film Festival this Saturday for a screening and Q&A about his film, Nas: Time is Illmatic, the rapper’s album was raw and visual.
It was “a lyrical delivery so prolific that I had to keep replaying every track,” One9 said in an email interview with the Taipei Times.
Photo Courtesy of Danny Clinch
He added that it was akin to “seeing images of death and pain” told through hopeful stories. “When you make something so raw and honest that shines a light, you shape lives and inspire a culture.”
10 YEARS IN THE MAKING
On the tenth anniversary of the album’s release in 2004, One9 was contacted by Erik Parker, a music editor at Vibe magazine about making a DVD about Illmatic. They interviewed Nas’ father, jazz musician Olu Dara, as well as the album’s producers, and they cut a trailer. Eventually, Parker and One9 also met with Nas and received the green light from him. After 10 years of hard work and a research and production grant, the film was starting to take shape.
Photo Courtesy of Danny Clinch
One9 said they looked at several ways to create a narrative by using song titles from the album as metaphors for larger social issues.
“All these issues painted a picture of what Nas’ life was like growing up so viewers could feel the intensity of the lyrics that came out of those situations.”
The film was chosen as the Tribeca Film Festival’s opening movie in New York City last year. Although seeing a full house was satisfying, that was nothing for One9 compared to Nas’s own reaction and that of his family’s.
Photo Courtesy of Ari Issler
“The biggest compliment was talking with Nas and he said the movie is equivalent to the album Illmatic as far as feeling and impact,” One9 said.
He added that he spoke to Nas’ father who said it was “the best ghetto film he’d ever seen.”
On April 26, The Lancet published a letter from two doctors at Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) warning that “Taiwan’s Health Care System is on the Brink of Collapse.” The authors said that “Years of policy inaction and mismanagement of resources have led to the National Health Insurance system operating under unsustainable conditions.” The pushback was immediate. Errors in the paper were quickly identified and publicized, to discredit the authors (the hospital apologized). CNA reported that CMUH said the letter described Taiwan in 2021 as having 62 nurses per 10,000 people, when the correct number was 78 nurses per 10,000
As we live longer, our risk of cognitive impairment is increasing. How can we delay the onset of symptoms? Do we have to give up every indulgence or can small changes make a difference? We asked neurologists for tips on how to keep our brains healthy for life. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH “All of the sensible things that apply to bodily health apply to brain health,” says Suzanne O’Sullivan, a consultant in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and the author of The Age of Diagnosis. “When you’re 20, you can get away with absolute
May 5 to May 11 What started out as friction between Taiwanese students at Taichung First High School and a Japanese head cook escalated dramatically over the first two weeks of May 1927. It began on April 30 when the cook’s wife knew that lotus starch used in that night’s dinner had rat feces in it, but failed to inform staff until the meal was already prepared. The students believed that her silence was intentional, and filed a complaint. The school’s Japanese administrators sided with the cook’s family, dismissing the students as troublemakers and clamping down on their freedoms — with
As Donald Trump’s executive order in March led to the shuttering of Voice of America (VOA) — the global broadcaster whose roots date back to the fight against Nazi propaganda — he quickly attracted support from figures not used to aligning themselves with any US administration. Trump had ordered the US Agency for Global Media, the federal agency that funds VOA and other groups promoting independent journalism overseas, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” The decision suddenly halted programming in 49 languages to more than 425 million people. In Moscow, Margarita Simonyan, the hardline editor-in-chief of the