Nas recently put a new spin on his classic debut album, Illmatic. Last night (Feb. 2), PBS aired its Great Performances episode featuring Esco performing his magnum opus live from the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., backed by the National Symphony Orchestra.

Rocking a dapper black suit and bow tie, Nas offers classical takes on rap gems like “N.Y. State of Mind,” “The World Is Yours,” “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in Da Park),” “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” and more, while the large instrumental ensemble cover classic beats from DJ Premier, Large Professor and the likes. "Thank you, for giving me 20 years of your ears," the rap legend tells the crowd.

This performance holds a special place in Nas' heart. "I worked on my thing. I worked on my craft and I stuck to it," the Queens rapper says in the preview of the performance. "I hope that you can look through the dream with me and see the journey I took to be on this stage with an orchestra."

This is truly something to behold. The production was put on by Mass Appeal, and directed by Jason Goldwatch and executive produced by Nas, Anthony Saleh and Peter Bittenbender.

In other Nas-related news, it was recently announced he will be starring in the new Netflix documentary, Rapture, along with Logic and 2 Chainz.

Watch Nas' live performance of Illmatic with the National Symphony Orchestra below.

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