Nas / The Roots review – NY rap legend is in a nostalgic state of mind

Crystal Palace Bowl, London Nas performs his gritty but intricate 90s classics, sharing the bill on the first London edition of the Roots Picnic festival with Questlove and co’s exuberant funk Looking out over the audience at the Crystal Palace Bowl, Nas feels moved to reminisce about his first visit to London. It was in 1994, around the time he released his landmark debut album Illmatic; he remembers performing on pirate radio stations and “eating good Jamaican food”. It seems unlikely that ...

By Alexis Petridis