Nas releases ‘Illmatic’ football jersey

To have fun the thirtieth anniversary of Nas’ iconic debut album, the hip-hop legend has teamed up with London menswear designer Umbro and Nicholas Daley to create a limited-edition football shirt.

The t-shirt design was created to reflect Nas’ New York roots and the worldwide impact he has had on music, as quoted By . Aesthetically, the tee incorporates a relaxed fit that mixes sports, music and fashion elements while celebrating Nas’ iconography through his logo, signature font and number 94, paying homage to the 12 months the album was released.

The limited edition goals to focus on Umbro and Daley’s style and aesthetic and their approach to fashion inspired by cultural heritage.

“Creating Nas’ 30th Anniversary exclusive Illmatic look in collaboration with Umbro was a true honor for one of hip-hop’s legendary icons. “Illmatic is one of my favorite albums of all time, and the impact it had, both musically and culturally, is so evident today,” Daley said.

“The collaboration is a celebration of hip-hop and the legacy that comes with incorporating the Umbro legacy into a collection that I wanted to feel both classic and forward-thinking.”

Columbia Records released Illmatic on April 19, 1994. It was recorded between 1992 and 1993 in several studios throughout New York. The album was produced by DJ Premier, Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, LES and Nas himself. A cornerstone of hardcore hip-hop, Illmatic is revered for Nas’ complex, unparalleled lyricism and vivid inner-city narratives drawn from the rapper’s experiences growing up within the Queensbridge Houses in Queens, New York.

“It’s only nine songs. I think it’s an excellent album” – Nas he said in 2012. “I couldn’t say it before, but there are so many different dynamics involved. The album cover started the whole thing and since then loads of artists have posted photos of their kids, close-ups of their photos from here.”

“There are only nine songs on it and we get straight to the purpose, the music on it. I would not change anything,” he said.

In 2015, Billboard magazine named Illmatic “the best hip-hop album of all time”. In 2020, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it forty fourth on its list of the five hundred best albums of all time. The following 12 months, the Library of Congress chosen it for inclusion within the National Recording Registry due to its “cultural, historical, or aesthetic significance”.