'Time is Illmatic' to open the Tribeca Film festival

"Time is Illmatic," a documentary about the making of rapper Nas' 1994 debut album, is to open New York's 2014 Tribeca Film Festival, organizers said. The world premiere of the movie will be April 16. Nas will perform his entire album, "Illmatic," after the screening. The film was directed by multimedia artist One9, written by Erik Parker, and produced by One9, Parker, and Anthony Saleh. "I want to thank the Tribeca Film Festival for supporting the film with the incredible platform they've built over the years," Nas said in a statement Wednesday. "It's an honor to premiere this film in my hometown. I also want to thank One9 and Erik Parker for their persistence and hard work. Those guys and I come from the same place and era, which gives the doc an authenticity that is important to me. We wanted this film to represent the real, from the storyline all the way down to the directors and producers." "The film spotlights a musical journey with community and family at its core and we look forward to celebrating this pivotal moment in hip-hop history as we open our 13th edition," Jane Rosenthal, the festival's chief executive officer and co-founder, said in a statement.