The past six months have been incredible for Seattle fans of vintage East Coast rap and hip-hop. De La Soul celebrated 25 years of 3 Feet High and Rising at Sasquatch!; Jay-Z rolled through Safeco Field with Beyonce in July; the inimitable Wu-Tang Clan headlined the first night of Bumbershoot. The capper is set to go down this Wednesday when one of the biggest names in the game takes the Moore stage to perform in its entirety one of the greatest rap records of all time.

Nas, born Nasir Jones, hit the scene 20 years ago with his long-gestating masterpiece Illmatic. Much like Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), debuted by Wu just a few months prior, Illmatic was marked by its honest portrayal of street life set over appropriately gritty, lo-fi beats and samples. The rapper rooted the album in a feeling of “This is where I came from,” with very little optimism about where that would lead him.

In marked contrast to the Notorious B.I.G.’s multiplatinum monster Ready to Die, which dropped just a few months later, Illmatic didn’t glamorize or sugarcoat the brutal realities of coming up as a black youth in the inner city. Whereas Biggie indulged in the life of a freewheeling Big Poppa, Nas was of a mind that life was a bitch, then you die. Verse after verse, Illmatic reveals itself not as a means to an end, but as a singular representation of the long-dismissed complex realities faced by the young black male.

Truth and honesty are the key hallmarks of art that endures over time, and Illmatic is a record that carries both of these in spades. We continue to care about it, because, even 20 years on, the world of Illmatic is still present and its message still matters. An Evening With Nas Performing Illmatic and debuting the documentary Nas: Time Is Illmatic. The Moore, 1932 Second Ave., 682-1414, stgpresents.org/moore. $42.50. 8 p.m. Wed., Oct. 15.

music@seattleweekly.com