Back in 1994, Pete Rock notably contributed to the would-be classic debut album, Illmatic, by Nas. The Mount Vernon, New Yorker, who was fully entrenched in a highly-successful career with Pete Rock & CL Smooth stepped aside (with Large Professor, DJ Premier, Q-Tip, and L.E.S) to give some of his finest work to the first LP by the Queens kid Nas.

Pete produced the fourth single, “The World Is Yours,” bridging T La Rock with one of the 1990s MCs who seemingly upheld many of the tenants of skills and MC’ing in the early 1980s.

In celebration of Nas’ Illmatic XX and corresponding film documentary, Time Is Illmatic, the Chocolate Boy Wonder made a mixtape of the same name. The mixtape examines the complete body of work (samples, remixes, commentary, other related work of those involved) in a truly compelling fashion, without stepping on the toes of the seminal Ruffhouse/Columbia Records release.

Pete Rock explained, “I was motivated to produce this mixtape because Time Is Illmatic is a part of Hip-Hop history that everyone should know about; and have in both their music and now film collection.”

Things like this are some of the finest parts of Hip-Hop in the digital era…

Check Pete’s outtake from Time Is Illmatic below:

Related: Pete Rock Makes A Roy Ayers Mixtape & It’s Amazing (Mixtape)