Nas is no stranger to the live band treatment. The venerable Queens MC celebrated 20 years of Illmatic with The National Symphony Orchestra, performing the album cover-to-cover at The Kennedy Center in DC. Since then, we've seen Nasir line-up with The Roots, and more recently, NOLA-based brass ensemble, SThe Soul Rebels, who are fresh off an Australian show as the backing band for Nas.

And today, as the classic debut celebrates yet another lap around the sun, we're happy to bring you a clip of Nas and The Soul Rebels blazing a stage to the tune of "Hate Me Now" off his third studio album, I Am, now officially of legal voting age. With full brass regalia in tow, Nas goes all the way in, leaving no note unscorched on a thick and emboldened beat from the brass band. The next time they meet will be in Soul Rebels' stomping grounds at New Orleans' Jazz Festival. If you haven't already considered making the trip, press play on the clip below for a little reinforcement.

Now if we could just get the two respective forces in a studio together...that'd really be something. Time will tell, but it appears they've already got the uncanny bond necessary to make magic happen.