Tribeca Film Festival co-founders Robert De Niro and Jane Rosenthal kicked off this year’s event Wednesday night with the debut of “Time is Illmatic,” about the making of Queens-born rapper Nas’ groundbreaking 1994 album, “Illmatic.”
De Niro admitted he wasn’t that up on Nas’ work.
“I don’t know his music,” he told Page Six before the screening. “This film celebrates the 20th anniversary of ‘Illmatic,’” or, as De Niro quipped on stage, “Twenty years since I was officially 20 years too old to admit to listening to rap.”
Nas thanked De Niro, joking, “He plays me in all his movies,” and took the stage to perform the album in its entirety.
Meanwhile, someone sitting a few seats away from Michael Rapoport lit a huge, fragrant cigarette in the upper rows of the Beacon Theatre. The plume of smoke could be seen wafting across the entire upper level. An usher quickly told him to put it out.
Afterward, guests headed to an after-party at Providence where Nas and celebs including Anthony Mackie and Anton Yelchin hung out in a VIP room.