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Seventeen years ago Nas dropped a classic album with 'Illmatic.' As he gets ready to embark on the Rock The Bells tour, the Queens rapper reflected on the making of the disc.

"People were losing money hanging in the studio with me," Nas told Fuse. "They were supposed to be on the block doing whatever it was they were doing, but they were losing money just to be up there with me. And hang out and watch... they saw what was about to happen. They felt a part of it. It was representing them. I didn’t know executives, Hollywood actors, superstar rappers. Everyone that I shouted out was the crew.”

Nas also said that DJ Premier, played a big role on the project as well. The legendary producer banged out three tracks for the album.

"Premier brought to the table someone who I felt was like myself," Nas explained. "Premier was more like my guys, we related like that. We sat down, he played me records, he opened up his crates to me. He let me play them on the turntables, let me play things that I like. He was open -- easy, like real chill. So we would go through records for hours."

Peep the rest of the interview with Fuse below. You can catch Nas live on the Rock The Bells tour along with Mobb Deep, Lauryn Hill, Cypress Hill, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Black Moon, and many more coming to San Bernardino (Aug 20), Mountain View (Aug 27), New York (Sept 03) and Boston (Aug 10).