Nas and NSO Principal Pops Conductor Steven Reineke on March 28, 2014 at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall. Photo by Scott Suchman.

In the ’90s, there was a spate of recordings by renowned orchestras performing arrangements of songs first performed by equally renowned rock artists. Acts like Pink Floyd, Sting, The Rolling Stones and even Metallica all got the symphonic treatment. The quality of these albums was mixed, at best, but it seemed to make sense. After all, rock and roll was entering middle age and clearly not going anywhere, so it seemed reasonable that the genre would work its way into classical music’s ivory tower. The collaborations elevated the cultural sophistication of popular musicians while also attempting to make orchestral music more accessible.

Now that hip-hop has been around for about 40 years, it’s logical that the pattern repeats itself for America’s current great cultural export. On Friday, Nas joined forces joined forces with the NSO Pops, under the direction of Steven Reineke, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the rapper’s landmark recording, Illmatic. The performance, which was repeated on Saturday, was part of the Kennedy Center‘s ongoing One Mic festival.

This wasn’t the first time that the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall has played host to a hip-hop show. DCist reviewed Mos Def’s memorable performance in 2008, but this was a far more ambitious effort. As with Mos Def, the moment was not lost on Nas. From his first appearance on stage, sporting shades and a sharply tailored tuxedo, it was clear that he understood that this was a milestone for both his career and the Kennedy Center.

Using the tracks from Illmatic as a starting point, arrangers Tim Davies and Derrick Hodge — who also performed on drums and bass, respectively — were brought in to create the orchestrations. As is often the case, the difficulty in placing contemporary music within a symphonic setting is creating a sound where the elements blend together to form a cohesive whole, rather than sounding like layers that are simply piled on top of one another. In this case, the synthesis was most effective during the quieter moments of the set. A muted trumpet soloed over a wash of strings for the intro to “Life’s A Bitch,” leading Nas to exclaim, “That shit’s so right!” And indeed it was. Likewise, the accompaniment to “One Love” created the atmosphere of a film noir, which was perfect for Nas’s homage to friends and family that fell into a life locked in the criminal justice system.

On the other hand, the orchestra simply couldn’t keep up during the more energetic points in the concert. The call and response to “Represent” was meant to bring the crowd to its feet, but the orchestra seemed to weigh the audience down. This was even more evident during songs where the NSO sat out as Nas took control with just his DJ, Green Lantern, and talented backing musicians. Departing from Illmatic, “If I Ruled The World” and “I Can,” the latter of which is based on a sample of Beethoven’s Für Elise, turned the concert hall into a hip-hop club. The same was true of the encore, which had audience crowding the aisles, chanting the “braaaavve hearts” hook to “Made You Look.”

Whether the effort was a success depends on the lens through which one examines it. Friday’s audience was among the most diverse we’ve seen at the Center, so if the goal was to reach out to different communities, then it worked. On purely musical terms, it was a mixed bag because while it presented hip-hop in an unusual setting, it probably didn’t go far in bringing new interest to orchestral music. Within the context of the One Mic, it was an ideal marquis event because it spotlighted the enthusiasm and aspiration behind the festival. As Nas closed the show with the festival’s namesake song, there wasn’t a single person on stage or in the audience that wasn’t glad to have been there.