By most scholarly accounts, "Illmatic," the debut album by rapper Nas, is one of the most influential recordings in the genre's history. As an example of East Coast rap, "Illmatic" painted grim but revelatory lyrical landscapes and creatively employed bewitching beats with clipped samples of post bop jazz.

"Illmatic" came out 25 years ago, and Nas is on the road celebrating the album's anniversary. He'll perform the whole recording Saturday at Foxwoods, and fans can also expect a sampling of work from across the arc of his entire career. That will probably include his two most releases, 2020's "King's Disease," which won a Best Rap Album Grammy, and this year's "King's Disease 2."

What fans can maybe not expect will be an intriguing experiment from a concert earlier this year when Nas performed "Illmatic" to the accompaniment of the Nashville Symphony Orchestra. In anticipation of that show, Nas told NPR that "music is music" and that he regards classical music as "the hip hop of its day."

So it's a bit sad there'll be no French horns and bassoons Saturday, but "Illmatic" is still "Illmatic."

Nas, 8 p.m. Saturday, Premier Theater, Foxwoods; $75-$130; www.foxwoods.com.