Nasir Jones

Nas
1
Nas
For other uses, see Nas (disambiguation).
Nas
Nas performing in Paris, France, July 2014
Background information
Birth name Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
Also known as Nasty Nas Escobar
Born September 14, 1973
Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Origin Queensbridge, Queens, New York, U.S.
Genres Hip hop
Occupations Rapper, actor
Instruments Vocals, sampler
Years active 1991€present
Labels The Jones Experience, Def Jam (current)
Columbia, Ill Will Records (former)
Associated acts 3rd Bass, AZ, Bravehearts, Damian Marley, The Firm, Kelis, Mobb Deep
Website
Nasir Jones
[1]
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (/n•‚ƒs„…r/; born September 14, 1973), better known as Nas /ƒn•‚z/, is an American
rapper, songwriter and actor. He is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Since 1994, Nas has released eight
consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 25 million records worldwide. Aside from rapping
and acting, Nas is an entrepreneur through his own record label, retail sneaker store, and magazine publishing. He
serves as Mass Appeal Magazine's associate publisher as well as an owner of a Fila sneaker store. He is currently
signed to Def Jam Recordings.
His musical career began in 1991 when he was featured on Main Source's track "Live at the Barbeque". His debut
album Illmatic, released in 1994, received universal acclaim from both critics and the hip hop community. It is
frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. His follow-up album It Was Written debuted at
number 1 on the Billboard Charts, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, went platinum twice in only two
Nas
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months, and made Nas internationally known.
[2][3]
From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with rapper Jay-Z. In 2006, Nas signed to Def
Jam. In 2010, he released a collaboration album with reggae artist Damian Marley, donating all royalties to charities
active in Africa. His eleventh studio album, Life Is Good was released in 2012.
Nas is often named as one of the top hip hop artists. MTV ranked him at number 5 on their list of The Greatest MCs
of All Time. In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 2 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2013, Nas was
ranked fourth on MTV's "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. In 2014, About.com ranked him No. 1 on ther list of the 50
Greatest MC's of All Time. He has six number 1 albums on the Billboard 200, tying him with Eminem and Kanye
West for 2nd all time among rappers.
Early life
Nas was born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York. His father, Olu Dara (born Charles
Jones III), is a jazz and blues musician from Natchez, Mississippi. His mother, Fannie Ann Jones, was a Postal
Service worker from North Carolina. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari Fret who assumes the alias Jungle.
As a young child, Nas and his family relocated to the Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, Queens. His
neighbor, Willy "Ill Will" Graham, influenced Nas' interest in hip hop by playing him records. Nas's parents
divorced in 1985, and he dropped out of school after the eighth grade. He educated himself about African culture
through the Five Percent Nation, the Nuwaubians, the Bible and the Qur'an.Wikipedia:Verifiability
Career
Late 1980s€1994: Underground beginnings and album debut
Further information: Illmatic
As a teenager, Nas enlisted his best friend and upstairs neighbor Willy "Ill Will" Graham as his DJ. Nas initially
went by the nickname Kid Wave before adopting his more commonly known alias of Nasty Nas. In the late 1980s,
he met up with the producer Large Professor and went to the studio where Rakim and Kool G Rap were recording
their albums. When they were not in the studio, Nas would go into the booth and record his own material. However,
none of it was ever released. In 1991, Nas performed on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque". In mid-1992, Nas
was approached by MC Serch of 3rd Bass, who became his manager and secured Nas a record deal with Columbia
Records the same year. Nas made his solo debut under the name of "Nasty Nas" on the single "Halftime" from
Serch's soundtrack for the film Zebrahead. Called the new Rakim, his rhyming skills attracted a significant amount
of attention within the hip-hop community.
In 1994, Nas's debut album, Illmatic, was finally released. It was awarded Five Mics from The Source. It also
featured production from Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and DJ Premier, as well as guest appearances
from Nas's friend AZ and his father Olu Dara. The album spawned several singles, including "The World Is Yours",
"It Ain't Hard to Tell", and "One Love". Shaheem Reid of MTV News called Illmatic "the first classic LP" of 1994.
In 1994, Nas also recorded the song "One on One" for the soundtrack to the film Street Fighter. In his book To the
Break of Dawn: A Freestyle on the Hip Hop Aesthetic, William Jelani Cobb writes of Nas's impact at the time:
Nas, the poetic sage of the Queensbridge projects, was hailed as the second coming of Rakim†as if the
first had reached his expiration date. [...] Nas never became 'the next Rakim,' nor did he really have to.
Illmatic stood on its own terms. The sublime lyricism of the CD, combined with the fact that it was
delivered into the crucible of the boiling East-West conflict, quickly solidified [his] reputation as the
premier writer of his time.
[4]
Steve Huey of Allmusic described Nas' lyrics on Illmatic as "highly literate" and his raps "superbly fluid regardless
of the size of his vocabulary", adding that Nas is "able to evoke the bleak reality of ghetto life without losing hope or
Nas
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forgetting the good times". Reviewing Nas's second album It Was Written, Leo Stanley of allmusic believed the
rhymes to be not as complex as those in Illmatic but still "not only flow, but manage to tell coherent stories as well".
About.com ranked Illmatic as the greatest hip hop album of all time, and Prefix magazine praised it as "the best
hip-hop record ever made".
1995€97: Mainstream direction and The Firm
Further information: It Was Written and The Firm (hip hop group)
Columbia Records began to press Nas to work towards more commercial topics, such as that of The Notorious
B.I.G., who had become successful by releasing street singles that still retained pop-friendly appeal. In 1995, Nas did
guest performances on the albums Doe or Die by AZ, The Infamous by Mobb Deep, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by
Raekwon and 4,5,6 by Kool G Rap. Nas also parted ways with manager MC Serch, enlisted Steve Stoute, and began
preparation for his second LP, It Was Written, consciously working towards a crossover-oriented sound. It Was
Written, chiefly produced by Tone and Poke of Trackmasters, was released during the summer of 1996. Two singles,
"If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" (featuring Lauryn Hill of The Fugees) and "Street Dreams", including a remix
with R. Kelly were instant hits. These songs were promoted by big-budget music videos directed by Hype Williams,
making Nas a common name among mainstream hip-hop. It Was Written featured the debut of The Firm, a super
group consisting of Nas, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Cormega. The album also expanded on Nas's Escobar persona, who
lived more of a Scarface/Casino-esque lifestyle. On the other hand, Illmatic, which, while having numerous
references to Scarface protagonist Tony Montana, was more about his life growing up in the projects.
Signed to Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment label, The Firm began working on their debut album. Halfway through
the production of the album, Cormega was fired from the group by Steve Stoute, who had unsuccessfully attempted
to force Cormega to sign a deal with his management company. Cormega subsequently became one of Nas's most
vocal opponents and released a number of underground hip hop singles "dissing" Nas, Stoute, and Nature, who
replaced Cormega as the fourth member of The Firm. Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The
Album was finally released in 1997 to mixed reviews. The album failed to live up to its expected sales, despite being
certified platinum, and the members of the group disbanded to go their separate ways.
During this period, Nas was one of four rappers (the others being B-Real, KRS-One and RBX) in the hip hop
super-group Group Therapy, who appeared on the song "East Coast/West Coast Killas" from Dr. Dre Presents the
Aftermath.
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1997€2000: Inconsistent output
See also: The Lost Tapes
Nas in 1998.
In late 1997, Nas began work on a double album, to be
entitled I Am... The Autobiography; he intended it as the
middle ground between Illmatic and It Was Written, with
each track detailing a part of his life. In 1998, Nas co-wrote
and starred in Hype Williams's 1998 feature film Belly. I
Am... The Autobiography was completed in early 1999, and
a music video was shot for its lead single, "Nas Is Like". It
was produced by DJ Premier and contained vocal samples
from "It Ain't Hard to Tell". Music critic M.F. DiBella
noticed that Nas also covered "politics, the state of hip-hop,
Y2K, race, and religion with his own unique perspective" in
the album besides autobiographical lyrics. Much of the LP
was leaked into MP3 format onto the Internet and Nas and
Stoute quickly recorded enough substitute material to
constitute a single-disc release.
The second single on I Am... was "Hate Me Now", featuring
Sean "Puff Daddy" Combs, which was used as an example by Nas's critics of him moving towards commercial
themes. The video featured Nas and Combs being crucified in a manner similar to Jesus; after the video was
completed, Combs requested his crucifixion scene be edited out of the video. However, the unedited copy of the
"Hate Me Now" video made its way to MTV. Within minutes of the broadcast, Combs and his bodyguards allegedly
made their way into Steve Stoute's office and assaulted him, at one point apparently hitting Stoute over the head with
a champagne bottle. Stoute pressed charges, but he and Combs settled out-of-court that June. Columbia had
scheduled to release the pirated material from I Am... under the title Nastradamus during the later half of 1999, but,
at the last minute, Nas decided to record an entire new album for the 1999 release of Nastradamus. Nastradamus was
therefore rushed to meet a November release date. Though critics were not kind to the album, it did result in a minor
hit, "You Owe Me".
In 2000, Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest, which is popularly known as simply QB's Finest, was released
on Nas's Ill Will Records. QB's Finest is a compilation album that featured Nas and a number of other rappers from
Queensbridge projects, including Mobb Deep, Nature, Capone, the Bravehearts, Tragedy Khadafi, Millennium Thug
and Cormega, who had briefly reconciled with Nas. The album also featured guest appearances from Queensbridge
hip-hop legends Roxanne Shant€, MC Shan, and Marley Marl. Shan and Marley Marl both appeared on the lead
single "Da Bridge 2001," which was based on Shan & Marl's 1986 recording "The Bridge." Fans and critics feared
that Nas' career was declining, artistically and commercially, as both I Am... and Nastradamus were criticized as
inconsistent.
[5]
2001€03: Feud with Jay-Z and artistic comeback
Further information: Jay-Z€Nas feud and God's Son
After trading subliminal criticisms on various songs, freestyles and mixtape appearances, the highly publicized feud
between Nas and Jay-Z became widely known to the public in 2001. Jay-Z, in his song "Takeover", criticized Nas by
calling him "fake" and his career "lame". Nas responded with "Ether", in which he compared Jay-Z to such
characters as J.J. Evans from the sitcom Good Times and cigarette company mascot Joe Camel. The song was
included on Nas's fifth studio album, Stillmatic, released in December 2001. Stillmatic peaked at number five on the
U.S. Billboard 200 chart and featured the singles "Got Ur Self A..." and "One Mic".
Nas
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Nas performing in 2003.
In response to "Ether", Jay-Z released the song "Supa
Ugly", which Hot 97 radio host Angie Martinez
premiered on December 11, 2001. In the song, Jay-Z
explicitly boasts about having an affair with Nas's
girlfriend, Carmen Bryan.
[6]
New York City hip-hop
radio station Hot 97 issued a poll asking listeners which
rapper made the better diss song; Nas won with 58%
while Jay-Z got 42% of the votes. In 2002, in the midst of
the feud between the two New York rappers, Eminem
cited both Nas and Jay-Z as being two of the best MC's in
the industry, in his song 'Till I Collapse. Both the feud
and Stillmatic signalled an artistic comeback for Nas after
a string of inconsistent albums. The Lost Tapes, a
compilation of previously unreleased or bootlegged songs
from 1997 to 2001, was released by Columbia in
September 2002. The collection attained respectable sales
and received rave reviews from critics.
In December 2002, Nas released the God's Son album including its lead single, "Made You Look" which utilized a
pitched down sample of the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache". The album peaked at number 12 on the Billboard
Hot 100 and number one on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts despite widespread internet bootlegging. Time
Magazine named his album best hip-hop album of the year. Vibe gave it four stars and The Source gave it four mics.
The second single, "I Can", which reworked elements from Beethoven's "F•r Elise", became Nas's biggest hit to date
during the spring and summer of 2003, garnering substantial radio airplay on urban, rhythmic, and top 40 radio
stations, as well as on the MTV and VH1 music video networks. God's Son also includes several songs dedicated to
memory of Nas's mother, who died of cancer in April 2002, including "Dance". In 2003, Nas was featured on the
Korn song "Play Me", from Korn's Take a Look in the Mirror LP. Also in 2003, a live performance in New York
City, featuring Ludacris, Jadakiss, and Darryl McDaniels (of Run-D.M.C. fame), was released on DVD as Made You
Look: God's Son Live.
God's Son was critical in the power struggle between Nas and Jay-Z in hip hop at the time. In an article at the time,
Joseph Jones of PopMatters stated, "Whether you like it or not, 'Ether' did this. With God's Son, Nas has the
opportunity to cement his status as the King of N.Y., at least for another 3€4-year term, or he could prove that he is
not the savior that hip-hop fans should be pinning their hopes on."
[]
After the album's release, he began helping The
Bravehearts, made up of his younger brother Jungle and friend Wiz (Wizard), put together their debut album,
Bravehearted. The album features guest appearances from Nas, Nashawn (Millennium Thug), Lil Jon, and Jully
Black.
2004€06: Double album and Def Jam
See also: Street's Disciple
Nas released his seventh studio album Street's Disciple, a sprawling double album, on November 30, 2004. It
addressed subject matter both political and personal, including his impending marriage to recording artist Kelis. The
double-sided single "Thief's Theme"/"You Know My Style" was released months before the album's release,
followed by the single "Bridging the Gap" upon the album's release. Although Street's Disciple went platinum, it
served as a dropoff from Nas' previous commercial successes.
In 2005, New York-based rapper 50 Cent dissed Nas on the song "Piggy Bank", which brought his reputation into
question in hip hop circles. In October, Nas made a surprise appearance at Jay-Z's highly publicized I Declare War
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concert, where they reconciled their beef. At the show, Jay-Z announced to the crowd, "It's bigger than 'I Declare
War'. Let's go, Esco!". Nas then joined him onstage,
[7]
and the two performed Jay-Z's "Dead Presidents" (1996)
together, a song that featured a prominent sample of Nas's "The World Is Yours" (1994). The reconciliation created
the opportunity for Nas to sign a deal with Def Jam Recordings, of which Jay-Z was president at the time. He signed
Nas in January 2006. The signing included an agreement that Nas was to be paid about 3 million dollars, including a
recording budget, for each of his first two albums with Def Jam.
2006€08: Politicized efforts and controversies
See also: Hip Hop Is Dead and Untitled Nas album
Tentatively called Hip Hop Is Dead...The N,
[]
Hip Hop Is Dead was a commentary on the state of hip hop and
featured "Black Republican", a hyped collaboration with Jay-Z. The album debuted on Def Jam and Nas new imprint
at that label, The Jones Experience, at number one on the Billboard 200 charts, selling 355,000 copies†Nas's third
number one album, along with It Was Written and I Am.... It also inspired reactions about the state of hip hop,
particularly controversy with Southern hip hop artists who felt the album's title was a criticism at them. Nas' 2004
song "Thief's Theme" was featured in the 2006 film The Departed. Nas's former label, Columbia Records, released
the compilation Greatest Hits in November.
[8]
On October 12, 2007, Nas announced that his next album would be called Nigger. Both progressive commentators,
such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and the conservative news station Fox News were outraged; Jackson called
on entertainers to stop using the epithet after comedian Michael Richards used it onstage in late 2006. Controversy
escalated as the album's impending release date drew nearer, going as far as to spark rumors that Def Jam was
planning to drop Nas unless he changed the title.
[9]
Additionally, Fort Greene, Brooklyn assemblyman Hakeem
Jeffries requested New York's Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to withdraw $84 million from the state pension fund
that has been invested into Universal and its parent company, Vivendi, if the album's title was not changed. On the
opposite side of the spectrum, many of the most famous names in the entertainment industry expressed a sense of
trust in Nas for using the racial epithet as the title of his full-length LP.
[10]
Nas's management worried that the album
would not be sold by chain stores such as Wal-Mart, thus limiting its distribution.
On May 19, 2008, Nas decided to forgo an album title. Responding to Jesse Jackson's remarks and use of the word
"nigger", Nas called him "the biggest player hater", stating "His time is up. All you old niggas' time is up. We heard
your voice, we saw your marching, we heard your sermons. We don't want to hear that shit no more. It's a new day.
It's a new voice. I'm here now. We don't need Jesse; I'm here. I got this. We the voice now. It's no more Jesse. Sorry.
Good bye. You ain't helping nobody in the 'hood and that's the bottom line."
[11]
He also said of the album's title:
It's important to me that this album gets to the fans. It's been a long time coming. I want my fans to know that
creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. The people will always
know what the real title of this album is and what to call it.
†Nas
The album was ultimately released on July 15, 2008, untitled. It featured production from Polow da Don, stic.man of
Dead Prez, Sons of Light & J. Myers, "Hero", the album's lead single, reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100
and number 87 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks.
[12]
In July, Nas attained a shoe deal with Fila. In an
interview with MTV News in July, Nas speculated that he might release two albums†one produced by DJ Premier
and another by Dr. Dre†simultaneously the same day. Nas worked on Dr. Dre's studio album Detox. Nas was also
awarded 'Emcee of the Year' in the HipHopDX 2008 Awards for his latest solo effort, the quality of his appearances
on other albums and was described as having "become an artist who thrives off of reinvention and going against the
system."
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Bill O'Reilly/Virginia Tech controversy
Nas performing in Ottawa, 2007.
On September 6, 2007, Nas performed at a free concert for the
Virginia Tech student body and faculty, following the school
shooting there. He was joined by John Mayer, Alan Jackson, Phil
Vassar, and Dave Matthews Band.
[13]
When announced that Nas
was to perform, political commentator Bill O'Reilly and Fox News
Channel denounced the concert and called for Nas' removal, citing
"violent" lyrics on songs such as "Shoot 'Em Up", "Got Urself a
Gun", and "Made You Look". During his Talking Points Memo
segment for August 15, 2007, an argument erupted in which
O'Reilly claimed that it was not only Nas's lyrical content that
made him inappropriate for the event, citing the gun conviction on
Nas's criminal record. In the midst of his debate with author
Bakari Kitwana (The Hip Hop Generation), who defended Nas,
claiming that Fox News had "cherry picked" select fragments of
the songs to make their case, O'Reilly shouted, "Even in his
personal life, man, he's got a conviction for weapons, all right?
He's got a weapons conviction, sir! On his sheet! This is a school
that had a mass murderer with a shotgun gunning down people†this guy has got a conviction for weapons, and you
say he's appropriate? Come on!" O'Reilly repeated the claim another five times before cutting the segment
short.Wikipedia:Citation needed
On September 6, 2007, during his set at "A Concert for Virginia Tech," Nas twice referred to Bill O'Reilly as "a
chump," prompting loud cheers by members of the crowd. About two weeks later, Nas was interviewed by Shaheem
Reid of MTV News, where he criticized O'Reilly, calling him uncivilized and willing to go to extremes for
publicity.
[14]
Responding to O'Reilly, Nas, in an interview with MTV News, said:
He doesn't understand the younger generation. He deals with the past. The people he represents are
Republican, older, a generation that has nothing to do with the reality of what's happening now with my
generation. ... He's not really on my radar. People like him are supposed to be taught and people like me
are supposed to let niggas like him know. I don't take him serious. His shit is all about getting facts
twisted or whatever. I wouldn't honor anything Bill O'Reilly has to say. It just shows you what
bloodsuckers like him do: They abuse something like the Virginia Tech tragedy for show ratings. You
can't talk to a person like that.
[15]
On July 23, 2008, Nas appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss his opinion of O'Reilly and Fox News, which he
accused of bias against the African-American community and re-challenged O'Reilly to a debate. During the
appearance, Nas sat on boxes of more than 625,000 signatures gathered by online advocacy organization Color of
Change in support of a petition accusing Fox of race-baiting and fear-mongering.
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2009€present: Collaboration and Life Is Good
See also: Distant Relatives and Life Is Good (Nas album)
Nas and Marley performing in New Zealand, 2011
At the 2009 Grammy Awards, Nas confirmed he
was collaborating on an album with reggae
musician Damian Marley which was expected to
be released in Fall 2009. Nas said of the
collaboration in an interview "I was a big fan of his
father and of course all the children, all the
offspring, and Damian, I kind of looked at Damian
as a rap guy. His stuff is not really singing, or if he
does, it comes off more hard, like on some street
shit. I always liked how reggae and hip-hop have
always been intertwined and always kind of
pushed each other, I always liked the connection.
I'd worked with people before from the reggae
world but when I worked with Damian, the whole workout was perfect". A portion of the profit is planned to go
towards building a school in Africa. He went on to say that it was "too early to tell the title or anything like that". The
Los Angeles Times reported that the album would be titled Distant Relatives. Nas also revealed that he will begin
working on his tenth studio album following the release of Distant Relatives. During Fall 2009 Nas used his live
band Mulatto
[16]
with music director Dustin Moore for concerts in Europe and Australia.
After announcing a possible release in 2010, a follow-up compilation to The Lost Tapes (2002) was delayed
indefinitely due to issues between him and Def Jam. His eleventh studio album, Life Is Good (2012) was produced
primarily by Salaam Remi and No I.D, and released in August 2012. Nas called the album a "magic moment" in his
rap career.
In 2011, Nas announced that he would release collaboration albums with Mobb Deep, Common, and a third with DJ
Premier. Common said of the project in a 2011 interview, "At some point, we will do that. We‡d talked about it and
we had a good idea to call it Nas.Com. That was actually going to be a mixtape at one point. But we decided that we
should make it an album." Life is Good would be nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2013 Grammy Awards.
In January 2013 Nas announced he had begun working on his twelfth studio album, which will be his final album for
Def Jam. The album will be released during 2014. In October 2013, DJ Premier said that his collaboration album
with Nas, would be released following his twelfth studio album. In October 2013, Nas confirmed that a rumored
song "Sinatra in the Sands" featuring JAY-Z, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland would be featured on the album. It
was reported on September 10, 2014 Nas has finished his last album with Def Jam.
Artistry
Nas has been praised for his ability to create a "devastating match between lyrics and production" by journalist Peter
Shapiro, as well as creating a "potent evocation of life on the street", and he has even been compared to Rakim for
his lyrical technique. In his book Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop (2009), writer Adam Bradley states, "Nas
is perhaps contemporary rap's greatest innovator in storytelling. His catalog includes songs narrated before birth
('Fetus') and after death ('Amongst Kings'), biographies ('UBR [Unauthorized Biography of Rakim]') and
autobiographies ('Doo Rags'), allegorical tales ('Money Is My Bitch') and epistolary ones ('One Love'), he's rapped in
the voice of a woman ('Sekou Story') and even of a gun ('I Gave You Power')." Robert Christgau writes that "Nas has
been transfiguring [gangsta rap] since Illmatic". Kool Moe Dee notes that Nas has an "off-beat conversational flow"
in his book There's a God on the Mic € he says: "before Nas, every MC focused on rhyming with a cadence that
ultimately put the words that rhymed on beat with the snare drum. Nas created a style of rapping that was more
Nas
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conversational than ever before".
O.C. of D.I.T.C. comments in the book How to Rap: "Nas did the song backwards ['Rewind']... that was a brilliant
idea". Also in How to Rap, 2Mex of The Visionaries describes Nas's flow as "effervescent", Rah Digga says Nas's
lyrics have "intricacy", Bootie Brown of The Pharcyde explains that Nas does not always have to make words rhyme
as he is "charismatic", and Nas is also described as having a "densely packed" flow, with compound rhymes that "run
over from one beat into the next or even into another bar".
In 2006, Nas was ranked fifth on MTV's "10 Greatest MCs of All Time" list. In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 2
on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time.Wikipedia:Citation needed In 2013, Nas was ranked fourth on MTV's
"Hottest MCs in the Game" list.
Business ventures
On April 10, 2013, Nas ventured into the business of magazine publishing. As a businessman and investor, he
invested an undisclosed six figure sum into Mass Appeal Magazine, where he will serve as the publication's
associate publisher. On the Mass Appeal deal, he will be joined by creative firm Decon and White Owl Capital
Partners, an early stage investment firm with business interests in technology, media and energy located in North
America, Europe and China. In June 2013, he also announced on Twitter that he was opening his own sneaker store,
signalling his entrance into the retail industry. He inked a deal with the company Fila back in 2008, serving as one of
its main spokespersons. Nas has also struck a business partner with the annual Rock The Bells music festival and a
deal with the online retail company 12Society.com. In September 2013, he invested in a technology startup
company, a job search appmaker called Proven. Nas also has a partnership with Hennessy and has been working
with their "Wild Rabbit" campaign.
In May 2014 Nas partnered with job placement startup Koru to fund a scholarship for 10 college graduates to go
through Koru‡s training program. Nas also will be joining the startup as a guest coach.
[17]
Personal life
Nas is a spokesperson and mentor for P'Tones Records, a non-profit after school music program with the mission "to
create constructive opportunities for urban youth through no-cost music programs."
On June 15, 1994, Nas's ex-fianc€e Carmen Bryan gave birth to their daughter, Destiny. Bryan later confessed to Nas
that she had a relationship with his then-rival rapper and nemesis Jay-Z, also accusing Jay-Z of putting subliminal
messages in his lyrics about their relationship together, causing an even bigger rift in the feud between the two hit
rap music giants.
Nas also briefly dated Mary J. Blige. In 2005, Nas married R&B singer Kelis in Atlanta after a two-year relationship.
On April 30, 2009, a spokesperson confirmed that Kelis filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Kelis
gave birth to Nas's first son on July 21, 2009, although the event was soured by a disagreement which ended in Nas
announcing the birth of his son, Knight, at a gig in Queens, NY, against Kelis's wishes. The birth was also
announced by Nas via an online video. The couple's divorce was finalized on May 21, 2010.
In January 2012 Nas was involved in a dispute with a concert promoter in Angola, having accepted $300,000 for a
concert in their capital city for New Year's Eve and then not showing up. The promoter and his son were detained by
the angry Angolan promoter at gunpoint and taken to an Angolan jailWikipedia:Please clarify. Only after the US
Embassy intervened were the promoter and his son allowed to leave jail†but were placed under house arrest at their
hotel. As of the end of the month Nas returned all $300,000 and after 49 days of travel ban the promoter Patrick
Allocco and his son have both been released.
[18]
On March 15, 2012, Nas became the first rapper to have a personal verified account on Rap Genius where he'll be
explaining all his own lyrics and commenting on the lyrics of other rappers he admires.
Nas
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In September 2009 the U.S. Internal Revenue Service filed a federal tax lien against Nas for over $2.5 million,
seeking unpaid taxes dating back to 2006. By early 2011 this figure had ballooned to over $6.4 million. Early in
2012 reports emerged that the IRS had filed papers in Georgia to garnish a portion of Nas's earnings from material
published under BMI and ASCAP, until his delinquent tax bill is settled.
In May 2013, it was announced that Nas will open a sneaker store in Las Vegas called 12AM RUN (pronounced
Midnight Run) as part of The LINQ retail development.
In July 2013, he was honored by Harvard University, as the institution established the Nasir Jones Hip-Hop
Fellowship, which will serve to fund scholars and artists who show potential and creativity in the arts in connection
to hip hop.
Discography
Main article: Nas discography
‚ Illmatic (1994)
‚ It Was Written (1996)
‚ The Firm: The Album (by The Firm) (1997)
‚ I Am... (1999)
‚ Nastradamus (1999)
‚ Stillmatic (2001)
‚ The Lost Tapes (2002)
‚ God's Son (2002)
‚ Street's Disciple (2004)
‚ Hip Hop Is Dead (2006)
‚ Untitled (2008)
‚ Distant Relatives (with Damian Marley) (2010)
‚ Life Is Good (2012)
Filmography
Film/Television
Year Film Role
1998 Belly Sincere
1999 In Too Deep Drug Dealer (uncredited)
2001 Ticker Det. Art "Fuzzy" Rice
2001 Sacred is the Flesh Isa Paige
2010 Hawaii Five-0 Gordon Smith
2013 Black Nativity Prophet Isaiah
Nas
11
Awards and nominations
‚‚ Grammy Awards
‚‚ 2013, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song: "Daughters" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2013, Best Rap Song: "Daughters" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2013, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration: "Cherry Wine" feat. Amy Winehouse (Nominated)
‚ 2013, Best Rap Album: Life Is Good (Nominated)
‚‚ 2010, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Too Many Rappers" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2009, Best Rap Solo Performance: "N.i.g.g.e.r. (The Slave and the Master)" (Nominated)
‚ 2009, Best Rap Album: Nas (Nominated)
‚ 2008, Best Rap Album: Hip-Hop Is Dead (Nominated)
‚‚ 2008, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Better Than I Ever Been" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2003, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "The Essence" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2003, Best Short-Form Music Video: "One Mic" (Nominated)
‚ 2000, Best Rap Album: I Am (Nominated)
‚‚ 1997, Best Rap Solo Performance: "If I Ruled the World" (Nominated)
‚‚ MTV Video Music Awards
‚‚ 2005, Best Hip-Hop Video: "Bridging the Gap" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2003, Best Rap Video: "I Can" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2003, Best Rap Video: "Thug Mansion" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2002, Video of the Year: "One Mic" (Nominated)
‚‚ 2002, Best Rap Video: "One Mic" (Nominated)
‚‚ 1999, Best Rap Video: "Hate Me Now" (Nominated)
‚‚ BET Hip Hop Awards
‚‚ 2012, Impact Track: "Daughters" (Won)
‚‚ 2012, Lyricist Of The Year Award: Nominated
‚‚ 2006, I Am Hip-Hop Icon Award: Won
References
[1] http:/ / www. nasirjones. com/
[2] [ It Was Written: Charts & Awards]. Allmusic. Retrieved August 1, 2008
[3] Gold & Platinum € Searchable Database: It Was Written (http:/ / www. riaa. com/ goldandplatinumdata. php?table=SEARCH). Recording
Industry Association of America (RIAA). Retrieved June 19, 2008.
[4] [4] Cobb (2006, p. 142.)
[5] Cowie, Del. Nas: Battle Ready (http:/ / www.exclaim.ca/ index. asp?layid=22& csid=1& csid1=3163). Exclaim!. Retrieved on 2007-01-20.
[6] Ashare, Matt. Nas On His Battle With Jay-Z And Its Effects (http:/ / music. yahoo. com/ read/ news/ 12055074). Yahoo! Music: January 26,
2002.
[7] Sanneh, Kelefah. A Show of Solidarity, With a Few Surprises (http:/ / www. nytimes. com/ 2005/ 10/ 29/ arts/ music/ 29jayz.
html?ex=1288238400& en=d5ebd722ddd8cebd& ei=5090& partner=rssuserland& emc=rss). The New York Times: October 29, 2005.
[8] Petipas, Jolene. Nas Preps "Greatest Hits," Records New Material (http:/ / www. hiphop-elements. com/ article/ read/ 4/ 6881/ 1/ ).
SOHH.com: August 13, 2007.
[9] Shake (January 23, 2008). Def Jam to Drop Nas?!? (http:/ / www. hiphopdx. com/ blogs/ MrZela/ 2008/ 01/ 23/ def-jam-to-drop-nas-. html).
Retrieved January 28, 2008.
[10] Shaheem Reid (November 1, 2007). Nas' Album Title Gets Support From Jay-Z, Alicia Keys, Bishop Lamont, LL Cool J, GZA, Reverend
Run, David Banner (http:/ / www. mtv. com/ news/ articles/ 1573280/ 20071101/ nas. jhtml) MTV News. Retrieved November 1, 2007.
[11] Reid, Shaheem. Nas Takes Jesse Jackson To Task For Barack Obama Comments: 'His Time Is Up' (http:/ / www. mtv. com/ news/ articles/
1590708/ 20080710/ nas.jhtml?rsspartner=rssMozilla). MTV. Retrieved July 10, 2008.
[12] [ Nas € Charts & Awards € Billboard Singles]. allmusic. Retrieved September 8, 2008.
[13] A Concert For Virginia Tech (http:/ / www. vt.edu/ concert/ ). The Virginia Tech massacre; the bloodiest school massacre in U.S. history,
had taken place earlier that year, on April 16, 2007, when student Seung-Hui Cho, killed 32 and wounded more, before committing suicide.
Vt.edu. Retrieved August 1, 2007.
Nas
12
[14] Reid, Shaheem; Rodriguez, Jayson; Dukes, Rahman; Kash, Tim. Mixtape Monday: Nas Sounds Off On Bill O'Reilly (Again!); Havoc
Finally Drops The Kush (http:/ / www. mtv. com/ bands/ m/ mixtape_monday/ 091707/ ). MTV: September 17, 2007
[15] Reid, Shaheem. Nas Slams Bill O'Reilly Over Virginia Tech Comments (http:/ / www. mtv. com/ news/ articles/ 1569047/ 20070906/ nas.
jhtml?rsspartner=rssMozilla). MTV: September 6, 2007.
[16] https:/ / www.myspace. com/ mulattomuzik
[17] Jack Smith IV. Rapper Nas Teams Up With Koru To Sponsor Even More Tech Scholarships (http:/ / betabeat. com/ 2014/ 05/
rapper-nas-teams-up-with-koru-to-sponsor-even-more-tech-scholarships/ ). Betabeat. May 28, 2014.
[18] Concert Promoter Patrick Allocco & His Son Finally Free After Being Held In Angola For 49 Days Following No Show By Nas For
Concert (http:/ / www. thisis50.com/ profiles/ blogs/ concert-promoter-patrick-allocco-his-son-finally-free-after-being). ThisIs50.com
(2012-02-18). Retrieved on 2012-12-19.
Further reading
‚ Bradley, Adam (February 23, 2009). Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop. Basic Civitas Books.
ISBN 0-465-00347-8.
‚ Dee, Kool Moe (2003). There's a God on the Mic: The True 50 Greatest MC's (http:/ / books. google. com/
?id=LYDwNW5YBo0C). New York, N.Y., U.S.: Thunder's Mouth Press. ISBN 1-56025-533-1.
‚ Edwards, Paul (2009). How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC. Chicago, Ill., U.S.: Chicago Review
Press. ISBN 1-55652-816-7.
‚ Hess, Mickey, ed. (2007). Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture (http:/ /
books. google. com/ ?id=bXy2wTEsbCsC). Westport, Conn., U.S.: Greenwood. ISBN 0-313-33904-X.
‚ Shapiro, Peter (2005). The Rough Guide to Hip-hop (2nd ed.). London, England, UK: Rough Guides.
ISBN 1-85828-637-9.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nas.
‚ Official site (http:/ / www. islanddefjam. com/ artist/ home. aspx?artistID=7312) at Def Jam
‚ Nas (http:/ / www. allmusic. com/ artist/ p44732) at AllMusic
‚ Nas (http:/ / www. mtv. com/ artists/ nas) at MTV
Article Sources and Contributors
13
Article Sources and Contributors
Nas  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=626255339  Contributors: - Hollu$ -, -walrus1234-, ...meeeeee123, 007rav, 1Sire, 21655, 23Tarheel, 2PacNasFan1993, 306Moe, 3tmx,
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File:Nas July 2014 (cropped).jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nas_July_2014_(cropped).jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0  Contributors:
Stemoc
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File:Nas in Ottawa, 2007.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Nas_in_Ottawa,_2007.JPG  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Chris Holden
File:Nas and Damian Marley performing in Wellington Photo By Brady Dyer.jpg  Source:
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