Nas

rap musician; actor

Personal Information

Born Nasir Jones on September 14, 1973, in Queens, NY; son of Fannie Ann Jones and Olu Dara (jazz trumpeter).

Career

Rap musician, actor. Albums include: Illmatic, 1994; It Was Written, 1996; I Am, 1999; Nastradamus, 1999; Stillmatic, 2001; films include: Belly, 1998; Ticker, 2001; Sacred Is the Flesh, 2001.

Life's Work

Not yet thirty years old, Nas has released five successful albums, launched his own record label, a fashion company, and appeared in several films. With his music, Nas bas become known for, according to Len Righi of the Morning Call, his "ability to look outside the immediate circumstances of his life" and address larger issues.

Nas was born Nasir Jones on September 14, 1973, in Queens, New York. His father, Olu Dara, a jazz and blues trumpeter, chose the name Nasir for his son because of its Arabic meaning: "helper" or "protector." Nas was raised by his mother, Fannie Ann Jones.

Growing up in New York City's tough Queensbridge housing projects, "it sometimes seemed to [Nas] his whole world was ill and being eaten away," wrote Christopher John Farley in Time. "Drugs were devouring minds, crime was destroying families, poverty was gnawing at souls." In May of 1992, both Nas's brother, Jungle, and best friend were shot on the same night. Although his brother lived, Nas's friend did not survive his injuries. "That was a wake-up call for me," Nas told Time.

Released Debut Album

Two years after his wake-up call, Nas released his debut album, Illmatic. Nas worked with a number of top hip-hop producers, and his hard work paid off. Entertainment Weekly said of the album: "his witty lyrics and gruffly gratifying beats draw listeners into [his neighborhood's] lifestyle with poetic efficiency." Farley, writing in Time, noted that the record "captures the ailing community he [Nas] was raised in--the random gunplay, the whir of police helicopters, the homeboys hanging out on the corner sipping bottles of Hennessey."

Setting himself apart from other gangsta rappers, Nas did not typically glorify violence in his music, but, rather, his songs evoke sadness and outrage. Farley noted in Time that Nas performs on the album with "submerged emotion" and describes urban tragedy dispassionately, much "like an anchorman relaying the day's grim news." The New York Times declared that, on the album, Nas "imbues his chronicle with humanity and humor, not just hardness....[He] reports violence without celebrating it, dwelling on the way life triumphs over grim circumstances rather than the other way around."

Nas's sophomore album, It Was Written, was released in 1996, selling more than a million copies. Again, Nas worked with several hip-hop producers, including top selling Dr. Dre. With this album, however, Nas faced criticism that the songs were amoral, contained rough language, and included episodes of violence. Critics were also frustrated by the album's contradictions. The hit single "If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)," for example, depicts paradise as a "better livin' type of place to raise our kids in." However, this world is also one in which cocaine comes uncut, allowing higher profits on the drug. In a Rolling Stone review, Mark Coleman commented that Nas "possesses a phenomenal way with words and some savvy musical sense." Coleman continued, "It's a pity he doesn't put his verbal dexterity and powers of observation to better use....When Nas finally aligns his mind with his mouth, he'll truly be dangerous."

Music critic Toure, writing in the New York Times, noted a strong musical link between Nas and his father, Olu Dara. Though the two musicians came from very different backgrounds and subscribed to different musical schools, Toure wrote, "Nas's music is characterized by a laid-back cool, with a penchant for medium-pace tempos and relatively sparse tracks, all of which are hallmarks of his father's music." Nas's father, who had a trumpet solo on his son's first album, told Toure, "His aggressive is cool. Not like 'I'm angry! I'm mad!' It's cool. And that's the way my music is." Vernon Reid, a guitarist who has played with Dara, also noted similarities between father and son, saying in the New York Times: "Both have a finely tuned sense of irony, which I think is evident in Nas's lyrics and Olu's playing." Reid continued, "There's a kind of cockeyed way of looking at the world. A raised eyebrow. Sly. They're seeing what's going on underneath the surface."

Appeared in First Film

In 1998 Nas made his feature film debut, appearing in Belly. Co-starring with fellow rapper DMX, the two hip-hop stars played best friends. Although they both come from the same violent neighborhood, these two friends want very different things out of life. Tommy, played by DMX, is willing to do whatever it takes to attain money, power, and women. Nas's character, Sincere, wishes only to provide for his girlfriend and their child. To do so, he has partnered with Tommy in a world of crime, violence, and drugs. Sincere, however, has begun to reconsider his ways. In the end, according to Seattle Post-Intelligencer reviewer Paula Nechak, both characters arrive at the same conclusion: "Life is what you make it and knowledge and self-respect are everything."

Critics, although praising the stylistic ability of the film's director, Hype Williams, skewered the film for its lack of originality. The Seattle Times criticized the acting skills of both rap stars, saying that Nas and DMX "couldn't mutter their way out of an unzipped starter jacket." Nechak, however, concluded in the Seattle Post- Intelligencer: "There is a real rite of passage these two young men go through in order to find themselves, and for once the payoff isn't death."

I Am, Nas's third album, was released in 1999. Here Nas collaborated with such stars as Sean "Puffy" Combs, Lauryn Hill, and Aaliyah. With numerous radio-friendly tracks on the album, a number of music critics accused the rapper of selling out. The Record noted that I Am seemed "tailored for mass consumption," and the San Francisco Chronicle suggested that several tracks "are too generic for Nas' delivery, leaving his vocals sounding ungrounded." Nas's talent had not waned however. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Nas continues to drop jaws and tingle ear canals with his complex and challenging wordplay." Rather, some critics felt that Nas, in producing so mainstream an album, had done a disservice to his talent. The Record concluded that "the commercial advance requires an artistic step backward."

Later that year, Nas released his fourth album, Nastradamus. Again, critics lamented the too-polished style of the album. New York Times critic Soren Baker observed, "It's as if in graduating from the ghetto, he's misplaced the gritty edge that made him a hero."

Feuded With Jay-Z

Perhaps Nas regained some of his edge when he began a feud of words with rapper Jay-Z. Jay-Z's album, The Blueprint, featured the track "Takeover." Here Jay-Z referred to Nas as "garbage," saying, "That's why your--l-a-a-a-me!--career's come to an end." Nas retaliated with an underground parody of the Jay-Z hit "Izzo." The feud was further fueled by several tracks on Nas's 2001 album, Stillmatic. Here Nas accused Jay-Z of usurping rhymes from the late Notorious B.I.G., criticized Jay-Z's preference for Hawaiian shirts, and even attempted a bit of armchair psychoanalysis. Hip-hop fans in both the United States and Europe were fascinated by the feud, choosing sides and, according to the New York Times, "debating each rapper's use of puns and metaphors." The feud came to an end in early 2002. Jay-Z, after receiving a call from his mother asking him to stop, telephoned a New York City radio station and publicly apologized for "Super Ugly," his response to Nas's Stillmatic tracks.

Nas has formed his own record label, Nas and Ill Will Records. He has also launched a clothing line--Esco. In 2001 he co-starred with Steven Segal in the action film, Ticker. Although he has branched out into business and film, Nas remained devoted to music. "Music is in my blood," he told the New York Times. "I could have chosen to do a lot of other things. I could have been a scientist, a lawyer. But this is where I'm comfortable at, right here."

Awards

Youth Summit Award, Hip-Hop Youth Summit, 2002.

Works

Selected works

Albums
Illmatic, Columbia, 1994.
It Was Written, Columbia, 1996.
I Am, Columbia, 1999.
Nastradamus, Columbia, 1999.
Stillmatic, Ill Will, 2001.
Films
Belly, 1998.
Ticker, 2001.
Sacred Is the Flesh, 2001.

Biography

Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas stood tall for years as one of New York City's leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists. Whether proclaiming himself "Nasty Nas" or "Nas Escobar" or "Nastradamus" or "God's Son," the self-appointed King of New York battled numerous adversaries for his position atop the epicenter of East Coast rap, none more challenging than Jay-Z, who vied with Nas for the vacated throne left in the wake of the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 assassination. Such headline-worthy drama informed Nas' provocative rhymes, which he delivered with both a masterful flow and a wise perspective over beats by a range of producers: legends like DJ Premier, Large Professor, and Pete Rock; hitmakers like Trackmasters, Timbaland, and will.i.am; street favorites like Swizz Beatz, Megahertz, and the Alchemist; and personal favorites of his own like L.E.S., Salaam Remi, and Chucky Thompson. Nas likewise collaborated with some of the industry's leading video directors, including Hype Williams and Chris Robinson, presenting singles like "Hate Me Now," "One Mic," and "I Can" with dramatic flair. Throughout all the ups (the acclaim, popularity, and success) and downs (the expectations, adversaries, and over-reaching), Nas continually matured as an artist, evolving from a young street disciple to a vain all-knowing sage to a humbled godly teacher. Such growth made every album release an event and prolonged his increasingly storied career to epic proportions.

Born Nasir Jones, son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas dropped out of school in the eighth grade, trading classrooms for the streets of the rough Queensbridge projects, long fabled as the former stomping ground of Marley Marl and his Juice Crew as immortalized in "The Bridge." Despite dropping out of school, Nas developed a high degree of literacy that would later characterize his rhymes. At the same time, though, he delved into street culture and flirted with danger, such experiences similarly characterizing his rhymes. His synthesis of well-crafted rhetoric and street-glamorous imagery blossomed in 1991 when he connected with Main Source and laid down a fiery verse on "Live at the Barbeque" that earned him up-and-coming notice among the East Coast rap scene. Not long afterward, MC Serch of 3rd Bass approached Nas about contributing a track to the Zebrahead soundtrack. Serch was the soundtrack's executive producer and had been impressed by "Live at the Barbeque." Nas submitted "Halftime," and the song so stunned Serch that he made it the soundtrack's leadoff track.

Columbia Records meanwhile signed Nas to a major-label contract, and many of New York's finest producers offered their support. DJ Premier, Large Professor, and Pete Rock entered the studio with the young rapper and began work on Illmatic. When Columbia finally released the album in April 1994, it faced high expectations; Illmatic regardless proved just as astounding as it had been billed. It sold very well, spawned multiple hits, and earned unanimous acclaim, followed soon after by classic status. The two years leading up to Nas' follow-up, It Was Written (1996), brought another wave of enormous anticipation. The ambitious rapper, who had begun working closely with industry heavyweight Steve Stoute, responded with a significantly different approach than he had taken with Illmatic: where that album had been a straightforward hip-hop album with few pop concessions, the largely Trackmaster-produced It Was Written made numerous concessions to the pop-crossover market, most notably on the two hit singles, "Street Dreams" and "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)." These singles -- both of which drew from well-known songs, Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)" and Kurtis Blow's "If I Ruled the World," respectively -- broadened Nas' appeal greatly and awarded him MTV-sanctioned crossover success. This same crossover success undermined some of his hip-hop credibility, however, and a minor backlash by purists resulted.

Nas addressed his critics on "Hate Me Now," the second single from his next album, I Am (1999). The album had originally been planned as a double-disc concept album comprised of autobiographical material, but when some of the tracks were leaked, I Am was scaled down and released as a single disc, with the DJ Premier-produced "Nas Is Like" chosen as the lead single. Besides "Nas Is Like" and "Hate Me Now," which both broke into the Billboard Hot 100, "You Won't See Me Tonight" and "K-I-S-S-I-N-G" also charted as singles. Originally scheduled by Columbia as a follow-up album comprised of the pirated material from the I Am sessions, Nastradamus (1999) -- released in time for the holiday shopping season, roughly six months after its predecessor -- was instead comprised almost entirely of new material, recorded quickly to meet the late-November release date. Nastradamus signaled a drop-off in quality as well as sales. The album failed to garner the abundance of critical praise that had become customary for Nas. Moreover, unlike its two predecessors, Nastradamus failed to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart, peaking at number seven instead, and failed to go double platinum. Though relatively disappointing on these counts, Nastradamus still went platinum and spawned two charting singles, "Nastradamus" and "You Owe Me," so the album wasn't a failure, just disappointing.

In the late-'90s wake of the Notorious B.I.G.'s assassination, Nas reigned atop the New York rap scene alongside few contemporaries of equal stature . In addition to his endless stream of hits by the industry's most successful producers -- "If I Ruled the World" (produced by the Trackmasters), "Hate Me Now" (Puff Daddy), "Nas Is Like" (DJ Premier), and "You Owe Me" (Timbaland), among others -- he popularly co-starred in the Hype Williams-directed film Belly (1998) alongside DMX and contributed to the soundtrack. Furthermore, Nas led a short-lived supergroup of New York rappers known as the Firm (also comprised of rappers Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature, with producers Dr. Dre and the Trackmasters) and assembled a broad coalition of fellow Queensbridge rappers for the QB Finest compilation (2000). Amid all of this publicity, though, criticism began to mount. For every crossover fan Nas won with his dramatic MTV-aired videos, he lost support among purists, some of whom felt he had sold out and abandoned hip-hop ideals in favor of commercial success. The relative disappointment of Nastradamus was symptomatic of this downturn.

A series of incidents in 2001 provided a key turning point for Nas' decline. The rapper's personal life was becoming increasingly complicated, as he encountered relationship trouble with the mother of his daughter and, of greater consequence, as his mother began suffering from cancer. To make matters worse, longtime rival Jay-Z pointedly dissed Nas on "Takeover," the much-discussed leadoff song from his acclaimed Blueprint album (2001). Among other charges, Jay-Z called out Nas for not having put out a "hot" album since Illmatic, and also alluded to sleeping with the mother of Nas' daughter. It didn't help that Jay-Z had risen atop the New York rap scene, giving him ample justification to call out Nas, who had fallen from favor and receded from the public eye while he dealt with his personal issues. Nas responded strikingly in December 2001 with Stillmatic, the title a reference to his classic Illmatic album, which had been released nearly a decade earlier. Stillmatic opened with the song "Ether," a very direct response to Jay-Z, followed by the aggressive lead single "Get Ur Self A...." These two songs in particular rallied the streets while the moving video for "One Mic" received heavy support from MTV. Throughout 2002, Nas continued his comeback with a number of guest appearances, among them Brandy's "What About Us?," J-Lo's "I'm Gonna Be Alright," and Ja Rule's "The Pledge," as well as yet more news-making controversy, this time involving his no-show at popular radio station Hot 97's annual Summer Jam.

Amid all of the drama, Nas managed to salvage his esteemed reputation and reclaim his lofty status atop the New York scene. Stillmatic earned immediate acclaim from fans and critics alike and sold impressively, while Columbia furthered the comeback campaign with two archival releases, one of remixes (From Illmatic to Stillmatic [2002]), the other of outtakes (The Lost Tapes [2002], which notably includes some of the pirated I Am material). Then at the end of the year Columbia released a new studio album, God's Son (2002), and Nas once again basked in widespread acclaim as the album sold well, spawned sizable hits ("Thugz Mansion," "Made You Look," "I Can"), and received rampant media support. Two years later Nas returned with Street's Disciple (2004), a sprawling double album that delved deeply into various issues, most notably politics and his impending marriage to Kelis. The two-sided "Thief's Theme"/"You Know My Style" single dropped in summer 2004, several months before the album's release, and was followed that fall by the proper lead single, "Bridging the Gap."

Street's Disciple came and went, however, without the level of commercial success that had become customary, as it struggled to go platinum. More troubling, new kid on the block 50 Cent took a swipe at Nas on "Piggy Bank," a call-out song on The Massacre (2005), further bringing the veteran rapper's status into question. In a surprising turn of events later that year, Nas made a surprise appearance at Jay-Z's much-hyped I Declare War concert in October 2005. Together the two rivals performed "Dead Presidents," Jay-Z's 1996 debut single; the classic song, produced by Ski Beatz and featured on Reasonable Doubt (1996), features a prominent sample of "The World Is Yours," a 1994 classic by Nas. The reconciliation of Jay-Z and Nas opened the door to a deal with Def Jam. The record label, overseen by Jay-Z as president at the time, signed Nas and, in turn, released Hip Hop Is Dead (2006). The album didn't sell especially well, but it did inspire a lot of commentary about the state of hip-hop and included a much-anticipated collaboration with Jay-Z, "Black Republican." A politically charged self-titled album, at one point considered to be titled N*gger, materialized in 2008, and not without some controversy of its own. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide

Discography: Nas

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Show More Albums

Nastradamus Buy this CD	QB Finest [Clean] Buy this CD	QB Finest Buy this CD	Greatest Hits Buy this CD	Greatest Hits [Clean] Buy this CD
It Was Written/Stillmatic Buy this CD	I Can [Netherlands CD] Buy this CD	Illmatic [10th Anniversary Platinum Edition] Buy this CD	Illmatic [10th Anniversary Platinum Edition] Buy this CD	Illmatic [10th Anniversary Platinum Edition Clean] Buy this CD
Living Legends Buy this CD	Thief's Theme [Maxi Single] Buy this CD	Nas [Bonus Track] Buy this CD	I Can/Heaven [US] Buy this CD	From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes [EP] Buy this CD
Stillmatic [Expanded] Buy this CD	It Was Written Buy this CD	It Was Written [Clean] Buy this CD	Nas Buy this CD	Nas Buy this CD
Nas [Clean] Buy this CD	Hip Hop Is Dead [Single] Buy this CD	Best of Nas Buy this CD	Prophecy, Vol. 2 Buy this CD	Hip Hop Is Dead [Japan Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD
Stillmatic [Japan] Buy this CD	God's Son [Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD	Hip Hop Is Dead Buy this CD	Hip Hop Is Dead [Clean] Buy this CD	Hip Hop Is Dead [Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD
Stillmatic Buy this CD	Stillmatic [Clean] Buy this CD	God's Son Buy this CD	God's Son [Bonus CD] Buy this CD	God's Son [Clean - Bonus CD] Buy this CD
I Can, Pt. 2 [UK CD] Buy this CD	I Can, Pt. 1 [UK CD] Buy this CD	Illmatic Buy this CD	I Am...The Autobiography Buy this CD	I Am...The Autobiography [Clean] Buy this CD
Hate Me Now Buy this CD	Illmatic [Japan 10th Anniversary Platinum Edition] Buy this CD	I Can [Australia CD] Buy this CD	Hate Me Now/If I Ruled the World [Single] Buy this CD	Escobar '97 Buy this CD
Street Dreams [US] Buy this CD

Show Fewer Albums

Wikipedia: Nas

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For other uses, see Nas (disambiguation).

Nas
Nas performing in concert, 2004
Background information
Birth name	Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
Also known as	Nasty Nas, Nas Escobar
Born	September 14, 1973 (1973-09-14) (age 36) New York City, New York, United States
Genres	Hip Hop
Occupations	Rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor, poet
Instruments	sampler, Keyboards
Years active	1991–present
Labels	Columbia, Def Jam, Ill Will, The Jones Experience
Associated acts	Olu Dara, The Firm, Bravehearts, The Game, Group Therapy, Jay-Z, Kelis, Mobb Deep, Raekwon
Website	nas.defjam.com

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones^[1] (pronounced /nɑːˈsɪər/; born September 14, 1973), who performs under the mononym Nas (/ˈnɑːz/), formerly Nasty Nas, is an American rapper and actor. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, he was born and raised in the Queensbridge housing projects in New York City. Although he dropped out of middle school, he managed to attain a high degree of literacy which is prominent in his lyrics.^[2] His debut album Illmatic, was released in 1994 on Columbia Records. Illmatic was critically acclaimed and would go on to be widely hailed a classic. Nas was part of hip-hop supergroup The Firm, which released one album.^[3]

From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a widely publicized feud with rapper Jay-Z; both rappers verbally attacked each other in their songs. The two formally ended their rivalry through duet performances at concerts sponsored by New York City-area hip-hop radio stations. In 2006, he was listed number five on MTV's 10 Greatest MCs of All Time.^[4] Also in 2006, he signed to Def Jam, releasing his albums Hip Hop Is Dead in 2006 and an untitled album in 2008.

1 Early life
2 Career
3 Personal life
4 Discography
5 Filmography
6 References
- 6.1 Notes
7 External links

Early life

Nas was born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York.^[2] His father, Olu Dara, is a jazz and blues musician from Mississippi. His mother, Fannie Ann Jones, was a Postal Service worker. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari Fret who assumes the alias Jungle. While his family lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Nas would play the trumpet on his home stoop at age four. His family moved to the Queensbridge Houses in the late 1970s.^[5] Nas began writing rhymes at the age of nine.^[6] His neighbor, Willy "Ill Will" Graham, influenced Nas's interest in hip hop by playing him records.^[5] Nas' parents divorced in 1985,^[5] and he dropped out of school in the eighth grade.^[2] He educated himself, reading about African culture and civilization, the 360° Lessons of the Nubian Islamic Hebrews scrolls, the Bible and the Qur'an.^[7]

Career

As a teenager, Nas enlisted his best friend and upstairs neighbor Willy "Ill Will Graham" as his DJ. Nas first went by the nickname Kid Wave before adopting his more commonly known alias of Nasty Nas.^[8]

In 1991, Nas performed on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque", establishing himself as a teenage prodigy. 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.^[2] The single increased the buzz surrounding Nas and when MC Serch's solo album was released later in the year, Nas’ standout appearance on "Back to the Grill Again" only intensified interest. Hailed as the second coming of Rakim,^[9] his rhyming skills attracted a significant amount of attention within the hip-hop community.

1994: Illmatic

In 1994, Nas's debut album, Illmatic, was finally released. It was awarded Five Mics from The Source.^[10] It also featured production from Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and DJ Premier, as well as guest appearances from Nas' friend AZ and his father Olu Dara. The album spawned several hit singles: "The World Is Yours", "It Ain't Hard to Tell", and "One Love". Shaheem Reid of MTV News coined Illmatic as "the first classic LP" of 1994.^[11] Nas performed the song "One on One" for the movie Street Fighter.^[12] 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.

1996–1998: It Was Written and The Firm

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. Nas traded manager MC Serch for 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' 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 as a teenager in the projects.^[2]

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. In addition to the firing of Cormega, Alex Trojano was featured as a start up producer in The Firm. Cormega subsequently became one of Nas' 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.^[3] 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 five rappers (the others being B-Real, Dr. Dre, 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.^[13] In 1998, Nas co-wrote and starred in Hype Williams' 1998 feature film Belly.^[2]

1999–2000: I Am… and Nastradamus

In 1998, 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.^[2] The album 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.^[14] 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.^[15]

The second single for I Am… was "Hate Me Now," featuring Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, which was used as an example by Nas' 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.^[15]

Columbia had scheduled to release the pirated material from I Am… under the title Nastradamus during the latter 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."^[2] It was produced by Timbaland and featured R&B singer Ginuwine. The only pirated track from I Am… to make it onto Nastradamus was "Project Windows," featuring Ronald Isley. A number of the other bootlegged tracks later made their way onto The Lost Tapes, a collection of underground Nas songs that was released by Columbia in September 2002. The collection saw decent sales and received glowing reviews.^[16]

In 2000, QB's Finest was released on Nas's Ill Will Records.^[2] 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 Shanté, 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."^[17]

2001: Stillmatic, feud with Jay-Z

Main article: Nas vs. Jay-Z feud

After trading subliminal criticisms on various songs, freestyles and mixtape appearances, the highly publicized feud rivalry between Nas and Jay-Z became widely known to the public in 2001.^[2] Jay-Z, in his song "Takeover", criticized Nas by calling him "fake" and his career "lame".^[18] 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.^[19] Stillmatic debuted at number five on the Billboard album charts and featured the singles "Got Ur Self A..." and "One Mic."

In response to "Ether", Jay-Z released the song "Supa Ugly", which Hot 97 radio host Angie Martinez premiered on December 11, 2001.^[18] In the song, Jay-Z explicitly boasts about having an affair with Nas's girlfriend, Carmen Bryan.^[20] New York City hip-hop radio station Hot 97 issued a poll asking listeners which rapper made the better diss song; Nas won with 52% while Jay-Z got 48% of the votes.^[21]

By October 2005, the two rappers had eventually ended their feud without violence or animosity. During Jay-Z's I Declare War - Power House concert, Jay-Z announced to the crowd, "It's bigger than 'I Declare War'. Let's go, Esco!" Nas then joined Jay-Z onstage, and the two then performed "Dead Presidents" together, which Jay-Z had sampled from Nas's song "The World Is Yours". The two also collaborated on a song called, "Black Republican" which can be found on Nas's album, Hip Hop Is Dead. They then collaborated again on a song called, "Success" from Jay-Z's album American Gangster. ^[22]

2002–2005: God's Son and Street's Disciple

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.^[23] 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 "Für 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 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.

Nas released his seventh studio album, the critically acclaimed double-disc Street's Disciple, on November 30, 2004. The album's first singles were "Thief's Theme" and "Bridging the Gap", which features his father Olu Dara on vocals. The album also includes "These Are Our Heroes", which accuses prominent sports stars and actors such as Kobe Bryant and O. J. Simpson of not setting good examples for the children who look up to them and neglecting their heritage and background. The videos for "Bridging the Gap" and "Just A Moment" received moderate airplay on MTV and BET. Although the album went platinum, its commercial profile was relatively low compared to the rapper's previous releases.^[2]

Nas was featured on Kanye West's album Late Registration on a song titled "We Major". West said the song was Jay-Z's favorite on the album, but West was unable to get Jay-Z to record a vocal for the final mix of the song. He also appeared on Damian Marley's song "Road to Zion" and several other songs such as "Death Anniversary" and "It Wasn't You" (featuring Lauryn Hill).

2006: Hip Hop Is Dead

In January 2006, Nas signed a label deal with Def Jam, emphasizing collaboration over competition with former rival Jay-Z.^[2] Nas's original title for his next album was Hip Hop Is Dead...The N^[24] (shortened to Hip Hop Is Dead), though the UK release features a bonus track at the end called "The N." The album featured production from will.i.am, Kanye West, Dr. Dre, Scott Storch, and NBA All Star Chris Webber, as well as longtime Nas collaborators L.E.S. and Salaam Remi and newcomer Wyldfyer. A street single named "Where Y'all At" was released in June 2006. It was produced by Salaam Remi^[25], and contained a sample from Nas "Made You Look,"^[26] but it did not make the final cut for Hip Hop Is Dead.^[27]

Nas performing in Italy, 2007

The title record and first single was produced by will.i.am, and contains the same melodic sample ("In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida") as Nas' 2004 single "Thief's Theme." 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….^[28] A music video for "Can't Forget About You" premiered on February 5, 2007, the song featuring Chrisette Michele and sampling Nat King Cole's song "Unforgettable". ^[29] Another video, Hustlers, featuring The Game, would follow. ^[30] Also, Nas has stated in an interview with MTV that a video for "Black Republican" featuring Jay-Z is also underway. A reality series on MTV entitled Me and Mrs. Jones will feature the lives of Nas and Kelis, with Vibe magazine has reported that the show will premiere in 2008.^[31]

The title of the album generated controversy, as many fans and artists (particularly those of Southern origin) began to debate over the actual state of rap music's vitality. With this album, Nas became an unofficial leader of the "Hip Hop Is Dead" movement. Ghostface Killah, on his album Fishscale seemed to agree with Nas and cited Southern crunk and snap music as the primary reasons for why hip-hop was "dead". Many Southern acts, such as rappers Big Boi from Outkast, Lil Boosie, T.I., Young Jeezy, Dem Franchize Boyz, and D4L took offense to the title, taking it to be directed at their region in particular.^[32]. However, southern rapper André 3000 from Outkast said in a interview that hip-hop is "dying". After the controversy died down, some of the mentioned rappers would go on and collaborate with Nas on several songs, such as T.I. on Dr. Dre's "Topless" and, more notably, Young Jeezy on his song "My President" off his 2008 album The Recession.

Nas worked on a song called "Shine On 'Em" for the film Blood Diamond starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou, which opened in US theaters on December 8, 2006. His song "Thief's Theme" was featured in one of the scenes in the Academy Award-winning movie The Departed directed by Martin Scorsese.^[33]

2007: Bill O'Reilly/Virginia Tech controversy and Greatest Hits

Nas performing in Ottawa

Nas performed at a free concert for the Virginia Tech student body and faculty on September 6, 2007. Nas was joined by John Mayer, Alan Jackson, Phil Vassar, and Dave Matthews Band.^[34] When announced that Nas was to perform, Bill O'Reilly and Fox News Channel denounced the concert and called for the removal of the rapper citing "violent" lyrics on songs including "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.^[35]

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.^[36]

Responding to O'Reilly, Nas, in an interview with MTV News, said:^[37]

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.

Nas's former label, Columbia Records, released his Greatest Hits album in November. This compilation features 14 songs: 12 from his seven first studio LPs under the label and two newly recorded songs. One of the new tracks, "Less Than an Hour," features Cee-Lo of Goodie Mob and Gnarls Barkley. The track is a new take on the theme of the hugely successful Rush Hour film trilogy starring Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, and appears on the Rush Hour 3 soundtrack as well.^[38] The other new track, "Surviving the Times," contains biographical lyrics about Nas's career and features production by Chris Webber.

2008: Untitled album

On October 12, 2007, Nas announced that his new album would be called Nigger. Both left wing commentators, such as Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, and the 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.^[39] 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.^[40] 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 EP.^[41]^[42]^[43] In an interview with Angie Martinez, a host on New York's Hot 97, Nas stated that the issue had been raised as high up as the United States Congress. ^[44]

Nas' management worried that the album would not be sold by chain stores such as Wal-Mart, thus limiting its distribution.^[45] On May 19, 2008, Nas decided to forgo an album title.^[46] He went on to say in a statement:

“

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.^[47]

”

"Hero", the lead single from the album, was released on June 6, 2008, featuring R&B singer Keri Hilson and produced by Polow da Don. In the US, "Hero" reached number 97 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 87 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, and it peaked at number 39 on the Hot Canadian Digital Singles chart. It was also sampled for a Hustler production erotic video Barely Legal 96^[48] Released on July 15, 2008, Untitled is Nas' second album with Def Jam, in conjunction with his own imprint, The Jones Experience. It features production from Polow da Don, stic.man of Dead Prez, Sons of Light - Dustin Moore & J. Myers ^[49], Mark Ronson, Cool and Dre, DJ Green Lantern, Salaam Remi, DJ Toomp and more. Guest appearances include The Game, Chris Brown, Keri Hilson, The Last Poets, Busta Rhymes and Mulatto.^[50]

On July 2, 2008, Fila announced that Nas had signed a shoe deal, his second to date. Nas will promote the sneakers in magazines and wear them at concerts. Fila also plans on having Nas release a second sneaker with 1980s-oriented style during the 2008 holiday season. ^[51]

Responding to Jesse Jackson's remarks and use of the word "nigger" on July 6, 2008 regarding President Barack Obama, Nas, in an interview with MTV News, said:^[52]

I think Jesse Jackson's the biggest player hater. 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. Goodbye, Jesse. Bye!

In an interview with MTV News in July 2008, Nas speculated that he might release two albums—one produced by DJ Premier and another by Dr. Dre—simultaneously the same day.^[53] Nas will also be featured Dr. Dre's long awaited upcoming album Detox. ^[54]

On July 16, 2008, Nas performed "Hero" with Keri Hilson and Mulatto on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. ^[55] The following week, on July 23, he appeared on The Colbert Report to discuss his opinion of Bill O'Reilly and the Fox News Channel. Nas accused the latter 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.^[56] At the end of the show Nas performed the song "Sly Fox" off his new album, to affirm his criticism of Fox News. On August 28, 2008, Nas performed "Sly Fox" with Mulatto on Late Show with David Letterman.^[57] On August 4, 2008 Nas performed "Hero" with Mulatto on Wendy Williams Show.^[58] Nas is currently touring in "Rock The Bells."^[59] 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."^[60] On March 4, 2009 the second annual Smirnoff Signature Mix Series released Nas "If I Ruled the World 09" (feat.) Marsha Ambrosius ^[61] and Produced by the Sons of Light - Dustin Moore & J. Myers. ^[62]

2009: Distant Relatives with Damian Marley

At the 2009 Grammy Awards, Nas confirmed that he was collaborating on an album with reggae musician Damian Marley which is expected to be released in Fall 2009, with a special edition expected to be available exclusively through Best Buy or Target. 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". ^[63] A portion of the profit is planned to go towards building a school in Africa.^[64] He went on to say that it was "too early to tell the title or anything like that".^[65] The Los Angeles Times reported that the album would be titled Distant Relatives.^[66] Nas also revealed that he will begin working on his tenth studio album following the release of Distant Relatives.^[67] During Fall 2009 Nas used his live band Mulatto with music director Dustin Moore for concerts in Europe and Australia. ^[68]

Personal life

In 1994, Nas' ex-fiancée Carmen Bryan gave birth to their daughter, Destiny. Bryan had allegedly had a sexual relationship with Jay-Z and Allen Iverson after she and Nas had split up.^[69]^[70]^[71] Nas also briefly dated Mary J. Blige.^[70] In 2005, Nas married R&B singer Kelis in Atlanta after a two-year relationship.^[72]^[73] On April 30, 2009, a spokesperson confirmed that Kelis filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.^[74]^[75] Kelis gave birth to his first son on 21st July 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' wishes.^[76]

Discography

Main article: Nas discography

Studio albums

Illmatic (1994)
It Was Written (1996)
I Am… (1999)
Nastradamus (1999)
Stillmatic (2001)
God's Son (2002)
Street's Disciple (2004)
Hip Hop Is Dead (2006)
Untitled (2008)

Collaboration albums

The Firm: The Album (with The Firm) (1997)
QB's Finest (with Various Artists) (2000)
Distant Relatives (with Damian Marley) (2009)

Compilation albums

From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes (2002)
The Lost Tapes (2002)
Greatest Hits (2007)

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1998	Belly	Sincere
1999	In Too Deep	drug dealer
2001	Ticker	Det. Art "Fuzzy" Rice
2001	Sacred Is the Flesh	Isa Paige
2002	John Q	Himself
2003	Uptown Girls	celebrity
2009	Vapors	Kool G Rap

References

Hess, Mickey, ed. (2007), Icons of Hip Hop: An Encyclopedia of the Movement, Music, and Culture, Westport, Conn., U.S.: Greenwood, ISBN 031333904X, http://books.google.com/books?id=bXy2wTEsbCsC

Notes

^ "Pregnant singer Kelis set to divorce rapper Nas". New York Daily News. 2009-05-01. http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/05/01/2009-05-01_say_pregnant_kelis_set_to_divorce_nas.html. Retrieved 2009-10-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Birchmeier, Jason (2008-07-01). "Nas - Biography". allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:fxfexqe5ldde~T1. Retrieved 2008-12-23.
^ ^a ^b Birchmeier, Jason. The Firm - Biography. Allmusic. Last accessed August 13, 2007]
^ "The Greatest MCs of All Time". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/index7.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-10-24.
^ ^a ^b ^c Cowie, Del F.. "Battle Ready". http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=65&csid2=9&fid1=3570. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
^ Fab Five Freddy (2004-01-05). "Nas: The Genesis". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/bands/123/1994/news_feature_nas/. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
^ "Nas Bio". Yuddy. http://www.yuddy.com/celebrity/nas/bio. Retrieved 2007-08-01.
^ "Bridging the Gap (Part 2)". The Ave. 2004. http://www.theavemagazine.com/Gems/Nasolu02.htm. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
^ "The Greatest MCs of All Time - 5. Nas". MTV News. 2006. http://www.mtv.com/bands/h/hip_hop_week/2006/emcees/index7.jhtml.
^ Hess 2007, p. 345
^ Reid, Shaheem (2004-01-05). "The Year Hip-Hop Was Reborn: A Look Back at 1994". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/bands/123/1994/news_feature_010504/. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
^ "Street Fighter > Overview". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:d9ftxq9hldse. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Dr. Dre Presents...The Aftermath > Overview". allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:kxfixqwhldte. Retrieved 2008-09-13. "East Coast/West Coast Killas". allmusic. http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=33:3nfpxce5ldje. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
^ DiBella, M.F. (1999-04-06). "I Am...The Autobiography > Overview". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:wifexq9kldde. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
^ ^a ^b Hess 2007, p. 347
^ Hess 2007, p. 348
^ Conaway, Matt (2000-11-21). "QB Finest > Overview". allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:aifoxqy0ldke. Retrieved 2009-03-06.
^ ^a ^b Century, Douglas (2002-01-06). "Two of Rap's Hottest Return to the Dis". The New York Times. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C07E7D91E30F935A35752C0A9649C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2001-11-26). "Nas Disses Jay-Z, Endless List Of Others On New LP". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1451188/20011126/jay_z.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
^ Ashare, Matt. Nas On His Battle With Jay-Z And Its Effects. Yahoo! Music: January 26, 2002.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2002-01-21). "Nas vs. Jay-Z: Grade-a-Beef (page 1)". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/bands/n/nas/news_feature_012102/. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
^ Sanneh, Kelefah. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/29/arts/music/29jayz.html?ex=1288238400&en=d5ebd722ddd8cebd&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss A Show of Solidarity, With a Few Surprises]. The New York Times: October 29, 2005.
^ allmusic ((( Nas > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))
^ Reid, Shaheem. Nas Says Hip-Hop Is Dead — New Album Due In September. MTV: May 19, 2006.
^ Sunkara, Bhasakar. "Nas - "Where Y'all At"". About.com. http://rap.about.com/od/songreviews/gr/NasWhereYallAt.htm. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
^ Dombal, Ryan (2006-06-28). "Nas: "Where Y'all At" [Track Review]". Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/track_review/37138-where-yall-at. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
^ "Radiohead Reveal Tour Plans – Enigmatically; Plus Jordin Sparks, Ashley Tisdale, Amy Winehouse, Deerhunter & More, In For The Record". MTV News. 2007-11-29. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1575329/20071129/radiohead.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-03-30.
^ Hasty, Katie (2006-12-27). "Nas Scores Third No. 1 Album with 'Hip-Hop Is Dead'". Billboard. http://billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003525355. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2007-01-09). "'Nas King Cole' Shoots 'Unforgettable' Clip, Preps New Album For '07". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1549573/20070109/nas.jhtml. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2007-04-09). "Game Says He's 'Good' With Buck But Has Disdain For G-Unit; Unleashes New Mixtape". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1556643/20070409/game_the.jhtml. Retrieved 2007-08-18.
^ Murphy, Keith (September 2007), "Not Ready for Prime Time Players", Vibe: p. 184
^ Reid, Shaheem; Dukes, Rahman (2006-12-18). "Mixtape Monday: Is Hip-Hop Dead? Luda, Big Boi Disagree With Nas". Mixtape Monday (MTV News). http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/121806/. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
^ "Soundtracks for "The Departed" (2006)". IMDB. 2006. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0407887/soundtrack. Retrieved 2008-02-28.
^ A Concert For Virginia Tech. 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. Retrieved on August 1, 2007.
^ O'Reilly Factor Talking Points Memo clip on YouTube
^ Reid, Shaheem; Rodriguez, Jayson; Dukes, Rahman; Kash, Tim. Mixtape Monday: Nas Sounds Off On Bill O'Reilly (Again!); Havoc Finally Drops The Kush. MTV: September 17, 2007
^ Reid, Shaheem. Nas Slams Bill O'Reilly Over Virginia Tech Comments. MTV: September 6, 2007.
^ Petipas, Jolene. Nas Preps "Greatest Hits," Records New Material. SOHH.com: August 13, 2007.
^ "Jesse Jackson Calls For Ban Of N-Word". CBS News. 2006-11-27. http://cbs2chicago.com/local/jesse.jackson.michael.2.333693.html.
^ Shake (January 23, 2008). Def Jam to Drop Nas?!? Accessed January 28, 2008.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2008-01-07). "Nas Drops Exclusive New Lyrics; Snoop Dogg Insists He Can Out-Sing Diddy". Mixtape Monday (MTV News). http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/010708/.
^ "AllHipHop.com Interview with Melle Mel about Nigger title". YouTube. 2007-10-24. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPBikz0r7Rw.
^ 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 MTV News. Accessed November 1, 2007.
^ Martinez, Angie (2008-06-18). "Interview with Nas". OnSmash. http://videos.onsmash.com/v/H3CLjrINRQcCJA9q.
^ Ewing, Aliya (2008-06-10). "Nas Names Album Nothing & Sets Release Date". HipHopDX. http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/news/id.7092/title.nas-names-album-nothing-sets-release-date.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2008-05-19). "Nas Changes Controversial Album Title: 'It's Important To Me That This Album Gets To The Fans'". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1587737/20080519/nas.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
^ "Nas drops 'Nigger' album title". NME. 2008-03-20. http://www.nme.com/news/nas/36731.
^ Nas - Charts & Awards - Billboard Singles. allmusic. accessed Sept. 8, 2008
^ http://musicremedy.com/n/nas/videos/if-i-ruled-the-world-2009-33475.html
^ http://21-7magazine.blogspot.com/2008/07/mulatto-nas.html
^ Fila inks hip-hop star Nas to shoe endorsement deal - Baltimore Business Journal:
^ Reid, Shaheem. Nas Takes Jesse Jackson To Task For Barack Obama Comments: 'His Time Is Up'. MTV. Accessed July 10, 2008.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2008-07-21). "Nas Wants To Drop Albums Produced By Dr. Dre, DJ Premier On Same Day". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1591198/20080718/id_0.jhtml.
^ Jones, Steve (2008-07-21). "Dr. Dre's 'Detox' has music industry buzzing". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/2008-07-21-drdre-detox_N.htm.
^ http://www.boxxet.com/Jimmy_Kimmel_Live/video:jimmy-kimmel-live-nas-pontiac-series/
^ "Episode #04093". The Colbert Report. Comedy Central. 2008-07-23.
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSR2YshWzyw
^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfyqzUmiUkg
^ Reid, Shaheem (2008-07-24). "Nas And Bill O'Reilly Take Their Beef To The Air, As Fox News Host Denies Charges Of Racism". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1591487/20080724/nas.jhtml. Retrieved 2008-08-23.
^ HiphopDX awards.
^ http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS181665+04-Mar-2009+PRN20090304
^ http://www.djbooth.net/index/tracks/review/nas-ft.-marsha-ambrosious-if-i-ruled-the-world-09/
^ http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=136&csid2=946&fid1=40691
^ Concepcion, Mariel (2009-02-10). "Nas Recording Album With Damian Marley". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/nas-recording-album-with-damian-marley-1003940138.story. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
^ Reid, Shaheem (2009-02-09). "Nas Confirms Kelis' Pregnancy, Talks New Album". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1604589/20090209/nas.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-02-09.
^ Weiss, Jeff (2009-03-26). "Nas and Damian Marley to unveil new songs from 'Distant Relatives' on Friday at L.A. Live". Pop & Hiss. Los Angeles Times. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2009/03/nas-damian-marl.html. Retrieved 2009-03-26.
^ Graff, Gary (2009-07-10). "Nas' Next Album All About 'Peace And Love'". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/nas-next-album-all-about-peace-and-love-1003992643.story. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
^ http://www.entertainmentdepot.com.au/news/the-%E2%80%98lowfi%E2%80%99-tour-nas-chali-2na/
^ Powell, Imani (2006-12-11). "Kiss and Tell: Carmen Bryan". Essence. Time Warner. http://www.essence.com/news_entertainment/entertainment/articles/kissandtellcarmenbryan. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
^ ^a ^b Reid, Shaheem. "Nas' Ex Spills The Beans, T.I. Beats The Bootleggers". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/012306/. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
^ Mooney, Paula (2006-12-21). "Carmen Bryan says Jay-Z and Nas Started the Public Diss-Fest". California Chronicle. http://www.californiachronicle.com/articles/18262. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
^ Keller, Julie (2005-01-10). "Nas, Kelis Married". E!. http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b48990_nas_kelis_married.html. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
^ "Nas, Kelis tie the knot in Atlanta". USA Today. Gannett Company. 2005-01-11. http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2005-01-11-nas-kelis-wed_x.htm. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
^ Murphy, Keith (2009-04-30). "Vibe Exlusive: Nas and Kelis’ Divorce Confirmed". Vibe. Vibe Media Group. http://www.vibe.com/news/online_exclusives/2009/04/nas_and_kelis_divorce_confirmed/. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
^ Aswad, Jem (2009-04-30). "Kelis Files For Divorce From Nas". MTV News. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1610426/20090430/nas.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
^ "Nas Announces Son's Birth to Get Back at Kelis?". idiomag. 2009-07-23. http://www.idiomag.com/peek/93260/nas. Retrieved 2009-07-23.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nas

v • d • e Nas

Studio albums	Illmatic · It Was Written · I Am… · Nastradamus · Stillmatic · God's Son · Street's Disciple · Hip Hop Is Dead · Untitled

Compilations	From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes · The Lost Tapes · Greatest Hits

Collaborations	The Firm: The Album · QB's Finest · Distant Relatives

Related articles	Discography · Breaking Atoms · Bravehearts · Ill Will Records · The Firm · Jay-Z vs. Nas feud · Video Anthology Vol. 1 · Olu Dara · Kelis · Belly

v • d • e Nas singles discography

Illmatic	"Halftime" · "It Ain't Hard to Tell" · "The World Is Yours" · "Life's a Bitch" · "One Love"

It Was Written	"If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" · "Street Dreams" · "The Message"

I Am…	"Nas Is Like" · "Hate Me Now"

Nastradamus	"Nastradamus" · "You Owe Me"

Stillmatic	"Rule" · "Got Ur Self A…" · "One Mic"

God's Son	"Made You Look" · "I Can" · "Get Down"

Street's Disciple	"Thief's Theme" · "Bridging the Gap" · "Just a Moment"

Hip Hop Is Dead	"Hip Hop Is Dead" · "Can't Forget About You"

Untitled album	"Hero" · "Make the World Go Round"

The Firm: The Album	"Firm Biz" · "Phone Tap"

Soundtracks	"Escobar '97" · "In Too Deep" · "I've Got to Have It" · "Less Than an Hour"

Collaborations	"Da Bridge 2001" · "Oochie Wally" · "Thugz Mansion" · "Classic (Better Than I've Ever Been)"

Other songs	"N.Y. State of Mind" · "Ether" · "Surviving the Times" · "Be a Nigger Too" · "N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and the Master)" · "Film"

v • d • e Def Jam Recordings

Founders	Russel Simmons · Rick Rubin

Current artists	Ace Hood · Amerie · Beanie Sigel · Big Sean · Blood Raw · Brutha · Chrisette Michele · The-Dream · Electrik Red · Fabolous · Fast Life Yungstaz · Ghostface Killah · I-20 · Jadakiss · Jeremih · Juelz Santana · Kanye West · Karina · Lil Fate · Lil Ru · Lil Scrappy · LL Cool J · Ludacris · Method Man · Method Man & Redman · Nas · Ne-Yo · Patti LaBelle · Playaz Circle · Prince Cy Hi · Q Da Kid · Redman · Rick Ross · Rihanna · The Roots · Triple C's · Shawnna · Shonie · U.S.D.A · Unladylike · Willy Northpole · Young Jeezy

Former artists	3rd Bass · Alyson Williams · Ashanti · Beastie Boys · B.G. Knocc Out · Bobby Valentino · Boss · Black Child · Cam'ron · Capone-N-Noreaga · Case · Chingy · Christina Milian · Cormega · Davy DMX · Def Squad · The Diplomats · DJ Richie Rich · DMX · Domino · Downtown Science · The Dove Shack · Dresta · Dru Hill · EPMD · FAM-LAY · Flatlinerz · Foxy Brown · Funkmaster Flex · Flesh-n-Bone · Ja Rule · Jay-Z · Jayo Felony · Jonell · Keith Murray · Kelly Price · Lady Gaga · Lady Luck · Lloyd · LovHer · Megan Rochell · MoKenStef · Montell Jordan · Musiq Soulchild · Nikki D · N.O.R.E. · Nice & Smooth · Nicole Wray · Onyx · Oran "Juice" Jones · Peedi Peedi · Pete Nice · Playa · Public Enemy · Rell · Rev Run · Richie Rich · Scarface · Shareefa · Shyne · Sisqó · Slayer · Slick Rick · South Central Cartel · Terminator X · Terri Walker · Twiztid · Vita · Warren G · WC

Persondata
NAME	Nas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Jones, Nasir
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Hip-hop artist
DATE OF BIRTH	September 14, 1973
PLACE OF BIRTH	Brooklyn, New York, United States
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH

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Copyrights:

		Black Biography. Contemporary Black Biography. Copyright © 2006 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
		Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Nas". Read more

Lost Tapes Buy this CD	Lost Tapes [Clean] Buy this CD	Nastradamus [Single] Buy this CD	Executive Decision Buy this CD	Bridging the Gap Buy this CD
Street's Disciple Buy this CD	Street's Disciple Buy this CD	Street's Disciple [Clean] Buy this CD	Lost Tapes [Japan Bonus Tracks] Buy this CD	Nastradamus [Clean] Buy this CD

Nas

Biography

Contents

Early life

Career

1994: Illmatic

1996–1998: It Was Written and The Firm

1999–2000: I Am… and Nastradamus

2001: Stillmatic, feud with Jay-Z

2002–2005: God's Son and Street's Disciple

2006: Hip Hop Is Dead

2007: Bill O'Reilly/Virginia Tech controversy and Greatest Hits

2008: Untitled album

2009: Distant Relatives with Damian Marley

Personal life

Discography

Filmography

References

Notes

External links