Nas
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Nas Biography
Heralded instantly as one of New York's leading rap voices, Nas
expressed an outspoken, self-empowered swagger that rallied the streets
of his city and elsewhere. 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 noteworthy 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 breathtaking beats by amazing producers: legends
like DJ Premier, Large Professor, and Pete Rock; hitmakers like
Trackmasters, Timbaland, and Dr. Dre; 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 like
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 all the downs (the
pressure, 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 instant respect 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, like much of New York, 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), thus 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 the
MTV-sanctioned crossover success he sought. This same crossover
success, however, undermined some of his hip-hop credibility while his
subsequent albums -- I Am and Nastradamus (both 1999) -- and their
crossover tendencies did so to an even further extent.
Around this point in the late '90s, Nas nonetheless reigned atop the
New York rap scene alongside few contemporaries in the wake of the
Notorious B.I.G.'s assassination. 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, he 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 in the
streets, where many initial supporters felt he had sold out and
abandoned hip-hop ideals in favor of commercial success. Nas' sales
reflected this fading support, as each subsequent album sold less than
its predecessor despite the consistent hitmaking.
A series of incidents in 2001 provided a key turning point for Nas'
declining career. The rapper's personal life became increasingly
conflicted, as his mother began suffering from cancer and his woman
betrayed him. To make matters worse, longtime rival Jay-Z pointedly
dissed Nas on Takeover, the much-discussed leadoff song from his
universally acclaimed Blueprint album (2001). Jay-Z called out Nas for
not having put out a hot album since Illmatic, among other reasons,
and also made demeaning comments about Nas' woman. And it didn't help
that Jay-Z had indeed rose 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.
Following a much-circulated underground freestyle over the beat to
Paid in Full, Nas responded strikingly in December 2001 with
Stillmatic, the title a reference to his one undeniable masterpiece,
Illmatic, which had been released nearly a decade earlier. Most
notably, Stillmatic opened with the song Ether, a very direct
response (featuring the chants f*ck Jay-Z and I will not lose ),
followed by perhaps Nas' most aggressive single ever, 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 headline-worthy
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 wide acclaim from fans and critics alike and sold
impressively, while Columbia furthered the comeback fervor with two
archival releases, one of remixes (From Illmatic to Stillmatic [2002]),
the other of outtakes (The Lost Tapes [2002]). Then at the end of the
year Columbia released a new studio album, God's Son, 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. The
album sort of came and went, however, without the level of commercial
success that had become customary. More troubling, new kid on the block
50 Cent took a swipe at Nas later that year on Piggy Bank, further
bringing the veteran rapper's present status into question. After
inking a surprising deal with Def Jam -- which meant a reconciliation
with Jay-Z -- Nas released Hip Hop Is Dead in late 2006. ~ Jason
Birchmeier, All Music Guide
Written by Jason Birchmeier