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at a glance...
Hometown: New York, NY
Formed: circa 1991
Members:
Nas (Nasir Jones)
Trackmasters, DJ Premier,
Timbaland -producers
Related Artists :
Capone, Noreaga, Foxy Brown, Cormega, AZ, Mobb Deep
Notes:
Growing up in the Queensbridge housing projects in New York's Long
Island City, Nas jumped on the scene as a guest on "Live At the BBQ," an
underground hit from the debut album of Large Professor's former group, Main
Source. A year later, 3rd Bass rapper MC Serch included Nas on his "Back To
The Grill" cut, and then selected the 18-year-old to work on the soundtrack
Serch produced for the movie "Zebrahead." The resulting track, "Halftime,"
scored Nas a record deal with Columbia Records. His debut, "Illmatic," is
regarded as a true hip-hop classic, with Nas unleashing a style that was
both hardcore and poetic. The album vaulted Nas into the elite category of
emcees. His sophomore record, "It Was Written" saw somewhat of a departure
from the raw production if "Illmatic" and it was evident that "Illmatic" had
brought Nas some money, since content now focused on some of the finer
things in life. Nas also formed The Firm three years ago, consisting of
himself, Nature, AZ, Cormega and Foxy Brown (the hip hop burlesque queen),
and together the group released an album in late '97. Nas made his acting
debut in director Hype Williams' debut film, '98's "Belly."
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Nas
I Am...
Sony, Released 1999
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The release of Nasir Jones' third LP prompted an inordinate amount of debate
about his status within the hip hop landscape, with the underground devotees
of his first LP, Illmatic, hoping for a return to his roots of raw beats and
thug poetry and mainstream fans looking for the glossy Escobar persona and
commercial production Nas utilized on his second LP, It Was Written. Both
sides are a bit askew in their assessment of the facts.
Nasty Nas, Nas
Escobar, Nastradamos, it doesn't matter -- this guy could be rapping over a
kazoo-and-triangle beat and it would be dope. Nas writes rhymes, and
everything else is secondary. The lyrically ingenious emcee has done his
best to please both parties with I Am..., enlisting both the
commercially-savvy Trackmasters and the Beatlord of the Underground, DJ
Premier, among others for production, but the content remains wise beyond
his 25 years. Nas is rap's Everyman, simultaneously able to show love to his
Queensbridge projects and disperse philosophic, sociological and political
knowledge at the same time.
Pages upon pages have been written both about and in tribute to Biggie
Smalls and Tupac Shakur, but Nas sums up the feelings of thousands in only
three verses of "We Will Survive": "Peace to your daughter and your newborn
son/It used to be fun/Making records to see your response/But now
competition is none now that you're gone." Although his guest appearance may
cause Nas fans to cringe, Puff Daddy fits well on "Hate Me Now," on which
the duo lambastes envy.
Although nearly every track is dense with
story-narratives and op-ed rhymes, Nas' vaunted lyrics can't carry a whole
album alone, so retaining the services of Premier was vital. The two tracks
on the album produced by Premier, "Nas Is Like" and "N.Y. State of Mind Pt.
II," are sensational, featuring swirling piano loops, sampled bites from
Illmatic and tight yarns from a ghetto journalist.
Plenty of rappers are
able to straddle the line between the underground and commercial success
these days. Nas does it like no other, and the proof is in the lyrics.
If you like Nas, check out:
Mobb Deep Hell On Earth
The Genius / GZA Liquid Swords
Raekwon Only Built 4 Cuban Linx
-- Jim Welte
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