Nas

Beginning with his landmark first album, Illmatic (1994), Nas established himself among New York’s foremost rap figures, projecting a bold, self-reliant presence that won favor from reviewers and dedicated hip-hop listeners alike. Adopting monikers such as “Nasty Nas,” “Nas Escobar,” “Nastradamus,” or “God’s Son,” the rapper who crowned himself King of New York confronted a succession of opponents, most notably Jay-Z, as both artists contended for the prominence vacated by the Notorious B.I.G.’s 1997 killing. This widely publicized conflict supplied material for his incisive lyrics, which he delivered with assured technique and thoughtful insight across productions from DJ Premier, Pete Rock, the Alchemist, and Kanye West. Over time Nas advanced artistically, shifting from an emerging street disciple toward a self-assured, omniscient voice and ultimately a reflective spiritual mentor, developments evident on the Grammy-nominated releases Hip Hop Is Dead (2006), Nas (2008), and Life Is Good (2012). After reviving and broadening the multimedia hip-hop enterprise Mass Appeal, he extended his catalog through Nasir (2018) and a sequence of projects with producer Hit-Boy, among them the Grammy-winning King’s Disease (2020), followed by King’s Disease II (2021) and III (2022), plus the three-part Magic series that concluded with Magic 3 (2023), marking their sixth and final joint effort.

Born Nasir Jones to jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas left school after eighth grade and immersed himself in the challenging environment of the Queensbridge projects, a locale long associated with Marley Marl and the Juice Crew and referenced in “The Bridge.” Although he exited formal education early, he cultivated a strong command of language that later distinguished his writing, even as street life and its hazards supplied further themes. This blend of articulate expression and vivid urban imagery first gained attention in 1991 when he joined Main Source for a potent contribution to “Live at the Barbeque,” earning early recognition within East Coast rap circles. Shortly thereafter, MC Serch of 3rd Bass, serving as executive producer for the Zebrahead soundtrack, invited Nas to submit material; impressed by the earlier track, Serch placed “Halftime” in the lead position after its submission.

Columbia Records then secured Nas under a major-label deal, drawing support from several prominent New York producers. DJ Premier, Large Professor, and Pete Rock collaborated with the emerging artist on what became Illmatic. Upon its April 1994 release, the project met lofty expectations and delivered on them, achieving strong sales, three charting singles, universal praise, subsequent gold and platinum certifications, and enduring classic standing.

The period preceding It Was Written (1996) generated comparable excitement. Working closely with industry figure Steve Stoute, Nas adopted a markedly different strategy from his debut; while Illmatic had remained a direct hip-hop statement with minimal pop concessions, the Trackmasters-heavy follow-up embraced crossover considerations, most clearly on the hits “Street Dreams” and “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That).” Sampling Eurythmics’ “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” and Kurtis Blow’s “If I Ruled the World,” respectively, these singles expanded his audience and secured MTV-driven visibility, the latter also bringing his first Grammy nomination. That same commercial reach, however, prompted some purist criticism and a modest backlash.

Nas confronted detractors directly on “Hate Me Now,” the second single from I Am (1999). Originally conceived as a double-disc autobiographical set, the album was condensed to a single disc after leaks, with the DJ Premier-produced “Nas Is Like” as lead single. Both that track and “Hate Me Now” reached the Billboard Hot 100, joined on the charts by “You Won’t See Me Tonight” and “K-I-S-S-I-N-G.” Columbia had planned Nastradamus (1999) as a quick follow-up using the leaked I Am material, yet the November release instead comprised almost entirely new songs recorded under a tight deadline; it still reached number seven and yielded the charting singles “Nastradamus” and “You Owe Me.”

In the late-1990s aftermath of the Notorious B.I.G.’s death, Nas shared the pinnacle of New York rap with a handful of peers. Alongside an ongoing series of hits crafted by leading producers—“If I Ruled the World” (Trackmasters), “Hate Me Now” (Puff Daddy), “Nas Is Like” (DJ Premier), “You Owe Me” (Timbaland), and others—he appeared in Hype Williams’s film Belly (1998) with DMX and contributed to its soundtrack. He also headed the short-lived supergroup the Firm, which included Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature alongside producers Dr. Dre and the Trackmasters, and gathered numerous Queensbridge artists for the QB Finest compilation (2000).

Events in 2001 marked a decisive shift. As personal matters grew complex, longtime rival Jay-Z took aim on “Takeover” from the acclaimed Blueprint (2001). Nas countered decisively that December with Stillmatic, its title nodding to his earlier classic. The album opened with the pointed “Ether” and featured the forceful lead single “Get Ur Self A…,” tracks that energized street audiences, while the “One Mic” video received substantial MTV rotation. Throughout 2002 Nas sustained momentum through guest spots on Brandy’s “What About Us?,” J-Lo’s “I’m Gonna Be Alright,” and Ja Rule’s “The Pledge.”

Amid the surrounding turbulence, Nas restored his standing and reasserted primacy in New York rap. Stillmatic drew swift praise and solid sales, prompting Columbia to issue two archival projects: the remix collection From Illmatic to Stillmatic (2002) and the outtakes set The Lost Tapes (2002), which incorporated some of the previously leaked I Am material. Closing the year, the label released God’s Son (2002), again earning broad acclaim as it moved well, produced major singles (“Thugz Mansion,” “Made You Look,” “I Can”), and attracted extensive media attention. Two years later Street’s Disciple (2004), a double album exploring politics and his approaching marriage to Kelis, arrived; its preview single “Thief’s Theme”/“You Know My Style” surfaced in summer 2004, followed that fall by “Bridging the Gap.”

In an unexpected development, Nas joined Jay-Z onstage at the October 2005 I Declare War concert, where they performed “Dead Presidents,” the 1996 debut single built around a prominent sample of Nas’s own 1994 classic “The World Is Yours.” Their reconciliation paved the way for a Def Jam agreement, with the label—then led by Jay-Z as president—issuing Hip Hop Is Dead (2006). The project sparked discussion about hip-hop’s direction and included the anticipated Jay-Z collaboration “Black Republican.” A politically focused self-titled album, once considered under the title N*gger, followed in 2008 and became Nas’s fifth number-one release.

After his divorce from Kelis, Nas issued the full-length collaboration Distant Relatives with Damian “Junior Gong” Marley in 2010. Two years later, reflections on that divorce appeared on the pointed Life Is Good, his third straight Grammy-nominated Best Rap Album entry. Soon afterward he invested substantially in Mass Appeal, the former fanzine that had evolved into a multimedia company, and helped establish its record-label arm, later home to projects by Run the Jewels, Pimp C, J Dilla, and DJ Shadow. Illmatic continued to anchor his legacy; for its twentieth anniversary in 2014, Nas performed the album at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts with the National Symphony Orchestra. Expanded reissue Illmatic XX and the documentary Time Is Illmatic appeared by year’s end. The Kennedy Center performance aired on PBS in 2018 and was later released as an LP on Mass Appeal.

Months afterward Nas delivered Nasir, a concise seven-track set entirely co-produced by Kanye West. The archival collection The Lost Tapes II, drawn from the prior thirteen years of unreleased recordings, followed in 2019. King’s Disease, his thirteenth studio album, arrived in August 2020; featuring Hit-Boy production and appearances by Lil Durk and Anderson .Paak, it captured that year’s Grammy for Best Rap Album. Nas and Hit-Boy reconvened for the Grammy-nominated King’s Disease II in August 2021, joined by Lauryn Hill, EPMD, and Eminem. Ahead of a third installment, the nine-track Magic appeared in late December, again produced by Hit-Boy and featuring DJ Premier and A$AP Rocky; Nas described it in interviews as an interim release rather than a full album. King’s Disease III arrived the next year, the duo’s fourth complete collaboration, and reached number ten on the Billboard charts. In July 2023 Magic 2 continued the series with further Hit-Boy production and guest spots from 21 Savage and 50 Cent. Less than two months later Magic 3 arrived, positioned as the concluding Nas/Hit-Boy project and closing their six-album partnership; longer than its two predecessors, it included only one featured verse, Lil Wayne’s contribution to “Never Die.”