Nas
by SimpleT on Jul.09, 2010, under Nas
Nas (formerly known as Nasty Nas) is an American singer-songwriter and rapper from New York City.
Born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones on 14th September 1973 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, Nas’ father Olu Dara is a renowned jazz singer and musician. Naturally, Nas took an interest in music at a young age and was an accomplished trumpet player by the age of seven. He was exposed to hip hop in his early teens and soon began writing his own material, going under the name Kid Wave and then Nasty Nas. He was soon rapping at local music events and in 1991 managed to appear on stage with the rap group Main Source.
Following this, Nas was signed to Columbia Records in 1992 and released his debut single Halftime in October that year, which appeared on the soundtrack to the film Zebrahead. After shortening his name to simply Nas, he then appeared on MC Serch’s solo album Return of the Product.
Nas’ debut album Illmatic was released on 19th April 1994. It reached number twelve on the Billboard 200 and produced five hit singles, including The World Is Yours, It Ain’t Hard to Tell and One Love. His next album, 1996’s It Was Written, took a more mainstream direction and managed to hit the top spot in the US, selling three million copies and spawning the singles If I Ruled the World (Imagine That), Street Dreams and The Message. His last album of the 1990s, I Am…, also reached number one (selling over 470,000 copies in its first week alone) and scored hits with the singles Nas Is Like and Hate Me Now.
Throughout the 2000s, Nas released six more albums that sold millions of copies and scored a string of hits, including Got Ur Self A…, One Mic, I Can, Thief’s Theme, Bridging the Gap, Hip Hop Is Dead, Hero and As We Enter. His most recent record Distant Relatives – a collaboration with Jamaican reggae artist Damian Marley – was released in May 2010 and shot to number five on the Billboard 200.
