Regardless, Illmatic proved just as astounding as it had been billed. When Columbia finally released the album in April 1994, it faced high expectations. DJ Premier, Large Professor, and Pete Rock entered the studio with the young rapper and began work on Illmatic. Meanwhile, Columbia Records signed Nas to a major-label contract, and many of New York's finest producers offered their support. 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. Not long afterward, MC Serch of 3rd Bass approached Nas about contributing a track to the Zebrahead soundtrack. 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. At the same time, though, he delved into street culture and flirted with danger, such experiences similarly characterizing his rhymes. Since relaunching and expanding the multimedia hip-hop company Mass Appeal, he's continued to build his deep discography with releases such as Nasir (2018), the Grammy-winning King's Disease (2020), and King's Disease II (2021).īorn 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. Nas has continually matured as an artist, evolving from a young street disciple to a vain all-knowing sage and humbled godly teacher, as illustrated through Hip Hop Is Dead (2006), Nas (2008), and Life Is Good (2012), all of which were Grammy nominated. Such headline-worthy drama has informed his provocative rhymes, delivered with a masterful flow and a wise perspective over beats by a range of producers, from DJ Premier and Pete Rock to the Alchemist and Kanye West. Whether proclaiming himself "Nasty Nas" or "Nas Escobar" or "Nastradamus" or "God's Son," the self-appointed King of New York has battled numerous adversaries, none more challenging than Jay-Z, who vied with Nas for the throne left in the wake of the Notorious B.I.G.'s 1997 assassination.
Beginning with his classic debut, Illmatic (1994), Nas has stood tall as one of New York City's leading rap voices, outspokenly expressing a righteous, self-empowered swagger that has endeared him to critics and hip-hop purists.
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