Nas was born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones(September 14, 1973)in Long Island City, Queens, New York. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara and Postal Service worker Fannie Ann Jones. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari Fret who assumes the alias Jungle. Nas began writing rhymes at the age of nine. His neighbor, Willy "Ill Will" Graham, influenced Nas's interest in hip hop by playing him records. Although he dropped out of middle school, he managed to attain a high degree of literacy that are prominent in his lyrics. As a teenager, Nas enlisted his best friend and upstairs neighbor Willy "Ill Will Graham" as his DJ.
In 1991, Nas performed on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque", establishing himself as a teenage prodigy. In mid-1992, Nas was approached by MC Serch of 3rd Bass, who became his manager and secured Nas a record deal with Columbia Records the same year. Nas first went by the nickname Kid Wave before adopting his more commonly known alias of Nasty Nas. Nas made his solo debut under the name of "Nasty Nas" on the single "Halftime" from Serch's soundtrack for the film Zebrahead. The single increased the buzz surrounding Nas and when MC Serch's solo album was released later in the year, Nas’ standout appearance on "Back to the Grill Again" only intensified interest. Hailed as the second coming of Rakim, his rhyming skills attracted a significant amount of attention within the hip-hop community.
Nas's debut album Illmatic, was released in 1994 on Columbia Records. Illmatic was critically acclaimed and would go on to be widely hailed a classic. It was the first album awarded Five Mics from The Source. It also featured production from Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and DJ Premier, as well as guest appearances from Nas' friend AZ and his father Olu Dara. The album spawned several hit singles: "The World Is Yours", "It Ain't Hard to Tell", and "One Love". Shaheem Reid of MTV News coined Illmatic as "the first classic LP" of 1994, Nas performed the song "One on One" for the movie Street Fighter. In 1995, Nas did guest performances on the albums Doe or Die by AZ, The Infamous by Mobb Deep, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx by Raekwon and 4,5,6 by Kool G Rap.
In the late-'90s wake of the Notorious B.I.G.'s assassination, Nas reigned atop the New York rap scene alongside few contemporaries of equal stature . 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, Nas 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).
Discography
Illmatic (1994)
It Was Written (1996)
I Am… (1999)
Nastradamus (1999)
Stillmatic (2001)
God's Son (2002)
Street's Disciple (2004)
Hip Hop Is Dead (2006)
Untitled (2008)
(Got some of this information from Wikipedia.com and allmusic.com. So if some information is wrong I am sorry.)
Nas to me is one of the most lyrically rappers out there. His work shows why people believe he is one of the best rappers in the game. Nas came out around the early 90's. During that time I didn't really care that much about music. I have to thank my big brother for getting me into hip hop. Without him I won't have thought about Nas back went I was younger. His best albums to me are Illmatic(1994), It Was Written(1996), Stillmatic(2001) ,Hip Hop Is Dead(2006), Untitled album also was known as N*gger (2008)
