Nas

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, or Nas, was born in Long Island City, New York on September 14, 1973. He was born to Olu Dara, who at the time was a jazz musician, and Fannie Ann Jones, a postal worker. Jones was raised in the Queensbridge projects of New York for his childhood life and dropped out of school while he was in the eighth grade, after his father left the family in 1986.

After dropping out of school, Nasir took a high interest in African culture, using the Qur’an, the Five Percent Nation, and the Bible. Using these learning materials, and his own drive to learn, Nasir obtained a very high degree of literacy while still in his teenage years. Along with the dangerous activities of street culture, Nasir also took up rapping as a vocation while he was just a preteen, his interest in the origins of hip-hop music guiding him. He began his music career with the trumpet, and from there became concentrated on rapping.

Alongside his friend and neighbor, Willie “Ill Will” Graham, Nasir’s rapping career took off in 1991 when he performed a verse for Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque,” a track off Main Source’s LP ‘Breaking Atoms’ with Willie as his DJ. He took on the stage name Nasty Nas. Though any major record labels would not sign Nasir, he maintained his work with Graham until May 23, 1992 when Graham was shot and killed by a gunman in Queensbridge.

Shortly after Graham’s death, Nasir gained the notice of MC Serch of 3rd Bass, who also became his manager. Serch requested that Nas contribute a track to the Zebrahead movie soundtrack to which Serch was the executive producer. The track that Nas submitted for the Zebrahead soundtrack was so intense it made the leadoff on the album, and raised much anticipation for Nasir's debut album. Afterwards, the music industry quickly signed Nas to Colombia for him to begin work on his 1994 debut album, 'Illmatic.'

Illmatic's release was highly anticipated, and was everything it had been chalked up to be. While it didn't exactly shoot up the Billboards, it gave Nas much deserved respect from many of New York's hip hop scene. Where there was respect, there was also dislike most notably from hip hop's Tupac Shakur. Shakur believed that Nas' lyrics were based off Shakur's street life, rather than his own. Despite the various attacks from Tupac, and being labeled as a fake by others, Nas kept on strong, and two years later released the highly anticipated 'It Was Written.' Where as Illmatic was played more straightforward as hip hop, It Was Written contained more crossovers to pop style music. This gained him further recognition, and gave him highly sought after MTV-sanctioned crossover success.

Feeding off the pop-rap crossover, he experimented further with this on his next two albums 'I Am' and 'Nastradamus.' Despite the hit songs on the albums his sales were lower with each album he put out, as his crossover caused him to lose much of his support in the streets, where he'd originally come from, his old supporters accusing him of selling out in favor of media attention. In addition, his girlfriend left him because of his declining reputation, or at least that's what he implies in his song 'One Mic.' On top of this, his personal life problems grew, as his mother was diagnosed with cancer in 2001.

The problems didn't stop there; fellow hip hop artist Shawn Carter (Jay-Z), attacked Nas on his opening track of 'The Blueprint,' Carter's hit album. This started off a heated scuffle between the two, Nas on the short end of the battle as Carter was on the top of New York's hip hop game. Nas' album 'Stillmatic' introduced the song 'Ether' which was a deliberate diss dedicated towards Carter. Ether attacked Carter in a variety of ways, dissing everything from his age, to his lips. Not only did this song show that Nas was still very capable of putting down powerful lines from his hip hop roots, he followed it up with one of his most powerful songs, "Get Yourself a..." Together with Ether, Nas began to receive his street reputation back, while also getting recognition from MTV, the station backing him for the music video for his single "One Mic." Along with the compilation album 'From Illmatic to Stillmatic,' Nas released the album 'God's Son' which contained the hits 'I Can,' 'Made You Look,' and [|'Thugz Mansion] feat. Tupac.' Other songs on the album (Dance and Heaven) were dedicated to his mother who finally lost her life to cancer earlier that year. According to some critics, this album picked up where Illmatic left off. Though some have said he had an egotistical persona in this album, the album still sold well, and also received a four mic rating from "The Source" magazine.

Nas' album, possibly the most critical album he has ever made, Nigger. The album was released in 2008, and much controversy was made about the album's name, bringing in people from the [|NAACP], Civil Activist leaders, and even members of Congress. The album's name was disputed, and rumors were put out about Nas' release from Def Jam records. However, the name of the album was changed to Untitled and Nas, when interviewed, explained that " It's important to me that this album gets to the fans. It's been a long time coming. I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. It's that important. The streets have been waiting for this for a long time. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it." e album has currently reached Gold status on the charts in the United States. While he is one of the greatest hip hop artists alive, Nas is very controversial, and he uses this in his songs which makes him an even greater artist. He continues to climb the ladder of success as one of the most influential artists for the Afro-American culture, due to his inspirational lyrics, his truthful artistry, and his low nonsense attitude. With all this, and such a high name to live up to, Nas shows no signs of slowing down. NAS BIOGRAPHY." __Lyrics__. 20 Feb. 2009 .

"Nas Biography | Nas Rap Star | Nas Producer | Nas News | Nas Pictures." __Celebrity News | Celebrity Gossip | Hollywood News | Yuddy.com__. 21 Feb. 2009 http://www.yuddy.com/celebrity/nas/bio.

"RapCentral - Rapper NAS, NASIR JONES Biography, Nas album lyrics, wallpapers, beefs." __RapCentral - HIP HOP & RAP News - Rap Album Lyrics - Hip Hop Artists - Beefs__. 21 Feb. 2009 http://www.rapcentral.co.uk/nasIndex.html.

"God's Son - Nas." __Free Music Videos, Music Lyrics, Free Music Downloads - AOL Music__. 18 Feb. 2009 .