Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones is an American rapper and actor. He is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Since 1994, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 13 million records in the United States alone. Aside from rapping, Nas is also an occasional actor.
His musical career began in 1991 when he was featured on Main Source's track "Live at the Barbeque". His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994, received universal acclaim from both critics and the hip hop community. It is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time.His follow-up album It Was Written debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, went platinum twice in only two months, and made Nas internationally known.
From 1996 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with rapper Jay-Z. In 2006, Nas signed to Def Jam. In 2010, he released a collaboration album with reggae artist Damian Marley, donating all royalties to charities active in Africa. His tenth studio album, Life Is Good was released in 2012.
Nas is often named as one of the top rap artists. MTV ranked him at number 5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time.In 2012, The Source ranked him No. 2 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. Read more
Always controversial and uncompromising in his role as hiphop s most influential MC, and often its most severe critic, Nas has completed his first new studio album in four years, LIFE IS GOOD, scheduled to arrive in stores July 17th on Def Jam Recordings. The album s new advance track, The Don, produced by Da Internz, Salaam Remi and the late Heavy D, made its premiere earlier last month on New York DJ Funkmaster Flex s Hot 97 radio show. Response to The Don has been nothing short of rapturous. Rolling Stone raves on his new single, the Queens rap godfather spits vicious rhymes over a rugged, island-flavored beat...if Nas keeps up this level of quality, his new album is going to be like Illmatic all over again.
Nasir Jones made this debut album at the age of 20, already armed with the calm perceptiveness and been-there-done-that attitude of a much older ghetto vet, though sometimes his inner callow youth shows itself. Illmatic is a look back at a life spent in the culture of the projects, acknowledging joy as much as pain and taking note of violence as a fact of his environment rather than a focus of his life. It's enlivened by Nas's kicky, deep-threaded multiple rhymes--you can tell he grew up listening to Mr. Magic's rap show and internalizing the secrets of everybody's flow--and by tracks from a bunch of all-stars, including the Large Professor, DJ Premier, and, most memorably, Q-Tip ("One Love"). --Douglas Wolk
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