| Nas | |
|---|---|
 Nas in 1998 | |
|
Birth name |
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones |
|
Also known as |
Nasty Nas, Nas Escobar |
|
Born |
September 14, 1973 |
|
Origin |
Queens, New York, U.S. |
|
Genres |
|
|
Occupations |
Rapper, actor |
|
Years active |
1991-present |
|
Labels |
|
|
Associated acts |
MC Serch, AZ, Bravehearts, DJ Premier, The Firm, Large Professor, Mobb Deep, Salaam Remi, Kanye West |
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (born 14 September, 1973), better known simply as Nas, is a Grammy award winning American rapper and actor. He is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Since 1994, Nas has released ten consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 16 million records in the United States and 38 million globally. Aside from rapping and acting, Nas is an entrepreneur through his record label and magazine publishing. He is currently the associate publisher of Mass Appeal Magazine.
His musical career began in 1991 when he was featured on Main Source's song "Live at the Barbeque", from their album Breaking Atoms. His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994, received universal acclaim from both critics and hip hop fans. It is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. His 1996 follow-up album It Was Written debuted at #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 1996-2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with fellow rapper Jay-Z. In 2006, Nas signed to Def Jam. In 2010, he released a collaboration album with reggae musician, Damian Marley; where all royalties were donated to charities in Africa. His tenth studio album, Life Is Good was released in 2012.
Nas is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. MTV ranked him at #5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time. In 2012, The Source ranked him #2 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2013, Nas was ranked fourth on MTV's "Hottest MCs in the Game" list.
Discography[]
Studio albums[]
- 1994: Illmatic
- 1996: It Was Written
- 1997: The Album (with The Firm)
- 1999: I Am...
- 1999: Nastradamus
- 2001: Stillmatic
- 2002: The Lost Tapes
- 2002: God's Son
- 2004: Street's Disciple
- 2006: Hip Hop Is Dead
- 2008: Untitled
- 2010: Distant Relatives (with Damian Marley)
- 2012: Life Is Good
- 2018: Nasir
- 2020: King's Disease
- 2021: King's Disease II
- 2021: Magic (with Hit-Boy)
- 2022: King's Disease III (with Hit-Boy)
- 2023: Magic 2 (with Hit-Boy)
- 2023: Magic 3 (with Hit-Boy)