Nas
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (/nɑːˈsɪər/; born September 14, 1973), better known as Nas /ˈnɑːz/, is an American rapper, songwriter, entrepreneur, record producer and actor. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 25 million records worldwide since 1994. He is also an entrepreneur through his own record label; he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and is the owner of a Fila sneaker store. He is currently signed to Mass Appeal Records.
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.
Nas' follow-up album, It Was Written, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, went Platinum twice in only two months, and made Nas internationally known. From 2001 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 eleventh studio album, Life Is Good, was released in 2012, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.
Untitled Nas album
The untitled ninth studio album by American rapper Nas was released by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records on July 15, 2008 in the United States, with earlier dates in some other countries. Its original title—Nigger—was changed due to controversy surrounding the racial epithet. The album is distinguished for its political content, diverse sources of production and provocative subject matter.
The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, Nas' fifth to do so. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics; it holds an aggregate score of 71/100 from Metacritic.
Background
Title controversy
The original title of the album—Nigger—was mentioned by Nas several times, as well as on an October 12, 2007, performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City where he announced the title and release date.Def Jam made no comment on the title. This was similar to attempts to name his 2006 album—eventually titled Hip Hop Is Dead—both Nigga and Hip Hop Is Dead... The N. On May 19, 2008, it was confirmed that Nas changed the name of the album to an untitled one (although on iTunes, the album is self-titled), stating that "the people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it." The cover of the album shows the back of a shirtless Nas with flagellation scars forming the shape of the letter N, a reference to the racial slur and how slaves were tortured. Fort Greene, Brooklyn assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries requested New York's Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to withdraw $84 million from the state pension fund that has been invested into Universal and its parent company, Vivendi, if the album's title was not changed.
Nas (Ikaria)
Nas is a small village on the Greek island of Icaria. It is famous for the beach which is located near the ruins of an ancient temple dedicated to the goddess Artemis.
Coordinates: 37°37′19″N 26°03′36″E / 37.62194°N 26.06000°E / 37.62194; 26.06000
Podcasts:
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by Nas
Take It In Blood
by: Nas"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that"
Yo; I never brag, how real I keep it, cause it's the best secret
I rock a vest, prestigious, Cuban link flooded Jesus
in a Lex watchin Kathie Lee and Regis
My actions are one with the seasons
A tec squeezin - executioner, winter time I rock a fur
Mega popular, center of attraction
Climaxin, my bitches they be laughin
They high from sniffin coke off a twenty-cent Andrew Jackson
City lights spark a New York night
Rossi and Martini sippin, Sergio Tachinni flippin mad pies
low price, I blow dice and throw em
Forty-five by my scrotum, manifest the "Do or Die" slogan
My niggaz roll in ten M3's
Twenty Gods poppin wheelies on Kawasaki's
Hip-Hop's got me on some ol', sprayin shots like a drumroll
Blankin out and never miscount the shells my gun hold
I don't stunt, I regulate
Henny and Sprite, I seperate, watchin crab niggaz marinate
I'm all about tecs and good jooks and sex
Israelite books, holdin government names from Ness
MC's are crawlin out, every hole in the slum
You be aight like blood money in a pimp's cum
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that"
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that..
.. for, you wack MC's"
Currency is made in trust of the Messiah
I'm spending it to get higher
Earth, Wind, and Fire singing reasons why I'm
up early, trustworthy is a nine that bust early
Sunshine on my grill, I spill
Remi on imaginary graves, put my hat on my waves
Latter Day Saints say religious praise
I dolo, challenge any team or solo
You must be buggin out, new to my shit, home on a furlough
Ask around, who's laid up, sharp and straight up
Mafioso, gettin niggaz wigs sprayed up
Skies are misty, my life's predicted by a gypsy
I'll one day walk into shots drunk off champange from Sicily
This be the drama, I'ma pause like a comma
in a sentence, paragraph's indented
Bloodshot red eyes, high, yellow envelopes of lye
Openin cigars, let tobacco fly
Condos are tuneproof, we're looking out the sky's moonroof
Shittin like gin and prune juice
Yo the system wants the coon's noose, hang em high
Courtrooms filled up, it's off the hook while I
just wrote a statement, like I'm facing twenty years
in the basement - chilling on the via with Mumia
for wearin chrome - I told the judge snakes slither
like Sharon Stone, but like Capone I'm thrown (yo)
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that"
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that..
.. for, you wack MC's"
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that"
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that..
.. for, you wack MC's"
Lyrical, ly-lyrical mission..
Lyrical..
Yo the time is wastin, I use the mind elevation
Dime sack lacin, court pen pacin
Individual, lyrical math abrasion
Psychic evaluation, the foulest nation
We livin in, dangerous lives, mad leak and battered wives
A lifestyle where bad streets is patternized
Wise men build and destroy
While the real McCoy dopefiend, named Detroit is still dealin boy
Coke suppliers actin biased
Cause rumors say that niggaz wear wires and we liars
But every night the gat's fired, and every day a rat's hired
I still remain the mack flyest in the phat Kani, it's --
-- just the killer in me, slash drug dealer MC
Ex-slug filler, semi mug peeler
Demi, bottles of Mo', yo simply follow me flow
Put poetry inside a crack pot and blow
rough holes for cracked out pussies and buttholes
Bring the G's and the D's roll, they can't touch those
Why shoot the breeze about it, when you could be about it?
My degrees are routed, toward the peasy haired brick houses
instead of the fake medallions
Rich niggaz transport in thousands
Foreign cash exchange amountin to millions
Doors is locked, rocks is chopped, watch the cameras in the ceilings
Trick bitches catching mad feelings
Peelin off in the Lex Jeep, techniques is four-wheelin
I bet it be some shit when we connect with Stretch
When we catch them sex niggaz with the tecs you blessed, word
So now it's on, never wasted a slug,
Time is money when it comes to mine, take it in blood
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that"
"I made it like that, I bought it like that, I'm livin like that..
.. for, you wack MC's"
Yeah, Capone-N-Noreaga
Yeah, yo, offical Queensbridge murderers
Mobb Deep keep it real though
Motherfuckin AZ yo
'Mega, 'Mega, whatever
Scarlett O'Hara
Yo, Fox Boogie
East New York
Gambo, Brownsville
Wizard, Fort Rockaway
Big Jersey
Connecticut, D.C., Sudan
V.A. ?? N.C., L.A.
So on and so on...
Big Ha, Houston Fifth Ward