Nas

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones September 14 1973 better known by his stage name Nas is an American rapper and businessman Rooted in East Coast hip hop he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time The son of jazz musician Olu Dara Joness musical career began in 1989 as he adopted the moniker of Nasty Nas and recorded demos for Large Professor He was a featured artist on Main Sources Live at the Barbeque 1991 also produced by Large Professor Nass debut album Illmatic 1994 received universal acclaim upon release and is considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time in 2021 the album was inducted into the Library of Congresss National Recording Registry His second album It Was Written 1996 debuted atop the Billboard 200 and charted for four consecutive weeks the album along with its single If I Ruled the World Imagine That featuring Lauryn Hill catapulted Nas into international success Both released in 1999 Nass albums I Am and Nastradamus were criticized as inconsistent and too commercially oriented and critics and fans feared that his output was declining in quality From 2001 to 2005 Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with JayZ popularized by the diss track Ether It was this feud along with Nass albums Stillmatic 2001 Gods Son 2002 and the double album Streets Disciple 2004 that helped restore his critical standing After squashing the feud Nas signed to JayZs Def Jam Recordings in 2006 and went in a more provocative politicized direction with the albums Hip Hop Is Dead 2006 and his untitled 9th studio album 2008 In 2010 Nas released Distant Relatives a collaboration album with Damian Marley donating all royalties to charities active in Africa His 10th studio album Life Is Good 2012 was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards After receiving thirteen nominations his 12th studio album Kings Disease 2020 won him his first Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards he then followed it by releasing his 13th studio album Kings Disease II 2021 as the albums sequel In the same year his 14th studio album Magic was released on Christmas Eve In 2012 The Source ranked him second on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time In 2013 Nas was ranked 4th on MTVs Hottest MCs in the Game list Aboutcom ranked him first on their list of the 50 Greatest MCs of All Time in 2014 and a year later Nas was featured on the 10 Best Rappers of All Time list by Billboard He is also an entrepreneur through his own record label he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and the cofounder of Mass Appeal Records Nas has released fourteen studio albums since 1994 ten of which are certified gold platinum or multiplatinum in the US Description above from the Wikipedia article Nas licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia