In his early years, he played the trumpet and began writing his own rhymes. He educated himself about African culture through the Five Percent Nation and the Nuwaubian Nation. His parents divorced in 1985, and he dropped out of school after the eighth grade. His neighbor, Willy 'Ill Will' Graham, influenced his interest in hip hop by playing him records. His matrilineal DNA haplogroup is of African origin, found among the Yoruba and Fulbe populations in Western Africa.Īs a young child, Nas and his family relocated to the Queensbridge Houses in the Long Island City neighborhood of Queens. His African DNA indicates he has roots in countries with high Yoruba populations Nigeria, Benin, Togo and Ghana – as well as Mali, the Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Congo, South Africa, and Senegal. His father took his name 'Olu Dara' from the Yoruba people. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari Fret who is best known as 'Jungle', a member of the hip-hop group Bravehearts. His mother, Fannie Ann (Little) Jones, was a Postal Service worker from North Carolina. His father, Olu Dara (born Charles Jones III), is a jazz and blues musician, from Mississippi. Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones was born on September 14, 1973, in Brooklyn, New York. 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. In 2013, Nas was ranked 4th on MTV's 'Hottest MCs in the Game' list.

In 2012, The Source ranked him #2 on their list of the 'Top 50 Lyricists of All Time'. MTV ranked him at #5 on their list of 'The Greatest MCs of All Time'. His 11th studio album, Life Is Good (2012) was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. In 2010, he released Distant Relatives, a collaboration album with Damian Marley, donating all royalties to charities active in Africa. From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with Jay-Z, popularized by the diss track 'Ether'. Nas's follow-up It Was Written debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, went Double Platinum in two months, and made Nas internationally known.

His debut album Illmatic (1994) received universal acclaim from both critics and the hip-hop community and is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. His musical career began in 1991, as a featured artist on Main Source's 'Live at the Barbeque'.

He is the founder of Mass Appeal Records. He is also an entrepreneur through his own record label he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appealmagazine and is the owner of a Fila sneaker store.

The son of Olu Dara, Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and has sold over 30 million records worldwide. The song was later released in 2000, as a part of the Death Row compilation Too Gangsta For Radio.Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones ( born September 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Nas (), is an American rapper and entrepreneur. While “Thug Nature” was to be originally featured on The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, the song was scrapped completely after Jackson declined the offer. And do you know what Micheal said? He liked Biggie.” QD3 says Tupac’s team reached out to Michael Jackson in hopes of him featuring on “Thug Nature,” which samples MJ’s “Human Nature.” AD3 told HipHopDX, “So I set up a meeting at Neverland. Son of the incomparable and legendary Quincy Jones, Quincy “QD3” Jones III, recently recalled working with the late 2Pac during BET’s oral history of The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory.ĭuring the latest installment of the feature, QD3 not only reflected on the musical relationship he had with one of the most prolific voices in hip-hop, but he also revealed that the late King Of Pop turned down working with Pac because his loyalty was with another late rap legend, The Notorious B.I.G.

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