Nas

Nas is a US rapper from Brooklyn, New York, known for his work in boom bap, deep soul, east coast hip hop, hip hop, hip hop soul and jazz rap. He is also a record producer, entrepreneur and associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine. He performs under his given name Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones and is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara.

Career

Nas begins recording in 1989 under the name Nasty Nas, making demo tapes with help from East Coast rapper Large Professor. He makes his recording debut on Main Source’s 1991 track “Live at the Barbeque”. In 1992, he signs with Columbia Records.

His debut album, Illmatic, arrives in 1994 and becomes a landmark hip-hop release, later included in the Library of Congress’s National Recording Registry. It Was Written follows in 1996 and reaches number one on the Billboard 200, featuring “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)” with Lauryn Hill. His 1999 albums I Am and Nastradamus receive mixed reactions for their commercial direction and unevenness.

From 2001 to 2005, Nas is involved in a public feud with Jay-Z, with “Ether” becoming one of the best-known diss tracks from that period. During those years he releases Stillmatic (2001), God’s Son (2002) and the double album Street’s Disciple (2004). He later reconciles with Jay-Z and signs to Def Jam Recordings in 2006.

After that, he releases Hip Hop Is Dead (2006) and his untitled ninth studio album (2008), both of which carry more politically oriented themes. In 2010 he releases Distant Relatives with Damian Marley, with the royalties donated to African charities. Life Is Good follows in 2012 and is nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards.

Later releases include Nasir (2018), King’s Disease (2020), King’s Disease II (2021), Magic (2021), King’s Disease III (2022), Magic 2 (2023) and Magic 3 (2023). The albums from King’s Disease onward are produced entirely by Hit-Boy and are noted for strong critical reception. In 2025, he releases a collaborative album with DJ Premier. By 2025, he has released seventeen studio albums, ten of which receive gold, platinum or multi-platinum certification in the United States.

Groups and collaborations

Nas is associated with QB Finest, The Firm, Group Therapy, Artists Against AIDS Worldwide and Beats by Dre Band. His collaborative albums include The Album with The Firm in 1997, Distant Relatives with Damian Marley in 2010 and Light-Years with DJ Premier in 2025.

Recognition

King’s Disease wins Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. Nas also appears in several rankings of rappers and lyricists, including second place on The Source’s “Top 50 Lyricists of All Time” in 2012, fourth on MTV’s Annual Hottest MCs in the Game list in 2013, “Greatest MC of All Time” on About.com in 2014, and Billboard’s “10 Best Rappers of All Time” list in 2015.

Business interests

Outside recording, Nas co-founds Mass Appeal Records and the label signs artists including Dave East, N.O.R.E., Run the Jewels and Swizz Beatz. He is also linked with Ill Will Records and Mass Appeal as labels associated with his career.