Georgetown Sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson and Nas visited the school’s Gaton Hall for a more than hour-long conversation with James Peterson, director of Africana studies at Lehigh University. Sitting down in front of a live audience the night before Nas’ anniversary performance of Illmatic at the Kennedy Center, the pair discussed the state of Hip Hop and the culture’s recent spike in academia.
Remembering their first meeting, Nas recounted being surprised that Dyson, who has written several academic books on various topics within Hip Hop, knew his lyrics by heart. “We met and I didn’t know he would know my stuff and since then we just clicked,” he said. “He’s had my back. I had his. He’s like one of the smartest guys I’ve ever met.
“There’s not a lot of people from your generation that really educated people, that have a voice out there, who really can identify with us and you,” Nas added in reference to the largely student-filled audience. “He’s our guy. We been tight for years.”
Asked about his view on the current state of Hip Hop, Nas explained pride in seeing musicians like 9th Wonder and himself engaging academically at institutions like Harvard. “It’s so many layers to that question, where is Hip Hop?” he said. “You talk about 9th Wonder at Harvard, I recently been over there and met with Skip Gates and Dr. Morgan and just watching where Hip Hop is today. Myself, re-releasing an album from 20 years ago is like, ’20 years? That’s crazy.’”
Later in the interview, Nas described the difficulty in balancing socially conscious subject matter in music without coming off as preachy. “I don’t see enough emcees who are brave enough to be honest,” he said. “I would like to see more of that. There’s a lot of good stuff. There’s a lot of bad in Rap. The socially conscious stuff can come off sometime as preachy, so a lot of people tend to stay away from it. That ain’t their bag. That’s not what they do. But still, they kind of have some artistic responsibility to do more than what’s the latest trend…I would like to see people remember it’s an artform because the better we all become we push each other to make the whole artform better. Then we won’t have to worry about who won the Grammy.”
During the sit-down, Nas described his early motivation to bring his music into higher education. “When I first started I said, ‘You know, it would be cool to talk at colleges…but that would never happen,’” he said. “That’s really what I thought. I didn’t know. It’s kind of like surreal but then at the same time, it’s what it’s supposed to be. Especially for me, at a place like the John F. Kennedy Center, I had like dreams of that kind of stuff early. I didn’t think it was really possible. I kind of gave away those dreams. I let those dreams go. Now that it’s here, that it’s come around to this, it feels like this is where it’s supposed to be.”
Dyson, who authored the book Holler If You Hear Me on Tupac Shakur, argued the case that artists like Nas deserve a place in the classroom. “The word genius is bandied about, but this guy is a rhetorical genius,” he said. “And at 16: ‘Verbal assasin, my architect pleases / When I was 12, I went to hell for snuffing Jesus,’” he rapped, referencing Nas’ professional debut on the Main Source album Breaking Atoms. “Sixteen? Like dude, who is this guy at the barbeque? That ain’t no regular barbeque. And then, at 19 as a prodigy: ‘I need a new nigga for this black cloud to follow / ‘Cause while it’s over me, it’s too dark to see tomorrow / I changed my motto…’”
“The point is, now, a guy with a PhD from Princeton, a guy with a PhD from Penn is discussing the music of a guy from Queensbridge,” he continued. “So his dream about getting into college, celebrate that…The fact is, we teach at Harvard, at Georgetown, at Princeton, at Yale…the works of these gifted artists because they have something profound and important. And I think, just as we study Hemingway, I think, just as we study Morrison, I think, just as we study Homer, we study a Nas to understand the verbal invention of the culture.”
Referencing his Q-Tip produced song on Illmatic, Nas explained the inspiration behind “One Love” and talked about the realities he faced as a youth in New York. “When Doc over here was saying that I have a brother in prison, it wasn’t my blood brother,” he said. “It was a friend brother, a couple of friends, and I wrote about them on a song called ‘One Love’ on my first record. It resonated with him because he has his real blood brother behind the wall, been there for years. Of course we all know the problems is out of hand with the amount of Blacks, Latinos and poor Whites that are thrown in jail and not given a chance to get out. In New York alone at least 46,000 a year get locked up, it’s probably the highest in the nation. Most of them are probably 16 and 17 years old, charged as adults for the most part. It’s really like a railroad system. We know how easy it is to be profiled. We know what we’re up against.
“When I was 15 or 16, we were hearing that most Black men won’t make it to be 25,” he added. So we were kind of like on a hurry-up process. Get it now, get money now, live now, have kids now. Everything now because tomorrow is not promised in the situation that we was in.”
RELATED: Nas, Chuck D & Killer Mike Among “The Best Hip-Hop Artists To Get Schooled By”
Godfather 50 one of the only honest rappers left in this game.
word!
It’s funny because Nas works with known liars and frauds like William Roberts who’s whole career is based off not being honest.
Damn, beat me to it. Nas is terrific but his statement is a bit ironic.
ur mom shoulda swallowed u
^^^^ Damn.. 3rd Anonymous, you ain’t have to go in like that hahaha
Black folks convo so you got lost in translation, Nas is talking about honesty I regards to social commentary and topics like white racism, that be has touched on on the past, he collabs often with Rozay in order to tease and taunt you white people.
these comments is a bunch of shit/ really? like he does a song with rick ross, he isn’t honest. is rick ross rapping his lyrics? u guys make no sense. just becuase u associate yourself iwth peopel who aren’t honest doesn’t mean you are dishonest. nas is his own man just like each and every one of you. and how many songs jay-z has done with rick ross.? way more than nas has. way more.
yo when u go to work in a business if you wanna make money you gonna have to come across all types of people liars snakes and so on, things u wont understand cause your broke, on top of that people from the outside like u judge people they dont know personally and dont understand others lifes… but i bet u if you were to tell your story no one would be interested so do us a favor and just stfu…@anonymous and anybody else talking nonsense about someone they dont know who is way better than them in life
rappers are so stupid they say shit like this all the time then go in the studio and tell some lies and hang out with known liars
Everyone tells a lil lie here and there but Nas associates with the biggest fraud and liar in hip-hop history! A man not brave enough to be honest about his past even when faced with the truth so he lied about it, denied it, said the haters were photoshopping his face and even had DJ Vlad beat up by his bodyguards. What a brave man.
can’t wait to hear his next verse on a ross song LOL. honesty
Rick Ross is the liar on those songs, listen to Nas verses one is like the song says “triple beam DREAMS” so it’s supposed to be a fantasy, on Accident Murderers fuck Nas verse sounds like he’s exposing a fraud, Ross verse is well a Ross verse nothing out of the ordinary for him.
Nas isn’t exactly honest in his music lol
if Nas isn’t honest in his music, who the fuck is? Rick Ross? thought so
Nas isn’t honest?? ignorant imbecile, go listen to Miley Cyrus n will.i.am, the new will.i.am
Rick Ross is a outstanding citizen as well as rapper and a hero to the denizens of the community. He selflessly creates Wingstop restaurant franchises across the globe, creating many job opportunities. Not only that, he has been named one of MTV’s hottest MC multiple times and has recently landed an advice column on Rolling Stone magazine. No one is as honest as him. The world could severely use his much needed guidance.
He’s hip hop’s #1 liar and fraud.
Oh my god, Ross is human. Okay, so he lied about his past. What is the big deal? Why does everybody have to bring that up? It was years ago. He isn’t the only musician who’s lied.
I heard Rick Ross is gonna be on Big Fat Liar 2.
Slick Rick wasn’t telling the truth on Children’s Story. He is fake.
STORY
THIS NIGGA IS A WALKING CONTRADICTION!! BITCH ASS NIGGA!! TALKING ABOUT AIN’T ENOUGH RAPPERS BEING HONEST!! FUCK YOU!! WHAT ABOUT THAT TECH YOU ALLEGEDLY HAD ON THE DRESSER OR WHEN YOU PULLED A PROP GUN OUT ON DJ ENVY’S CORNY ASS??!!?? REAL STREET NIGGA, HUH?? THE FUCK OUTTA HERE WITH THAT BULLSHIT!! OH, AND ALL YOU NERDS TALKING ABOUT RICK ROSS LYING ABOUT BEING A C.O.??!!?? GO KILL YOUR MOTHERFUCKING SELVES!! NOW!! TIRED OF Y’ALL BITCH ASS SIMPS MAKING A MOCKERY OF MY BOSS AND MY MENTOR!!! STOP IT!! OK, SO HE WAS ASHAMED OF HIS PAST AND HE LIED??!!? HE ADMITTED HE LIED AND THAT’S ALL THAT FUCKING MATTERS!!! BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT MEN DO!!! NOW MOVE THE FUCK ON ALREADY, and purchase Mastermind, available in stores now and on I-Tunes.
Trolling at its finest
Actually this is trolling at its worst. A good troll is a troll unknown to the masses. People know this mufucka is a troll. Pretty damn obvious.
Mastermind was horrible, kiddo.
Mastermind was a certified hip hop classic, unlike Illmatic, which was pure garbage.
Damn nigga this article is not about your crush. STFU
Rick Ross is not my crush, he is my boss & mentor and I am his closest confidante & part time ghostwriter. We have a strict mentor/protege relationship, thank you very much.
Only thing Rozay is doing is slurping on you know whos dick for cash and gets insulted when the real rappers like NAS shit over there boyfriend and they get hurt LMAO BITCH
Nas swagged out.. That Bomber Jacket is ill af
Let me guess..youre a new yorker.
damn, you that pussy to think no one outta NYC likes clothing?
if you live near the equator then stfu, you just a bum ass fool hating, you showed that
@ the op
my bad
@ the op
sh-t is fly. I hit up one of the stores that do uniforms and got 3 different flavas, they proper too
f-ck these internet cornballs
Kelis studies Nas so she can get more money out of him.
nas still look 20
120.
You dudes are so negative, there’s nothing anyone can possibly do that you wouldn’t talk shit about.
“Nas saves paralyzed child from burning building”.
“Fuck Nas, Kelis is burning through his bank account just like that building burnt to the ground, and instead of saving crippled retards he should try saving his career.”
LMAO!!! True, I was JUST thinking the same
True.. most of these dudes are broke, lame, frustrated losers.. still living with Moms and hating on people makes them feel better.
So true dog. it’s sickening actually.
nas is a down low homosexual. facts.
nah
This nigga’s talking about who’s honest and he wasn’t even brave to title his album ‘N I G G E R’. So where was his honesty when he could speak the truth and slap the mainstream industry? Nowhere! He was a scared nigga who better count his millions than somebody who risks. Fake ass Nigga!
he left it UNTITLED
the MESSAGE is still there in the MUSICAL CONTENT
You ignorant c o o n.. he wanted to call it n word the record company wouldn’t let him. He doesn’t own the label, so he had no choice.
Did you see the cover? The cover itself spoke volumes.
But he wasn’t brave and honest enough to title the album what he wanted. Rather he rest the slave of the label. So Nas is a scared ass bitch nigga.
lol this nigga was lying in the 90’s when he was rapping about selling coke and shooting with guns. Remember: Nas Escobar! Now tell me who is lying. Nas did 3/4 songs with Rick Ross the fake one!
All these niggas are fake as hell.
He probably did sell, but on some hand to hand nicks for kicks money, anybody that was in NY during that era he came up on was either sticking up niggas, playing ball or selling small packs and at the same time had a few bars for you. If he was making kingpin claims about his past life then you have case, but we know all that is good writing mostly in 3rd or 2nd person or on some story telling shit. Ross is I still move weight and got rich doing that, Nas never claimed to have gotten rich off of selling shit.
how you know he was lying when you were never around, lol
they read a website page and swear they know what it was, is, has always been
boy was u there wit nas back when he came up…where u gettin your info from? get off your computer cause you sound real stupid for real
This nigga Nas is a walking contradiction just like 2pac.
SHUT THE FUCK UP AND DON’T EVA MENTION PAC AGAIN OUT YOUR MOUTH BITCH..
Lol you mad cause he telling the truth pac was a walking contradiction.
Yo Nas go do a song with a real nigga like Gucci. Gucci is Always a honest man.
Troll of the year
Show some love to Dr. Peterson a foremost hip hop scholar, panelist and moderator of the discussion!
I DONT UNDERSTAND WHY NIGGAS ALWAYS SAY 50 FELL OFF BUT NEVER SAY NAS OR WUTANG OR ANY OF THESE OTHER NIGGAS
cuz nas didnt fall off idiot. and wutang respectfully retired.
50 cent was a sell out
50 cent became Ja Rule after criticizing Ja Rule for doing what he was doing.
when? 50 never did duets fuck u talking about ja was straight singing
nas never fell off bcus his career never blossomed into extraordinary heights anyway because he couldnt grip the type of success jay could.eventually he just balanced out with pure hip hop though he did have some under par albums
This is a true legacy right here, you clowns wanna know how to do it? and actually restore that dead energy you put into trolling like an insecure faggot, you will learn something. Havard University and Georgetown University is called achievement, its got nothing to do with twitter followers, grow the fuck up
Nas did a ALBUM with Damian Marley and got Murked on every song.. If Nas really new what time it was you’d hear Malcolm X and Marcus Garvey coming out of him.. I don’t think he know the THUG codes, just don’t have it.. If Pac was here today he’d be running shit, he’d be respected by America, he’d be rehabilitating black men, they wouldn’t be as dumb as they are.. One thing Nas said that was deep on the Damian Marley cd was they took our leaders and they lynched them.. I like Nas but I think he needs to get tight and he should have a philosophy and an opinion but he doesn’t, he’s just a rapper and we need activist, let’s go Nas..
Perfectly worded.Nas has always seemed to be the one who u see talking of activism and is surrounded with philosophy but nothing ever seems to come of it.
why you waiting on Nas when you can do it?
at least the man speaks on it, y’all waiting on him to organize, fund, walk, speak, protest, suffer, before you step in
think of all the verses and time that has passed while you were waiting for Nas and could have done for self
we see you caught yourself MO
When Nas is good he’s very good but other than a few songs on each album he’s been poor for over a decade.
No one, can be hot forever.. NO ONE
word..
i like Nas and i like stuff he’s dont the past few years (life is good, distant relatives). but i will say that the last time i heard him rip a track up where it had me rewindng it was “where yall at”, and that shit is from way back in 2006.
so the grammy nominated life is good is poor???
I literally spoke before I watched this and I mentioned Garvey and I didn’t know that he spoke about Business and what we should be doing even though he doesn’t know he’s on the right track, respect..
This is beautiful man. . .Nas showed up for his people here, and it’s a brave thing on his part to put himself in this arena. Dyson is an intellectual beast…props to everyone involved.
Some of these guys put in work with the rhyming and mcing spoke on some of the grimiest of issues with the realness and skill you could relate to. Acquire mainstream success and is to me all watery with the sound, but what these newbees don’t understand is that if that man was making music this way years before he would not have risen to the top of pop culture today and still be relevant.
The formation of rap means anti pop culture, it was not made for the pop charts reguarless of crews breaking through, so we really lost our soul for the stacks
I SERIOUSLY think that hiphopdx hates j cole. In this talk there was a large portion that talked about him and nowhere in this article did it mention him.
right!
True. Rap is crap now. Hate to say but where is the emotion. I want to see the struggle or talent. I do not want to see the fake thug, hard, or want to be gangsta rap. It’s fake and crap. Just rap can anyone rap anymore on skill alone? Pfff..
Fa real, J. Cole doesn’t get much love on this site.
The 2010s are the new golden age of hiphop. You are just an old prick who can’t see the many styles we have.
Your called “Tim” your opinion is irrelevant !
@Anonymous: your life is irrelevant
If i want to hear about politics i will listen to President Obama and about rap i would rather listen Chuck D
wow. getting all of your news and opinions from 2 sources. you are going to be a well rounded individual.
Enjoy being illiterate.
you hatin ass bum bitches talk shit abt this man like yall knew him personally and what he did in his life. at least he’s talkin about some positive shit, about moving a generation forward, ya know progress. Wtf have yall done with yall lives lately? what yall should be doin is shuttin the hell up and enjoyin the show…
you cant say nothing about me. you dont know me personal, so shut the fuck up you groupie. go listen to nas escobar the fake mafiadon from the firm
who tf are you again ? anonymous ? keep it that way bitch…
“you cant say nothing about me. you dont know me personal, so shut the fuck up you groupie. go listen to nas escobar the fake mafiadon from the firm”
Oh the irony.
NAS! The greatest of all times…you goofy ass new niggas dont know nothin about esco….go listen to your fagget ass rick ross, future, drake, tyga, YG and all that other bullshit …only the real fucks with nas
Very True
excuse dont no nothing. we got the internet and magazines dumbass. we know enough nas is fake, cant deny the fact he did songs with officer ricky
actually to hell with rap as a whole.
nah 1marshal 2 tupac 3 nasir jones 4 biggie 5 jay 6 rakim
The G.O.A.T
SMH. How can he say that? He and many “real” rappers did songs with the biggest fraud in hip hop. Rick Ross is now a fucking superstar because the “real” rappers we thought are doing songs with him and supporting him. Hip Hop is just business now, nothing real.
So stop doing songs with the frauds! And he is wondering why so many rapper isn’t brave enough to be honest…
main thing is not enough underground new talent out there , they all want to appear on the tvs like some millionares making wack average music with simple lyrics.
nas aint a real nigga he aint shit. Hes a fake queens thug big gucci is the only true brave nigga who is bout that real nigga hardnox life.
gucci deserves to die on molly and as you sleep u toss and turn in hurtful anticipation of such event
fuc ice-t’s show in the 1980’s that boy dont know whether to do rock n roll or hip hop.. say f the police or be the police.. be white or black… thats who u loved so much in the 80’s? haha ..i got love for t but im more like public enemy.
to hell with rap as a whole.
^^^ mad co-sign. used to love rap. saw ice t at a show in the 80s with only 20 people in the audience. lived the culture deep. now i am saying it’s detrimental and i cant even stand the GOATs of rap. the time has come to move on.
Nas is my fav MC all-time but untitled was a little to preachy for me, though I enjoyed some of it. I think he hit the right balance of the times,struggle, redemption and politics on stillmatic.
untitled=ghostwritten
^ Prove it.
^^ If Dream Hampton THA GODDESS said it was ghostwritten, then you’d better believe, white person.
i thought he said hip-hop was dead
fuck talking at colleges, a lot of the college folk already know this type of information. you need to be in the inner city middle schools and high schools giving out this message. period.
NAs is the softest looking nigga ive seen. There is no creative talent involved in what he does.
Move along TROLL.
LMAO CLOWN ASS TROLL, YOU’RE ON THE INTERNET SAYING THIS SHIT SMH
Where else am I gonna say it? I’ll say it to Nas face. MCs already diss each other so why would I be pussy to say it to his soft puffy little boy face? Oh he’s gonna pull a pistol on me or something? Am I spose to be scared of that? A millionaire pulls a glock on me and bet your ass I’ll sue.
I aint no troll if I say Nas aint shit and most rappers aint shit artistically or creatively. Yall need to start watching Broadway for something that elevates u. I use to be a big fan of hip hop. I was at the first Ice T concert with less than 20 people in the crowd. Now is the time to move on from this sucker degenerate art form.
BRING BACK THE FOCUS ON SKILL RATHER THAN PERSONALITY TO THE MAINSTREAM!!
Your favorite “rapper” must be Lil Wayne.
@AR: I’m not a big fan of trolls or people who just say shit and don’t back it up like the original commenter. But I’ma have to say I’m even less of a fan of people like you who instead of trying to counter against the original comment logically resort to dumb comments like “Mufucka must be bumping Lil Wayne” or “You must listen to Chief Keef and that wack shit”. If you gon reply like that don’t even bother replying.
koonery doesn’t deserve a place in a class..unless its to counteract its effects
real nigga shit right here nas rakim pac and the white boi eminem the best rappers to ever spit imho
^ never lied doh
Eminem is wack Black Thought would slaughter him
Wrong wrong and wrong
sure but being the best at rapping is like being the best burger flipper. get a real creative art you succers.
how is being the best rapper like being the best burger flipper if ur the best rapper ur a millionaire… best burger flipper ur still at ur moms house how did you come up with such a dumbas comparison
pictue a bunch of yuppies sitting in class discussing spetacular songs Nasir wrote, like “Big Girl”, “Shoot Em Up”, “Oochie Wally”, “You Owe Me” and “Who Killed It?”
i did and i’m suicidal now
Don’t forget Me N You. That joint is so wack people ain’t even allowed to bang that shit on my block.
who the fuck would bang that shit anyway?
Nas stans would. This nigga might as well just fart on a track and his stans would love it.
Y’all stupid. Like they would really be discussing his worst songs. What a bunch of imbeciles you guys are.
funny how you mention some of the most random unpopular songs in his catalog but leave out amazing music like if i ruled the world, the world is yours, HATE ME NOW, One Mic,Last REAL nigga alive, thugz mansion, thief’s theme, Daughters and so on
Nigga please. Don’t act like all that shit OP mentioned is not garbage.
Oochie Wally is from a compilation, Who Killed It was a great metaphorical song and Shoot Em Up is good as well. The only songs I don’t care for out of those are Big Girl and You Owe Me. 2 bad songs in a catalog of 100’s isn’t really that bad. lol Stans (assuming of Jay-Z)generally do a lot of nitpicking when it comes to Nas. If you look at any other artist you can find far more garbage songs in their catalog then you will find with Nas.
But since this is an article about Nas, let’s discuss his worst songs, not Jay’s.
ashy faced punk
I’m currently reading a book titled “Nas Lost: A Tribute to the Little Homie”.
LMAO good looks, I havent started it yet it’s been sitting on my shelf for 2 months.
This again? I know it’s a real book, but Byron Crawford is still the bigger loser for spending his time finding low points in Nas’ career. Nas gets respect and props from schools like Harvard and Princeton. His material gets discussed in classes. That’s a win in itself. What about Byron’s material? No? Okay then.
lol if my raps were being analyzed by a bunch of sheltered punks i would consider that a tremendous failure.
exactly ^^ and anyone that falls for that false prestige claptrap is another SUKKA AZZ MARK!!!!
Still talking about a book that doesn’t exist?
^^ still trying to deny facts?!?!?
“Nas Lost: A Tribute to the Little Homie”
Great, now all of this dunce nigga’s L’s will finally be exposed for his die hard stans to see.
bruh they got him wearing a dunce hat on the cover
Hating ass niggas still talking about a book that doesn’t exist.
^^ Dickriding ass stans still trying to deny facts.
it exists do you want me to take a picture
I think I see what that guy is doing. I’m pretty sure he knows that it exists, but saying it isn’t just to troll on you guys. Trolling other trolls, love it.
Whatever. Bottom line is: Nas is a loser.
im a nas fan but i still had to buy the book
Only in your world where this fictional book exist.
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I love Nas always have but dude’s a fucking hypocrite. How’s he gonna talk about “Brave enough to be honest” when he cosigns any piece of wack shit that is “hot” in the mainstream. Any wack rapper that has a little bit of mainstream buzz Nas will say is dope, check his history.
Dope as fuck MC but a complete sellout when it comes to cosigning all the bullshit he does and a complete hypocrite when talking about honesty…
Let’s be honest brah. We’re all some big-ass hypocrites. Only way to prevent yourself from hypocrisy is to stop talking, and you’ll be way less ineffective if you do so.
nas is just tryin to sound hard. some people jsut talk shit cuz it sound good to them in the moment. ignore the commentor above me he wack
People don’t want to hear no real shit nowadays. But nah, I should have expanded on that statement. You can break out of your hypocrisy by simply practicing what you preach. There’s ways to be less of a hypocrite, and Nas is a pretty big one at the moment. How the fuck you gon talk about being real and being honest when you surround yourself by fake-ass mufuckas? He had Rick Ross on his album. He fake as Nicki Minaj’s ass implants. Until he removes himself from company of fake-ass mufuckas like that, he shouldn’t be saying this shit.
Nas is honest when he raps about white racism and the fear of the Black mans dick, he always includes social commentary and threatens to run the caveman back into the caves.
Nas has 12 or 13 albums and never put a white by on one of his classics and he frequently collabs with Rozay o troll and aggravate white people urinating on Europeons like as if it was porn.
guess what. this is showbusiness. this isnt the streets. this isnt judgement day. nobody is watching. the few that catch on to your BS are far outweighed by the suckers that fall for it. ur asking a showman not to be a showman by telling him to practice what he preaches.
as far as showbusiness. rap is the lowest form of it.
north american music by sid savage
Damn to the individuals saying Rap Music is whack now,You all need to broaden your taste Jamala Records, Mello Music Group, Man Bites Dog, Stones Throw, Rhymesayers And Plenty other Rap Labels are puttung out good music it goes beyond the Def Jam And Interscope Hip-Hop is the Way it is because maybe your whack ass hating on longevity, Creativity,Influence and lyrical Prowess Killed it Why Comment on an article if you dont aren’t a Fan of his Music?….
all the people u mentioned are garbage
MELLO MUSIC GROUP ALL DAY SON
Check me out.. https://soundcloud.com/ray-lyrics
THE GREATEST MC OF ALL TIME!
That would be Jadakiss.
LMAO! Jadakiss is dope, but there dozens of MC’s that have far better catalogues than his. Jada is nowhere near GOAT. Not even 1 classic solo album.
^^ You’re probably white.
lol this michael dyson subject is the perfect example/embodiment of a house negro, c00n, and uncle tom all merged into one person.
man you haters on this site spend alot of time talking shit on here like it s your full time job.
Fulltime hating bastards
you’re hating on haters though you fucking hater
And you’re hating on people who hate on haters you fucking hater.
I luh y’all
EVERYBODY HATING ON NAS SHUT UP CAUSE HE RELEASED ILLMATIC AKA THE GREATEST EVER HIPHOP ALBUM AND OVERALL BEST ALBUM OF ALL TIME HE IS THE GREATEST RAPPER OF ALL TIME AND CAN CRITIZICE WHATEVER HE WANTS YOU JEALOUS SOFT HATERS HE SHAPED THE GAME HE SAVED BLACK PEOPLE HE RELEASE ILLMATIC WHAT HAVE YOU RELELASED?
Calm down the cap lock muscles, tough guy. Illmatic was absolute trash. The beats were bland and the subject matters were boring. If you really want a classic, I suggest you listen to Rick Ross’ Port Of Miami.
HAHAHAHAH buddy april fools isn’t for 2 days
Hilarious to see these new school rap fans that don’t know shit. The illiteracy rate is rising.
rick ross ? lol your joking right? the hardest thing rick ross did was study criminal justice and law enforcement
If you really want a classic, I suggest you listen to Rick Ross’ Port Of Miami
When Illmatic dropped everybody and their mom wanted an album that sounded like Illmatic from the flow, production style, and even the cover. Port of Miami was the 1000th trap music album, how’s that a classic? What did he do that nobody else did? Nadadamthing.
Fuk that old azz nigga, Nas. Its all about swag. Young Money 4 Life!. YOLO!!
50 Cent already EXPOSED this ninja:
“When asked, “What percentage of MCs in hip-hop do you think are actually intelligent?” 50 replied: “You have different kinds of people. You have people that are extremely book-smart that lack common sense, so they don’t know what’s going to affect their audience. (…) For instance, Nas is a really smart guy. He reads books constantly. We were around him on the Nastradamus tour. He was almost weirder than me ’cause we would go to breakfast and he’d be there reading a book. Conceptually, I think that’s what made him drift away from what his initial audience enjoys from him and why he’s not hot right now.”
lmao this fuck nigga be reading books and shit, tryna cater to soft people at college, fantasizing about giving lectures at Harvard like shit is actually that fucking sweet. fuck outta here nikka, the hood ain’t gon never respect you for that, you better rap about being a real nigga again and stop trying to be intelligent
prolly the most ignorant comment i have ever read lol
You are a weirdo. You are very ignorant.
I cant believe you even typed those words. You must be a teenager and if not i advise you to wake up. i never comment on here but that ignorant ass comment brought it out of me! This man tryin to uplift people out of this modern day slavery you probably love dearly until you behind them walls crying. We so lost as black males. Your mentality is exactly what our Government wants. They love young blacks never wanting to be or amount to anything. Just keep worrying bout “being hood” “being street”. Perfect example of an artist who is a puppet in the music biz. Future has a song out right now saying “young nigga move that dope”. And sad to say there are young blacks guys listening to that and actually go out and try to move dope and get locked up! mission acomplished.. They laugh at us.. Wake up young folks!!
Lol! “Nigguh be reading books and shit” and college people are “soft”. I hope you’re trolling bro, that does sound pretty ignorant.
stop hatn on Nas, the master is already great. GET URS HATERS
The logical political ideology of Nas and Michael Eric Dyson in two sentences:
“The government is oppressing us.
Therefore we need a bigger, stronger government with more power.”
Go to youtube and search for “Walter Williams Good Intentions”
Nas, please don’t talk about lack of honesty in hip hop and then turn around and do a song with the least honest artist, William Roberts. I know hip hop is a business now, but you can’t have both.
“Port of Miami was the 1000th trap music album”
That was sort of the point.
That’s why it ain’t a classic.
dis nigga lookn like nerdy ass steve erkle plus malcolm x in that pic lmao
this black culture shit lol… “i actaully WANT yall brothaz to have a conversation” “the best mc of our time and the best black philosopher of our time” dude your a fucking college professor stfu with that fake gangsta tryna kno hiphop shitt
The comments on Nasir’s articles are always the funniest
“Yall need to start watching Broadway for something that elevates u”
Nigga u homo