In addition to serving as executive producer for Netflix’s The Get Down, Nas also took on the gargantuan task of writing all the raps that appear in the series.
Given the heaviness of such a task, the Queensbridge lyricist was asked what the most challenging part of writing such a variety of rhymes was, during an interview with Rolling Stone.
Given that The Get Down takes place in the 1970s, he explained that he had to get used to writing a style different than what he’s used to.
“I don’t just write Ezekiel’s part … I write for the group,” Nas said. “This is an early style. This is the Seventies. These are the tapes that the older guys were playing in my neighborhood, listening to, partying to. This is a different style, this is not what I normally do…I placed pictures around myself of parties like Harlem World, the Roxy, jams out in the Bronx in the park, DJs like Jazzy Jay on the turntables, of course Grandmaster Flash photographs everywhere, the Furious Five photographs around me. I really just went into that world.”
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Nas later revealed that The Get Down could be “just what they need,” in regards to younger Hip Hop fans.
“I was watching a documentary on Chuck Berry a little bit yesterday, and his music is not really my time, but music is timeless at the end of the day…At my concerts, I see kids,” he said. “I see all ages, but I see kids! And, if I’m their first concert, or one of their first concerts, they have so much more to learn. I’m excited to be a part of Get Down, ’cause this could be just what they need.”
The Get Down will premiere on Netflix on August 12.
