Talk:Nas

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Contents

[edit] "stunning" visual imagery

Some of the things said in this article are vague (New York based style I get but it needs to be explained) and a bit biased (the 'stunning visual imagery...' quote mentioned). Should be looked over for neutrality.

[edit] Who wrote the Ill Will section??? It's horrible!

1982 – 1988 While many of his friends’ mothers in the Queensbridge Houses were crackheads, Nas’ mother looked after him and his brother Jabari well. Met William "Ill Will" Graham who lived in the apartment above. He introduced Nas to Chinese food by dropping the food down to Nas’ plate held outside the window. Now interested in hip-hop, Nas would go upstairs to Ill Will’s place and listen to music. Ill Will had turntables and a fader and he would play the DJ while Nas first began to rhyme over popular tracks making tapes. He also began to tape off the radio studying the hip-hop records he heard and would wake up his brother Jabari practicing rhymes that he had made up

1992 At a party in Queensbridge, a slightly drunk Ill Will gets into an altercation with a girl he apparently disrespects. She calls up some male friends who arrive on the scene and shoot Ill Will in the back and Nas’ brother Jabari in the leg. . According to Will's brother, Kennedy, "Nas heard the shots and ran downstairs. He was really torn up. We wondered if we were all gonna' die one by one." Remembered Nas, "at that moment I knew either I was going down or music was going to save me."

Nasty Nas sends a ‘rest in peace’ shoutout to Ill Will on "Halftime", the first single he records which is featured on the soundtrack to the film Zebrahead.

[edit] No Sources

This article contains very little sourcing and with some extreme details, citations becoming even more important.--Mastagags 07:04, 15 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Changes

whoever changed the whole article didn't do such a great job, taking out the intro and devoting a huge portion of the article to nas' beefs with various artists. There are also factual mistakes, like saying that nas "forsook" Columbia to sign with Def Jam; Nas signed a unique contract that would release his next few albums under both labels. So if ayone has a copy of the (superior) old version of this article, please paste it back in.

I agree. factual mistakes and errors, informal tone, and little detail on Nas' musical works and instead focusing on his "beefs". This article needs to undergo extensive revision, or reverted back to the superior version (with minor adjustments)--24.63.72.100 01:30, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

I agree. Someone needs to revert back to the older version, but also keep some of the recent changes--chub 02:11, 17 February 2006 (UTC)

Agreed and reverted. And could someone please stop deleting Nas' middle names from the header? --FuriousFreddy 19:29, 19 February 2006 (UTC)

There is no material at all concerning Nas' role in the movie Belly. To my knowledge it was the only movie Nas acted in, but it still deserves to be mentioned.

Ok, where's the proof Nas was born in Long Island City? --Zimbabweed 04:42, 20 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] POV: ‘the single greatest rapper’

69.69.60.125 wrote

It should be noted that within the context of lyrical abilitiy (freestyling, metaphors, lyrical imagery), number of rhymes per syllable, societal impact, and street cred, Nas is the single greatest rapper ever if all 4 factors are given equal proportion in the judgment.

This is POV. I have tried to fix it, but perhaps it still needs removing. What really should be noted is that most rappers mean imagery when they say metaphor. Common points this out on 1-9-9-9, when he raps

I...
Hold the mic like a memory.
Niggas say I'm nice with metaphors, but these are similes.

Tim Ivorson12:52, 14 Nov 2004 (UTC)

lmao@"street cred" having anything to do with rapping ability. There's no "fixing" a statement that biased. Just delete it. And FYI that Common quote has nothing to do with this discussion, or the idea of "imagery." Oh, and FYI2 Nas can't be the "greatest" when someone as laxadasical as Luda eats him alive on every collab they have. Richard Corey 16:54, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

What you think and what I think are irrelevant. If you can't cite a reliable source for those opinions, then they violate WP:NPOV and can't go in the article. This article is still full of unsourced assertions like the one above, which is why I've added the {{verify}} tag to see if we can get some sources. | Klaw ¡digame! 14:12, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Street's Disciple is NOT counted as a Double Album!!!

Street’s Disciple is counted only once, even though it is a double LP. While it has 2 dics, SD is only 88 minutes luoyo9t;o88888tg.;otgogit7itrong which is too short to be considered a double album. In order to have sales doubled, there needs to be more than one disc and the running time is 100 or more minutes. So if you have a single disc over 100 minutes it will only count as 1 because you multiply the sales by the number of discs which in this case is only one. Here are two different billboard sites. At the bottom of each it says this.

[QUOTE]Numeral following Platinum or Diamond symbol indicates album's multi-million level. For boxed sets, and double albums with a running time that exceeds 100 minutes or more, the RIAA multiplies shipments by the number of discs and/or tapes. [/QUOTE]

http://www.billboard.com/bb/charts/indie_albums.jsp

http://www.billboard.com/bb/charts/bb200.jsp?start=51

And in the case of SD it had two discs but because it is only 88 minutes, it cannot, I repeat, CANNOT be multiplied.--chub 01:40, 20 February 2006 (UTC)


The RIAA still considered it a double album and Nas got a platinum plaque for it. Check yourself son.

[edit] Why did you take away the lyrics section?

It is important that they know which lyrics set the blaze between Nas and G-Unit. Put them back!

I'm not clear on what lyrics you mean; it doesn't look like any lyrics were deleted in the last half-dozen edits. Can you look at the article's history and tell us when they were deleted? | Klaw ¡digame! 18:44, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
I mean this deleted section:

At a free concert in Central Park, New York, Nas made a statement regarding the quality of 50 Cent's music. "this is the real shit, not that 50 Cent shit!" In response, 50 Cent included a stab at Nas by speaking negatively of his wife Kelis on his single "Piggy Bank," which includes the lyrics "Kelis said her milkshake brought the boys to the yard/Then Nas went and had the bitch tatooed on his arm/Yeah, that way out in Cali, niggaz know these guns/First thing they say about you is you a sucka for love." Nas was quoted as saying that he feels no obligation to retaliate, remarking "[50 has] got a good five to six more albums before I can really respond to him." Nas eventually decided to retaliate, and in July 2005 released "Don't Body Ya Self (MC Burial)", a song which taunts 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew, using lyrics such as "Man that is righteous, faithful, and keeps law/Will surely live to please the sovereign Lord/And you are none of the above/So you a sucka for death if I'm a sucka for love."

OK, I see what you're saying now - just the lyrics were removed. I'm not sure why that would be, but before we put them back in, let's see if the deleting editor explains his actions first. BTW, there's a nice recap of some of the Nas/50 Cent issue here. | Klaw ¡digame! 20:58, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
Quoting lyrics from these two diss records would seem to go beyond the scope of the article. They don't add any neccessary detail, and trhe paragraph looks more professional without them. --FuriousFreddy 22:29, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
I disagree that it goes beyond the scope of the article; using the lyrics (without the bold formatting, please) gives the reader a better feel for the nature of the dispute. In addition, "trhe [sic] paragraph looks more professional without them" is definitely not a reason to delete another user's valid content. If those are the only reasons they were removed, they should go back in, but in italics, rather than in bold. | Klaw ¡digame! 22:36, 2 March 2006 (UTC)
Don't poke fun of my typos; I had to rush that reply out. Professionalism is indeed a valid reson to remove the lyrics; they add no educational value to the page, and only result in increasing coverage of a relatively miniscule part of the subject's career. A person reading this article doesn't need lyrics printed to describe "a better feel for the nature of the dispute." This:
At a free concert in Central Park, New York, Nas made a statement regarding the quality of 50 Cent's music. "this is the real shit, not that 50 Cent shit!" In response, 50 Cent included demaning comments about Nas and his wife Kelis in the lyrics for his hit sinlge "Piggy Bank," implying that Kelis was promiscuous and calling Nas a "sucker for love". Nas was quoted as saying that he feels no obligation to retaliate, remarking "[50 has] got a good five to six more albums before I can really respond to him." Nas eventually decided to retaliate, and in July 2005 released "Don't Body Ya Self (MC Burial)", a song which taunt 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew, stating that 50 was "a sucka for death if I'm a sucka for love."'
...is a far more valid and concise paragraph for inclusion in what is supposed to be a professional-quality encyclopedia article. Notice how it paraphrases the required info so that the flow of the prose is properly maintained. Also, just because another user added content doesn't mean we are required to keep it. This is not a fansite for rap battles; if you notice, we don't even quote lines from the Nas/Jay-Z & Roc-a-fella fued unless absolutely neccessary. The key words here are summarization and professionalism, two things that a lot of Wikipedia articles are seriously lacking as of present, and two things this article should retain. --FuriousFreddy 01:15, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
Where is the Wikipedia policy/guideline on professionalism? Because as I see it, Wikipedia is not paper, and if we can add more verifiable details to an article, we should. There is no good reason why we shouldn't include the lyrics, because more detail is better when it's verifiable and NPOV. The fact that you don't view it as "professional" is not a sufficient reason to delete another user's edits. | Klaw ¡digame! 02:20, 3 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] INTRO

I'd originally had the intro saying a "decidedly personal" aesthetic, but someone changed it to "progressive" with a link to alternative rap. I'd just point out that musically, a substantial majority of alternative rap can't be reasonably termed as progressive, because it often looks to old-school and native-tongues style rap of the 80s and early 90s for inspiration. Politically and lyrically, progressive might be the right word, but only a tiny minority of Nas' post-Stillmatic music can be termed political.

[edit] Where is info on his private life?

Marriage to Kelis? Children? 216.141.226.190 17:48, 3 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nas' religon

Someone keeps adding him to the "5 Percenters" category. I'd like to know if there is any evidence that he is a 5 percenter. Because there is overwelming evidence (tatoos, lyrics, necklaces) to say the he is a Christian. --Ted87 20:18, 8 June 2006 (UTC)


His mother was a Muslim, and his father is a Christian. As for himself, he has said he respects both. But he is not a "5 Percenter".

I think his father is a Muslim-American as well, but he probably didn't chose to follow up to a certain religion. - Omernos 03:00, 17 August 2006 (UTC)

His father is Muslim, his mother was Christian

he raps about either one. he mostly says to believe in yourself adn it really does not matter about the religious beliefs, does it.

[edit] Not a Five-Percenter

First of all, that research paper that is cited is, itself, original research. The author, some grad student at Arkansas, just lumped Nas in with other artists who have similar imagery with vague mentions of and connections to the Nation of Gods and Earths. There is no concrete evidence of Nasir Jones explicitly stating that he is even a Muslim, let alone a Nation of Islam member LET ALONE a member of the Five Percenters (which is the same thing as the NoGaE). Even if Nas had said he was he was, that was in 1997 - obviously one is allowed to change. If you have listened to any of Nas's lyrics over the past several years (even the ones before 1997) it is evident that he is overwhelmingly Christian. JesseRafe 02:43, 10 June 2006 (UTC)

I was about to address that "source", but JesseRafe pretty much nailed it. Anyone can write that such and such is of whatever religoius denomination and post it on the internet. We need some sort of reilable source to disprove the evidence that he is a Christian. --Ted87 01:51, 13 June 2006 (UTC)
    • Nas is in no way a Christian, a simple listening of his lyrics and understanding of them (from Illmatic to Streets Disciple) has Five Percent terminology and origins writtin all over them. Whether or not he is actively a "GOD" is another question. Even is Nas is all of a sudden "Christian" (which would be a total 180 degree turn from the black nationalist ideology of the 5%), I don't think he and Kurt Franklin will be doing collaborations in the near (or far) future, however he has done dozens of collaborations with Five Percent believers (Rakim, Wu Tang members, AZ, Lake, DJ Premier, etc) . Just looking at the album GOD SON (which would be blaphemous in Christian teachings as their is only one son of god), the only sect of religious people that refer to themselves as GOD(s) are 5%'ers. Wearing a cross doesn't make you a Christian the same way wearing a cowboy hat doesn't make you a cowboy. Perhaps he holds his personal symbolism in the christian cross aside from its mainstream usage. 5%'ers also acknowledge Jesus as a prophet just as muslims do. Until he publically states it I would put my rent check that he'll be seen on Malcolm X Blvd before appearing with TD Jakes.---Gorgeousp 16:25, 8 August 2006 (UTC)
Interesting point, except for the fact that Nas's tattoo of "God's Son" and the album of the same name were both inspired by the same thing: his mother and her passing. His mother would be an "Earth" not a "God" and the album does not make as much clear reference to his father, but it is evidently a tribute to his mother. Since this is not part of Christian doctrine (nor is a direct blasphemy) nor Five-Percenter doctrine, I think we can this as further evidence that Nas might just be gnostic in general, or perhaps a pantheist as he sees God in various forms and functions. JesseRafe 01:41, 9 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nas religion according to Nas

In an interview with the AP Nas states he was a Five Percenter previously[1]

  • AP: What was your main religious influence, your denomination growing up?
  • Nas: I was surrounded by Christians ... my grandmothers, all my family was from the South, Baptist. As I got older I got into the 5 Percent Nation, and then that pushed me toward Islam. But (I'm not any) religion.
  • AP: Would you consider yourself agnostic?
  • Nas: I consider myself (pauses) I know there's a higher power.

In an another interview Nas specifically states he does not subscribe to any religion but draws knowledge from many [2] RP: Do you subscribe to any religion? NaS: Nah. It’s good to do research and study what the ancient Muslims or the ancient Christians were about and how the religion came about. Even if you’re not a Five Percenter, it’s good to look at the lessons and see how they tried to educate each other. I studied lessons. I have knowledge of self. I don’t have no religion, but I studied my Black African History. I read up on Asian and Oriental spiritual rituals. They all similar. Right here in America, it’s all about living and doing the right thing. Do the right thing, and that’s righteous right there.

--JackOfBlades 16:56, 8 August 2006 (UTC)

That was an interview taken in 1993. That was over 13 years ago. He has changed a lot on his beilefs since then. For example, on the music video version of Just a Moment in 2004 he says:

"Ballantine Ale in brown bags
Brothers like to brag 'bout their cousins
That's locked in the system
We all fall victim, we all call Christian
Or Islamic faith to restore all our faith"

which shows that he is of one or the other religons. Given that he has a tattoo of a cross on his left arm and he is seen wearing crosses (including on the cover of Stillmatic, which came out in late 2001), and the Last Supper-esque cover of Street's Disciple I think it is safe to say that he is Christian. --Ted87 20:24, 6 September 2006 (UTC)


Consider there are a lot of similarities between the two religions, it can get confusing when classifying Nas

[edit] Wars with Biggie

Does anyone have any info on this, according to the song "Last Real Ni66a alive," NaS says he was at war with Big, and that "Kick in the Door" was directed at him.

It's possible that part of the song was aimed at Nas, though most people close to Big say it was directed at Jeru the Damaja and fail to mention if it was a Nas diss or not. PCP MC 04:01, 28 June 2006 (UTC)

It's alleged that the lyrics "It's ill when emcees used to be on cruddy shit/ took home "Ready to Die," listened, studied shit/ Now they on the money shit, successful out the blue/ they lightweight" were a shot at Nas and his departure of style from the gritty "Illmatic" to the more polished "It Was Written."

[edit] Top Twenty singles

why only top 20? ..whats wrong with stuff that didn't hit top 20, like Flyest Angels?

I agree. All singles should be put on here. If no one has a reasonable reason why they aren't I am going to change it. --Ted87 05:18, 6 July 2006 (UTC)

I Vote for All his singles to be put there including Bridging the Gap and Just A Moment, Cant forget Thief's Theme since it was an official release with a Video and his newest street release "where ya'll al"... --Samil20 14:10, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] NaS Battles Page

Shouldn't there be an article or section about NaS' various beefs with Jay-Z, Cormega, Mobb Deep, The Notorious B.I.G., 50 Cent, etc.


[edit] NAS stands for...

Re-added what NAS stands for. It's from his song, the Cross in album God's Son. Message me next time before removing. Thanks. --Dooly00000 20:12, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't doubt that Nas has stated that. However is that really necessary in the first paragraph of an article -- where only the most important information should be stated? --Zimbabweed 22:46, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Hip hop rivalries#Nas vs. Jay-Z, Hip hop rivalries#Other known rivalries (not necessarily chronological order) 24.164.43.140 19:20, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

Nas is short for Nasir, he just uses Niggaz against society for the song, some clever word play. His name was never meant to mean niggaz against society. --Samil20 14:11, 21 July 2006 (UTC)

.. see backronym :P, as WP likes to state almost as much as portmanteau

NAS DOES NOT STAND FOR NIGGAZ AGAINST SOCIETY, ITS SHORT FOR NASIR...JUST BECAUSE NAS USES IT AS A BACKRONYM IN ONE, I REPEAT, ONLY ONE SONG, DOESNT MEAN HIS NAME STANDS FOR THAT. WHEN HAS HE EVER USED THAT BACRONYM BESIDES "THE CROSS"?????

[edit] New Pic

The main pic is old, let's see about getting a more updated pic for the article --Samil20 15:58, 19 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nas' Album Covers

There should be an article on the imagery of Nas' covers and the metaphor he is using for his career as Jesus and hip hop. Al I know is that the "Stillmatic" cover has storms coming and Nas in flashy clothes, but on each hand he holds four fingers up. On his right hand, the pinky has a diamond representing "Illmatic," his crown jewel. On his left hand he also has four fingers up and the second one (representing "The Lost Tapes") is scrunched up showing that it isn't that significant.

On "The Lost Tapes", their is a passport and a microphone showing that Nas is going to depart from his original sound or label I think.

On "God's Son", the storm has passed on Nas conceals his necklace under his arm and his solitary like Jesus.

On "Street's Disciples" full extended cover only found inside the CD booklet and on one of Nas' websites, The Last Supper picture is recreated. On that cover, their are 12 disciples who are all played by Nas (although some speculate that the guy talking to the "Jesus Nas" is Dj Premier or Jay-z representing Judas). They all show Nas in different parts of his career including one in an army fatigue who represents the Nas on the song "Hate Me Now".

Nas' next album will be called "Hip Hop Is Dead...The N" and will probably show Nas being crucified.

http://escobartheory.blogspot.com/2006/07/deep-covers.html

That website tells it all and I forgot about how there is a dove on "Stillmatic"'s cover with the storm and on the "God's Son" promo pictures their are two doves representing the story of Noah in the Torah. Apparently, suring "Stillmatic" Nas was materialistic and then much happened to him and a storm washed away all material.

[edit] "Musical style and technique" section

...is horribly steeped in original research and biased language. It would be a lot better to reference interviews, magazine articles, album reviews, and other such sources instead of this approach. --FuriousFreddy 05:26, 30 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Nas' birthday is 9/1

Not 9/14.

"i've got this, locked since, 9/1 I am the truest, name a rapper that I ain't influenced"

He's talking about 1991, the year. --Zimbabweed 02:14, 28 August 2006 (UTC)


You're and idiot. his birthday is 9/14 as stated in his song on Fetus and his official bio. 91 is the year he made his first appearance in the rap game..--Samil20 17:11, 30 August 2006 (UTC)

LMAO, what a dumb ass.--Tainted Drifter 19:46, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] References

Can we make this article have the small and organized references like the Illmatic or The Game (rapper) article.

[edit] Birthplace

Nas was born in Long Island City, which is a section of Queens, not Long Island, which is a suburban county.--Tainted Drifter 19:48, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

You have confirmation of this? The only sourced material I've seen has listed his place of birth as Long Island, New York, (as ambiguous as that is) being raised in Brooklyn, and moving to Queensbridge when he was six or seven. --Zimbabweed 19:54, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Says so on IMDB. Plus, it makes more sense that he was born there since it's in Queens. Some moron just must have got confused and listed it as "Long Island" instead of "Long Island City"...--Tainted Drifter 20:49, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

So are we supposed to speculate about the veracity of sources and suspect they are incorrect because they fail to show a popular consensus, and the mere coincidence of the place names Long Island and Long Island City are enough to refute other cited sources? --Zimbabweed 23:23, 27 September 2006 (UTC)


I really don't know. To me it just makes more sense that it's there. It could be very easy for someone to mistake those two places since the similar names, and they could have just put it as "Long Island", since it's more well known. Either of us could be right, or shit, maybe we're both wrong.--Tainted Drifter 04:50, 29 September 2006 (UTC)


Hmm, Brooklyn, eh? Any citations?--Tainted Drifter 07:32, 9 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Elmer Navoa

"This year he also met a man named Elmer Navoa who inspired him." I looked up Elmer Navoa and there is nobody named that anywhere on Google except on this site and another reference site that copied their information from this one. I've removed it, unless someone can come up with a veritable source.


[edit] NaS sillyness

Can we establish that the "S" in Nas is not capitalized? First off, NaS would be a violation of WP's style guide on trademarks. Secondly, even Nas' own press materials do not spell Nas with a capital S...you're more likely to see it as "Nas" or "NAS". As for why the logo is the way it is, it's an aesthetic decision of the designer, and represents only that. hateless 01:27, 3 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Quality Standards Lacking

Why is 50s diss track mentioned in the opening paragraph? What does that have to with his career? 50 has been going at everyone lately with the hopes he can maintain some type of credibility. "Perhaps Nas lacks the talent to respond?" Wikipedia is not a blog with opinions, it is an encyclopedia, the previous statement contains no knowledge. How can that even be said after he dropped "Ether," a classic diss track against Jay-Z?

Lessening the author's credibility is the final sentence,

"Nevertheless, many expect his new album Hip is Dead will be off high quality, but will sell very copies and be a huge failure."

The album is called "Hip-Hop is Dead." The speculation is an insult. Can we please restructure the whole second half of this paragraph, so that it is grammatically correct, historically, accurate and most importantly, objective?

BarneySkipflower 11:54, 11 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discography section

It appears there is a difference of opinions on how much information should be listed in the discography section of this article. If you look on other well-maintained articles such as The Rolling Stones, Madonna (entertainer), Nirvana (band), and Eminem you will see that there is a limited discography, if any, listed on the band's article with more details on the band's discography article. This not also keeps the article from becoming too large, but also significantly cuts down on edit wars regarding RIAA status that articles regarding sales figures regularly go through. Maybe I'm wrong or maybe this needs to be put to a vote to see what a consensus thinks to make a change. I'd like to hear what others think on this. --Zimbabweed 03:26, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

I agree, a limited discography here, and more info on its own page is definitely preferable. JesseRafe 15:38, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Sneakers

I noticed there was no section on the sneaker deal. I am providing sources in case anyone wants to write something on it.

Nas Footwear: Disciple Footwear Collection

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