Author Topic: Nas Is Just Glad To Be Here (Read 157 times)

Nosak · « **on:** December 19, 2001, 05:00:10 PM »

Quote

Last Wednesday, Dec. 13, New York stood still. Groups of people gathered 'round office stereos as popular Hot 97 deejay Angie Martinez prepared to play Jay-Z's "Super Ugly," a response to Nas' "Ether" -- which was an answer to Jay-Z's "The Takeover," the latter being a brutal reply to numerous Jigga disses by Nas, Mobb Deep and others on mix tapes. After a gluttonous amount of replays on New York's #1 hip-hop station, word rapidly spread around the city that Jay had struck back, but with more venom. Nas then cancelled his scheduled interview with gossip diva Wendy Williams, who hosts a radio show on competing station WBLS.

Afterwards, cell phones, two-way pagers and online instant messaging burned out circuits from Marcy Projects to Nickerson Gardens. The battle was on, but it was getting more serious than most listeners had expected. While "Ether" and "The Takeover" had kept it on a more professional level, "Super Ugly" went there. The very person who was reportedly the catalyst for their beef -- Nas' baby's mama -- was called out in graphic fashion. The very next day, Jay-Z, in response to his mother's direct appeal, appeared on Hot 97 to cool things off.

Before things had escalated to this point, Nas was philosophical about the beef, and looking forward to the release of his brand-new CD, Stillmatic, which hits stores today (Dec. 18).

"If you can't accept the battle thing, then you can't accept hip-hop," Nas reasons. "As long as you keep it healthy and keep it on wax. Don't get to the point where you have to see this brother or he has to do whatever to you. Leave it as a battle of the minds. That's what hip-hop is."

So far, Nas has taken the high road without flipping out, as some media hounds would prefer. "Personally, I can do without it [battling]," Nas admits. "I tend to be low-key. I don't really need any special attention." Although Nas may want to let everything blow over, he has an album to push. And judging from where he stands, as one of rap's most revered yet inconsistent emcees, it looks like the push will be mostly uphill. Or will it?

Stillmatic is Nasir Jones' fifth album, and on this one, he's got a lot to prove to the streets that once supported him wholeheartedly. Not that Nas hasn't created his share of songs geared towards the streets, but on a few not-so-noteworthy occasions, he's aimed for the pop audience's affection. After his 1994 classic Illmatic (one of the few reviews in The Source worthy of five mics) established him as one of the young guns of hip-hop, it seemed as though Nas spent the next several years trying to live that reputation down. His second album, It Was Written, released in 1996, is mostly remembered for the cutesy cover of Kurtis Blow's 1985 classic "If I Ruled The World" with Lauryn Hill. That song shot him into the hearts of MTVeeny-boppers, while "Street Dreams" featured Nas in an all-pink suit in the video. According to his homeboy critics, Nas was no longer the hungry, lyrically vicious emcee from his stunning debut on Main Source's 1991 banger "Back To The Grill Again." On Nas' third outing, 1999's I Am, he tried to win his core fans back with the clever, DJ Premier-produced "Nas Is Like," but was condemned for committing the cardinal sin of recording "Hate Me Now" with P. Diddy.

Later that year, Nasir sealed his musical coffin with Nastradamus, an album with a title track that practically erased the faith his supporters had left. Further low points included a video appearance with Mariah Carey, who was all over him like a cheap suit, and with Ginuwine on "You Owe Me," not to mention "Ooochie Wally," with the Queensbridge All-Stars. Shortly after that less-than-blazing release, rumors of the pending Stillmatic CD flooded the streets, much to the delight of hip-hop heads on every coast who wanted the old Nas back.

Nas says he harbors no ill will towards his critics.

"I don't ever want the critics to shut up," he says. "I'm going to always make music that takes it to the next level and do what I think is right. Critics? Whatever. It's all love."

Speaking of love, Nas says he was happy to lend his talents to the recent, "We Are The World"-style benefit remake of Marvin Gaye's classic "What's Going On?" despite the mainstream appeal. "I know there's like 25 million people in Africa with AIDS and I thought that the song was a good thing to generate money," he says. "I thought that if I could contribute something to this, I'm all for it."

After working on the AIDS project, Nas feels that he has matured beyond the music business and plans to break off from his hectic celeb status to live the life of a commoner. "I think I have about three or four albums up in me before I bow out," he says. According to AllHipHop.com, he's already titled them: The Death Of Escobar, Nastalgia and Nas Writes No More will be the last from him, or so he says now. Nas does promise another collaboration with his father, jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, one that mirrors the Illmatic cut "Life's A Bitch." Other upcoming projects include another acting role, in a movie that he remains on the hush about.

Not so of his sentiments on how he respects the love that he's been shown in the rap game. Nas even sees the bootlegging of his albums as a blessing. "There's so many albums out there that people don't want," says Nas. "When they bootleg my stuff, it's a compliment. So more power to the bootlegger." With an attitude like that, Nas may be ghost faster than we think.

Cliche · « **Reply #1 on:** December 19, 2001, 06:33:50 PM »

actually most people i know loved hate me now.. even the underground heads.. mostly it was stuff like timbaland and genuine collabos that struck me as wack.. oh and that k-i-s-s-i-n-g shit.

cool though, what's this from? Rolling Stone or something?