Nas' father had a lot to do with making Nas one of the all-time greats

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

There is some interesting background as to why Nas' became the rapper that he became.  It's unlike most rappers, who had little to no relationship with their father.  KRS-1 even said that rappers tend to be more sensitive and expressive because they are raised by women, and women are the more sensitive and expressive of the sexes.

Well... for Nas', first off his father is very articulate if you ever hear him speak.  He is also very worldly, he says "if you want to know about a people, listen to the music that is/was popular amongst them".  His father has been to such places and Mekkah and Africa, and Nas' grew up around his fathers books, that contained everything from classic literature to African American studies.

Also, obviously his father was a blues player, saxophone player, he said he incorporated a lot of that influence into his raps.

But, more than any of that, the thing I found really interesting, just recently, was that Nas' father actually told him to drop out of schoool!  Not because his father didn't value education.  His father says he grew up in a very nurturing school and his father before that, but that he had seen the deteoration of public schools around the way, and he couldn't stand to see young Nas' come home looking beaten down like that everyday.

So he actually, in the face of a lot of criticism from the rest of the elders in the family, told Nas to drop out.  He told Nas the world is a big place, and to go educate himself, and try to find his way in the world.

...I think this is a big reason Nas became the wise rapper he was at such a young age because he was already thinking far beyond his years, and with Illmatic we got to hear the thoughts of a man-child put to music which had never really been expressed like that before.

[soopa-man]

Watch the Nas Time is Illmatic movie you'll se all this info it's a dope documentary and it shows all this you're talking about, plus it brings full circle to the album and its impact.

[TraceOneInfinite Flat Earther 96']

Watch the Nas Time is Illmatic movie you'll se all this info it's a dope documentary and it shows all this you're talking about, plus it brings full circle to the album and its impact.

word.. that is actually what I was watching that inspired me to make the post I did.  Being a father now myself I was just really impressed with Nas' father and really connected to everything that he was saying.

As for Nas, now that I am 33, I look back and think, Illmatic was actually below my radar at the time because I was so deep into West Coast rap at the time.  Come to think of it I was a fan of AZ because of "Sugar Hill" before I even really knew Nas. So my first real exposure to Nas' was the "If I Ruled The World" video, I remember loving that video, and it is cool to go back now and watch a video like that again, seeing it all in a different light after learning so much about Nas' background

[Jack Trippa 3z company ho]

Watch the Nas Time is Illmatic movie you'll se all this info it's a dope documentary and it shows all this you're talking about, plus it brings full circle to the album and its impact.

word.. that is actually what I was watching that inspired me to make the post I did.  Being a father now myself I was just really impressed with Nas' father and really connected to everything that he was saying.

As for Nas, now that I am 33, I look back and think, Illmatic was actually below my radar at the time because I was so deep into West Coast rap at the time.  Come to think of it I was a fan of AZ because of "Sugar Hill" before I even really knew Nas. So my first real exposure to Nas' was the "If I Ruled The World" video, I remember loving that video, and it is cool to go back now and watch a video like that again, seeing it all in a different light after learning so much about Nas' background

I'm with you on that. I had AZ's maxi cd single which had sugar hill and rather unique in 95. Didn't know of Nas till If I Ruled The World. I actually didn't like that song, nor Street Dreams. But when I heard Nas Is Like I bought I Am and then bought it was written then Illmatic.

It's crazy how local/regional artists were in those days. All I had was mtv to hear about new hip hop. Got BET when I was 16, and back in those days it was so dope. So many artists and songs, so many indie rappers got played.

[Sccit]

yea and he's Jewish too. props to Nas for bein the releast rapper from New York of all-time. true legend.

[Hack Wilson - real]

too bad the original poster of this thread doesn't want anything to do with raising his son