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Nas
Nas1998
Nas in 1998

Birth name

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones

Also known as

Nasty Nas, Nas Escobar

Born

September 14, 1973 (1973-09-14) (age 50)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

Origin

Queens, New York, U.S.

Genres

Hip hop

Occupations

Rapper, actor

Years active

1991-present

Labels

Def Jam, Mass Appeal, Aftermath, Ill Will

Associated acts

MC Serch, AZ, Bravehearts, DJ Premier, The Firm, Large Professor, Mobb Deep, Salaam Remi, Kanye West

Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (born 14 September, 1973), better known simply as Nas, is a Grammy award winning American rapper and actor. He is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Since 1994, Nas has released ten consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums and sold over 16 million records in the United States and 38 million globally. Aside from rapping and acting, Nas is an entrepreneur through his record label and magazine publishing. He is currently the associate publisher of Mass Appeal Magazine.

His musical career began in 1991 when he was featured on Main Source's song "Live at the Barbeque", from their album Breaking Atoms. His debut album Illmatic, released in 1994, received universal acclaim from both critics and hip hop fans. It is frequently ranked as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. His 1996 follow-up album It Was Written debuted at #1 on the Billboard Charts, stayed on top for four consecutive weeks, went platinum twice in only two months, and made Nas internationally known.

From 1996-2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with fellow rapper Jay-Z. In 2006, Nas signed to Def Jam. In 2010, he released a collaboration album with reggae musician, Damian Marley; where all royalties were donated to charities in Africa. His tenth studio album, Life Is Good was released in 2012.

Nas is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. MTV ranked him at #5 on their list of The Greatest MCs of All Time. In 2012, The Source ranked him #2 on their list of the Top 50 Lyricists of All Time. In 2013, Nas was ranked fourth on MTV's "Hottest MCs in the Game" list.

Discography[]

Studio albums[]

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