{"id":8529,"date":"2013-01-03T00:07:51","date_gmt":"2013-01-03T07:07:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/?p=8529"},"modified":"2013-01-03T00:07:51","modified_gmt":"2013-01-03T07:07:51","slug":"nas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/2013\/01\/nas\/","title":{"rendered":"NAS"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

NAS \u00a0<\/strong><\/h1>\n

The enduring hip-hop storyteller\u2019s latest title becomes his mantra\u00a0 \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Several months after releasing his 10th studio album, Life Is Good<\/em>, Nas is revisiting the title. \u201cI was watching TV the other night and saw this woman had survived pancreatic cancer,\u201d he says. \u201cI was barely listening, because my mom passed from breast cancer, and sometimes it\u2019s just too hard to watch. But I heard her say, \u2018Life is good,\u2019 and I thought, \u2018If someone who went through that can say life is good, then you know what? It must be.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s certainly a different message when you consider the pantheon of rap album titles, but not surprising when you consider the artist born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones. Since his debut album Illmatic<\/em> in 1994, he\u2019s become one of the genre\u2019s most diverse artists, transitioning from street realist to political firebrand to motivational speaker within a matter of tracks. \u201cI\u2019m trying to inspire people to do what they feel,\u201d says Nas. \u201cDon\u2019t do what\u2019s expected of hip-hop artists, do what you feel as an artist, period.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a philosophy that\u2019s worked especially well for the Queens native. He\u2019s enjoyed more than 20 years of hip-hop success, a near-impossible feat. Nas has notched eight platinum and multiplatinum records, four of which topped the Billboard charts. Plus, he\u2019s collaborated with nearly every name in music\u2014including Lauryn Hill, who joins him on his current tour. Nas discusses his latest record, his inspirations and the state of hip-hop.<\/p>\n

What was your focus with this album?<\/strong><\/p>\n

ABCs. It\u2019s cool to go back to your ABCs after you\u2019ve gone so far out. It\u2019s great to go back to the stuff that you know best, the stuff that\u2019s more you, straight up and down. This record has more of a \u201990s feel, and that was part of my goal. The album title was inspired by my reality and thinking. \u201cLife is good\u201d was the mantra, my daily psalm.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Any challenges with the tracks?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, it was a simple breakdown, a simpler version of myself. So it was really easy\u00a0to do it. It\u2019s like the flow that just comes naturally\u2014where you don\u2019t have to think much\u2014is already in you. You just have\u00a0to let it out.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Favorite moments in the studio?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, when I was in the studio recording \u201cDaughters,\u201d and my daughter walked in on me and said, \u201cWhat did you say?!\u201d And we just all cracked up laughing. \u201cClose the door!\u201d It was just one of \u00a0those funny moments.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s your songwriting process?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once I decide on a track, then ideas flow instantly. I lay down a couple of ideas. Sometimes I\u2019ll finish a song in a day. Sometimes only a verse or two will come to me, and I\u2019ll go to a different record, then come back to it the next day. And then I\u2019ll see which verse fits best and finish it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Do you write the choruses, too?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No, rappers don\u2019t usually add choruses to the track\u2014the beat always has a chorus. Producers want to sell records. They don\u2019t want you to have to be like, \u201cI like this beat, but I don\u2019t know what to do with it.\u201d They\u2019re like, \u201cThis is a hit. Here\u2019s the hook, just put some verses in it, and I\u2019ll get paid.\u201d The producers come ready.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At what age did you start to get comfortable with your writing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I guess around age 15 or 16. I felt like I was a grown-up and my writing came from a more grown-up perspective.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Who were your initial inspirations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As far as other rappers are concerned, it was Kurtis Blow, Kool Moe Dee, Starsky, MC Shan\u2014early \u201980s rap artists. I was also inspired by the Jackson 5, Michael Jackson, the Police, Boy George, Stevie Wonder\u2014all those \u201980s records.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a previous M<\/em> profile, Damian Marley mentioned your large vocabulary.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh man, Damian made me laugh when he said that. I don\u2019t think of myself as having a large vocabulary. I just think I catch some people off guard with the things I say and the way I say them. That just comes from my love of words, and my love for reading. There were a lot of books in my apartment in the projects. Sometimes we couldn\u2019t go outside and had to stay at home and read. My mother told me, \u201cIf you want to be a writer, you have to be a reader.\u201d So when I started to write rhymes as a kid, I was running out of things to say. I needed new words, so I picked up a dictionary.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are your favorite collaborations?<\/strong><\/p>\n

There\u2019s the \u201cHip Hop\u201d I did with Scarface, \u201cMy President\u201d with Young Jeezy, \u201cHot Boyz\u201d with Missy Elliott and Eve, and \u201cYou Won\u2019t See Me Tonight\u201d with Aaliyah.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

How\u2019s the tour going with Lauryn Hill?<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s crazy amazing. I hear her music and can\u2019t help but think it\u2019s the next level. Musically, there\u2019s just no one with the ear, the harmony\u2014it\u2019s a beautiful sound that she produces. We really appreciate what she brings to the table musically. She does all things her own way, and we don\u2019t get a chance to see that a lot. So this tour gives you an opportunity to catch her.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s in your set list? Old, new, a mix?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, that\u2019s what it\u2019s about\u2014a fusion. I really considered just doing material from the new album, but I love doing the older songs, too. So I had to include them. I also do some songs the audience doesn\u2019t expect.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What are your thoughts on the current state of hip-hop?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The impact the greats had on the game, the impact that people like myself had on the game, my peers\u2014that impact is strong. It inspires artists today to want to have an impact as well. And they do. They\u2019ve been delivering. The spirit of hip-hop is so alive that it makes me smile\u2014to see that everyone who loves to do it, who participates in it, is making a name for themselves. I just sit back and smile at this art form that I watched not get any love from the mainstream world. Now it is<\/em> the mainstream world. It makes it better for me when I go in and record an album like Life Is Good<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Any advice for aspiring rappers?<\/strong><\/p>\n

All you got to do is really care. About the art form. About wordplay. About music. If you want to really be the greatest, then go and be the greatest. Set your goal, and if your goal is to be the greatest, then do it. And that means you can\u2019t play around. It means a lot of writing, a lot of working, a lot of reading, a lot of practice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What\u2019s next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, I\u2019m not 40, and I feel like that\u2019s the golden moment in my life. A lot of things are amazing, but that\u2019s like amazing on steroids. When I look at Bono, I model my life after him a little bit. You know, it\u2019s just trying to take it day by day and not worry about tomorrow. What happens is what happens.<\/p>\n

\u2013Christopher Pilny<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAS \u00a0 The enduring hip-hop storyteller\u2019s latest title becomes his mantra\u00a0 \u00a0 Several months after releasing his 10th studio album, Life Is Good, Nas is revisiting the title. \u201cI was watching TV the other night and saw this woman had survived pancreatic cancer,\u201d he says. \u201cI was barely listening, because my mom passed from breast […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[4942,5753,5762,5755,5756,4595,5745,5759,5747,5750,5749,3952,5746,5752,951,5760,5757,4826,5748,5475,5751,5372,5754,5761,5758],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8529"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8529"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8529\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8533,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8529\/revisions\/8533"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8529"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8529"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmusicmag.com\/m\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8529"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}