Nas is a more than well-known rapper that has inspired multiple people and hip-hop artists alike. Real name Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones, he grew up with his father, the Nigerian Jazz musician “Olu Dara” in Brooklyn, New York. It was not until 1989 that Nas grew into his musical side and decided to hop into the hip hop scene under the stage name of “Nasty Nas”. His first movie as a hip-hop artist began with demos he recorded for Large Professor. Eventually, Large Professor had him featured as the main hip-hop artist on Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque”. Now that Nas had experience it was time for his debut album “Illmatic” in 1994 which is now today considered one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. After this, his next album and subsequent single “It Was Written” and “If I Ruled The World (Imagine That) featuring Lauryn Hill” further catapulted Nas into worldwide fame, but unfortunately, his next two albums were not given the same treatment. “I Am” and “Nastradamus” had fans and critics alike fearing that his musical talent was falling off and that he peaked with his first album. Luckily for Nas, his beef with Jay Z in the early 2000s brought him back into the spotlight. Once the beef between them was squashed and Nas signed to Jay-Z’s Def Jam Recordings everything went up for him eventually leading up to his first Grammy in 2020 with his album “King’s Disease”.
Now that a comprehensive look at Nas’s history is over we can get to this wonderful single of his. Since this is Nas I don’t have to say anything about how good it is because at this point, good is what we expect and Nas delivers. I want to discuss the Diaspora and Nigerian representation. Right off the bat In this particular video, there isn’t much Nigerian representation at all, but the diaspora is strong. Nas makes plenty of references to all types of American athletes, hip-hop artists, celebrities, and companies. All in all the Nigerian representation is weak but that is expected of Nas as well.
Here are his socials if you don’t know them already.