N
Nas
Actor, Producer, Director, Writer, Additional CreditsBorn September 14, 1973 (51 years)
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (September 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper and businessman. Rooted in East Coast hip hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time.
The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Jones's musical career began in 1989 as he adopted the moniker of "Nasty Nas" and recorded demos for Large Professor. He was a featured artist on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque" (1991), also produced by Large Professor. Nas's debut album Illmatic (1994) received universal acclaim upon release, and is considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time; in 2021, the album was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. His second album It Was Written (1996) debuted atop the Billboard 200 and charted for four consecutive weeks; the album, along with its single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" (featuring Lauryn Hill), catapulted Nas into international success. Both released in 1999, Nas's albums I Am and Nastradamus were criticized as inconsistent and too commercially oriented, and critics and fans feared that his output was declining in quality.
From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with Jay-Z, popularized by the diss track "Ether". It was this feud, along with Nas's albums Stillmatic (2001), God's Son (2002), and the double album Street's Disciple (2004), that helped restore his critical standing. After squashing the feud, Nas signed to Jay-Z's Def Jam Recordings in 2006 and went in a more provocative, politicized direction with the albums Hip Hop Is Dead (2006) and his untitled 9th studio album (2008). In 2010, Nas released Distant Relatives, a collaboration album with Damian Marley, donating all royalties to charities active in Africa. His 10th studio album, Life Is Good (2012), was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. After receiving thirteen nominations, his 12th studio album, King's Disease (2020), won him his first Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards; he then followed it by releasing his 13th studio album, King's Disease II (2021), as the album's sequel. In the same year, his 14th studio album, Magic, was released on Christmas Eve.
In 2012, The Source ranked him second on their list of the "Top 50 Lyricists of All Time". In 2013, Nas was ranked 4th on MTV's "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. About.com ranked him first on their list of the "50 Greatest MCs of All Time" in 2014, and a year later, Nas was featured on the "10 Best Rappers of All Time" list by Billboard. He is also an entrepreneur through his own record label; he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and the co-founder of Mass Appeal Records. Nas has released fourteen studio albums since 1994, ten of which are certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum in the U.S.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Nas, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Jones's musical career began in 1989 as he adopted the moniker of "Nasty Nas" and recorded demos for Large Professor. He was a featured artist on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque" (1991), also produced by Large Professor. Nas's debut album Illmatic (1994) received universal acclaim upon release, and is considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time; in 2021, the album was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. His second album It Was Written (1996) debuted atop the Billboard 200 and charted for four consecutive weeks; the album, along with its single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" (featuring Lauryn Hill), catapulted Nas into international success. Both released in 1999, Nas's albums I Am and Nastradamus were criticized as inconsistent and too commercially oriented, and critics and fans feared that his output was declining in quality.
From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with Jay-Z, popularized by the diss track "Ether". It was this feud, along with Nas's albums Stillmatic (2001), God's Son (2002), and the double album Street's Disciple (2004), that helped restore his critical standing. After squashing the feud, Nas signed to Jay-Z's Def Jam Recordings in 2006 and went in a more provocative, politicized direction with the albums Hip Hop Is Dead (2006) and his untitled 9th studio album (2008). In 2010, Nas released Distant Relatives, a collaboration album with Damian Marley, donating all royalties to charities active in Africa. His 10th studio album, Life Is Good (2012), was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. After receiving thirteen nominations, his 12th studio album, King's Disease (2020), won him his first Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards; he then followed it by releasing his 13th studio album, King's Disease II (2021), as the album's sequel. In the same year, his 14th studio album, Magic, was released on Christmas Eve.
In 2012, The Source ranked him second on their list of the "Top 50 Lyricists of All Time". In 2013, Nas was ranked 4th on MTV's "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. About.com ranked him first on their list of the "50 Greatest MCs of All Time" in 2014, and a year later, Nas was featured on the "10 Best Rappers of All Time" list by Billboard. He is also an entrepreneur through his own record label; he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and the co-founder of Mass Appeal Records. Nas has released fourteen studio albums since 1994, ten of which are certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum in the U.S.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Nas, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
| 2024 | TMZ Presents: The Downfall of Diddy the Indictment · as Self (archive Footage) |
| 2024 | |
| 2023 | AP Dhillon: First of a Kind (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2022 | Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues · as Self |
| 2022 | |
| 2022 | The Murder Inc Story (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2022 | Supreme Team (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2022 | Origins of Hip Hop (TV Series) · as Self - Narrator |
| 2022 | The 64th Annual Grammy Awards · as Self - Performer & Nominee |
| 2021 | You're Watching Video Music Box · as Self |
| 2021 | Savage x Fenty Show Vol. 3 · as Self - Performer |
| 2021 | |
| 2021 | Mary J Blige's My Life · as Self |
| 2021 | Soul of a Nation (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2020 | |
| 2020 | BET Awards 2020 · as Self - Performer |
| 2020 | The Last Dance (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2020 | LA Originals · as Self |
| 2020 | David Blaine: The Magic Way · as Self |
| 2020 | The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards · as Self - Performer |
| 2020 | 28th Annual Trumpet Awards · as Self - Performer |
| 2019 | Free Meek (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2019 | Wu-Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2019 | Desus & Mero (2019) (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2018 | The Shop: Uninterrupted (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2018 | Poetry In America (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2018 | Rapture (TV Series) · as Himself |
| 2018 | Word Is Bond · as Himself |
| 2018 | Nas: Live from the Kennedy Center · as Himself |
| 2017 | |
| 2017 | Quest · as Self - The Artists Of Everquest Studio & Freestyle Friday |
| 2017 | The Defiant Ones (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2017 | Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story · as Self - Interviewee |
| 2016 | Black America Since MLK: And Still I Rise (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2016 | Hamilton's America · as Self |
| 2016 | |
| 2016 | Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping · as Nas |
| 2016 | Generation X (TV Series) · as Self - Hip-Hop Artist |
| 2015 | De Palma · as Self |
| 2015 | American Epic (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2015 | The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2015 | Fresh Dressed · as Self |
| 2014 | Nas: Time Is Illmatic · as Self |
| 2014 | Hidden Colors 3: The Rules of Racism · as Self |
| 2014 | The Tanning of America (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2013 | The Arsenio Hall Show (2013) (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2013 | The 55th Annual Grammy Awards · as Self - Nominee & Presenter |
| 2012 | |
| 2012 | |
| 2012 | Finding Your Roots (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2012 | Uprising: Hip Hop and the LA Riots · as Self |
| 2011 | Billy on the Street (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2011 | The 2011 Billboard Music Awards · as Self - Presenter |
| 2011 | Re: Generation · as Self |
| 2010 | Conan (2010) (TV Series) · as Self - Musical Guest |
| 2010 | One Night in Vegas · as Self |
| 2009 | Talk Stoop (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2009 | 30 for 30 (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2009 | Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (TV Series) · as Self - Musical Guest |
| 2007 | Chelsea Lately (TV Series) · as Self - Guest |
| 2006 | The 2006 Billboard Music Awards · as Self |
| 2006 | Jay Z: Live at the Royal Albert Hall · as Self |
| 2006 | 2006 MTV Video Music Awards · as Self - Audience |
| 2006 | BET Awards 2006 · as Self |
| 2006 | Akon Feat. Eminem: Smack That · as Nas |
| 2005 | 2nd Annual VH1 Hip-Hop Honors · as Self |
| 2005 | The Tyra Banks Show (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2005 | The MC: Why We Do It · as Self |
| 2005 | The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (TV Series) · as Self - Musical Guest |
| 2004 | Hip-Hop Honors · as Self |
| 2004 | And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2004 | Nas: Video Anthology Vol. 1 · as Self |
| 2004 | Tavis Smiley (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2003 | Jennifer Lopez: The Reel Me · as Self (segment "i'm Gonna Be Alright") |
| 2003 | Beef · as Self |
| 2003 | Nas: Made You Look - God's Son Live · as Himself |
| 2003 | Real Time with Bill Maher (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2003 | Jimmy Kimmel Live! (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2002 | 2002 MTV Video Music Awards · as Self - Performer |
| 2002 | Big Pun: Still Not a Player · as Self |
| 2002 | John Q · as Nas |
| 2002 | Last Call with Carson Daly (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2002 | Jennifer Lopez: I'm Gonna Be Alright · as Nas |
| 2001 | All Star Tribute: What's Going on · as Nas |
| 2000 | 106 & Park (TV Series) · as Self |
| 2000 | Diary (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1999 | The 1999 Source Hip-Hop Music Awards · as Self |
| 1999 | The 13th Annual Soul Train Music Awards · as Self |
| 1999 | |
| 1999 | Nas Feat. Puff Daddy: Hate Me Now · as Nas |
| 1998 | |
| 1997 | Behind the Music (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1997 | The 11th Annual Soul Train Music Awards · as Self - Performer |
| 1997 | Rhyme & Reason · as Himself |
| 1996 | 1996 MTV Video Music Awards · as Self - Musical Guest |
| 1996 | The Daily Show (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1995 | The 1995 Source Hip-Hop Music Awards · as Self |
| 1995 | E! Live from the Red Carpet (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1993 | Late Show with David Letterman (TV Series) · as Self - Musical Guest |
| 1992 | The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (TV Series) · as Self - Musical Guest |
| 1988 | Yo! MTV Raps (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1987 | Showtime at the Apollo (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1984 | MTV Video Music Awards (TV Series) · as Self |
| 1975 | Arena (1975) (TV Series) · as Self |