Nas

- _NAS can also be a shorthand for Network-attached storage._

**Nasir Jones** (born September 14, 1973), better known as **Nas**, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, record executive, musician, actor and entrepreneur. He is best known for his first album, _Illmatic_, which was released in 1994. It has been widely praised by fans and critics. Nas followed up with several commercially successful albums, such as _It Was Written_, _I Am..._, _Nastradamus_, _Stillmatic_, _God's Son_, _Street's Disciple_, _Hip Hop Is Dead_, _Untitled_, _Life Is Good_,the _King's Disease_ series and the _Magic_ series.  Nas has been nominated for fourteen Grammy Awards; his thirteenth studio album _King's Disease_ won the Best Rap Album award during the 63rd Grammy Awards. Because of his storytelling skills and creativity, Nas is seen as one of the greatest rappers of all time.

## Personal life

Nas was born on September 14, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York. His father, Olu Dara, is a musician who plays the trumpet. When Nas was young, his family moved to Queens, New York.

On June 15, 1994, Nas's ex-fiancée Carmen Bryan gave birth to their daughter, Destiny. Nas was married to Kelis from 2005 until they divorced in 2010. She is the mother of his son.

### 1990s

Nas started making music when he was a teenager. He recorded his first music with a producer called Large Professor, but did not yet publish it. Nas' first published song was "Live at the Barbeque" in 1991. He was a guest artist on this song, which was by the group Main Source. In 1992, Nas released his first single, a song called "Halftime". This song was first published as part of a movie's soundtrack.

Nas released his first album, called _Illmatic_, in 1994. The album got very good reviews. People especially liked Nas' songwriting skills on the album. Because it was so well liked, _Illmatic_ is often called a classic. Today, many people still say that _Illmatic_ is one of the best hip-hop albums ever. Nas released his second album in 1996. He called the album _It Was Written_. On this album, Nas tried to make songs that a bigger audience would like. He also made expensive music videos to promote the album.

Nas also joined a hip hop group called The Firm. The other members of the group were Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature. The Firm first appeared as a group on _It Was Written_. In 1997, The Firm released an album together. The Firm's album sold many copies, but sold less than the group had hoped it would. After this album, The Firm stopped making music as a group. Nas instead started making his third album by himself. He planned to call this album _I Am... The Autobiography_, and wanted it to be a double album. People leaked many of the songs from this album onto the Internet before it came out. Because of this, Nas decided to record new songs for the album. He also changed the title to _I Am..._. This album came out in 1999. Nas also released another album, called _Nastradamus_, in 1999. _Nastradamus_ was originally meant to have the leaked songs from _I Am..._, but Nas changed his mind and decided to record new songs for it.

### 2000s

In the late 1990s, Nas began feuding with rapper Jay-Z. In 2001, Jay-Z wrote a song called "Takeover" that insulted Nas. Nas replied by writing a song called "Ether" that insulted Jay-Z in return. "Ether" appeared on Nas' fifth album, _Stillmatic_, which he released in 2001. _Stillmatic_ was mostly well liked. Its good reception helped to boost Nas' career after his last two albums had received bad reviews. Nas' next album was _The Lost Tapes_, an album made of songs he had written earlier but never published. _The Lost Tapes_ got good reviews. Some critics said it was his best album since _Illmatic_.

Nas released several more albums in the 2000s. In 2002, he released _God's Son_. This album sold many copies, causing it to go platinum. It also included the song "I Can", which became Nas' biggest hit song. After this, Nas' next album was a double album called _Street's Disciple_. The album got good reviews, but sold fewer copies than his earlier albums.

Nas and Jay-Z ended their feud in 2005. To show that they had made up, Nas made a surprise appearance at a Jay-Z concert in 2005. The two musicians performed Jay-Z's song "Dead Presidents" together. At this time, Jay-Z was the president of the record label Def Jam Recordings. Nas signed a contract with Def Jam in January 2006. On the Def Jam label, Nas released his next album in 2006. This album was called _Hip Hop Is Dead_. The album reached No. 1 on the _Billboard_ 200 chart. It was Nas' first number-one album since _I Am..._, and his third ever. In 2007, Nas announced that he wanted to call his next album _Nigger_. Because the title was a racial slur, many people were unhappy with this announcement. Nas was criticized by famous progressives like Jesse Jackson, and also by the conservative news channel Fox News. Because of the controversy, Nas decided to release the album without any title at all.

### 2010s and 2020s

In 2010, Nas released an album with Damian Marley called _Distant Relatives_. It entered the _Billboard_ 200 at number five. Three singles were released from the album. In 2012, Nas released his eleventh album _Life Is Good_. He wrote it after he divorced Kelis. The album received good reviews.

In 2014, a documentary called _Nas: Time Is Illmatic_ was released. The movie celebrated the 20th anniversary of _Illmatic_. Nas also performed songs from _Illmatic_ at the Kennedy Center. In 2017, Nas did more work in film and TV. He wrote a song for the TV show _The Getdown_ and appeared in a documentary called _The American Epic Sessions_.

Nas' next album was called _Nasir_. It was released in 2018. Kanye West produced all of _Nasir_. The album received mixed reviews. In 2019, Nas released _The Lost Tapes 2_. He had originally planned to release this album soon after _The Lost Tapes_. However, the album was delayed several times. In 2020, Nas released an album called _King's Disease_. This album won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. Nas had been nominated for many Grammy Awards, but this was the first time he won. Nas then released an album called _King's Disease II_ in 2021. He also released the album called _Magic_ in the same year. In 2022, he released _King's Disease III_.

## Other websites

- Nas  at Def Jam.

## Infobox (musical artist)

- **embed**: yes
- **background**: solo_singer
- **past member of**: The Firm (hip hop group), The Firm


## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Nas
- **image**: Nas (52380600682) (cropped).jpg
- **caption**: Nas at Jiffy Lube Live in 2022
- **birth name**: Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
- **birth place**: New York City, U.S.
- **years active**: 1989–present
- **children**: 2
- **father**: Olu Dara
- **relatives**: Yara Shahidi (cousin)
- **awards**: #Awards and nominations, Full list