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Nas

Nas is a Queensbridge rapper and songwriter whose vivid stories run from Illmatic to his recent albums with Hit-Boy and DJ Premier.

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Nas’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.

Known for

Overview

Full name: Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones
Born: September 14, 1973, Brooklyn, New York
Raised: Queensbridge, Queens, New York
Work: Rapper, songwriter and entrepreneur
First recording appearance: Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque” (1991)
Debut album: Illmatic (1994)

Mini bio

How it started.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in Queensbridge, Nas is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. As a young rapper known as Nasty Nas, he worked with Large Professor and made his recording debut on Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque” in 1991. “Halftime,” on the Zebrahead soundtrack, followed before his first album.

The breakthrough.

Illmatic arrived on April 19, 1994, with production from DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, Large Professor and L.E.S. Its stories of Queensbridge made his name. It Was Written followed in 1996, bringing the Nas Escobar persona and “If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)” with Lauryn Hill to a wider audience.

Songs fans return to.

Stillmatic brought “Ether,” “One Mic” and the backwards narrative “Rewind” in 2001. His later partnership with Hit-Boy produced the King’s Disease and Magic trilogies. The first King’s Disease won Best Rap Album at the 2021 Grammys.

Still building.

Nas and DJ Premier’s Light-Years closed Mass Appeal’s 2025 Legend Has It… series. In 2026, Feature Presentation 2025 collected his guest verses from that run, adding his own commentary on the artists and collaborations.

Creditschronological, newest first

2026Feature Presentation 2025Rapper and commentator
2025Light-YearsRapper; collaboration with DJ Premier
2020King's DiseaseRapper; collaboration with Hit-Boy
2001StillmaticRapper and songwriter
1996It Was WrittenRapper and songwriter
1994IllmaticRapper and songwriter

Awards

Quotes

Preem opens up the whole stage for you to just walk out there and grab the mic.Nas, GQ interview with Abe Beame

Speaking in December 2025 about why his partnership with DJ Premier works.

Trivia

Before his rap career, he used the graffiti names Kid Nice and Kid Wave, as he recalled in GQ.
He told GQ that the different voices on “Nasty Esco Nasir” were his own, performed without effects.
The Illmatic cover pairs his seven-year-old face with an image of the Queens neighborhood where he grew up.
“Rewind,” on Stillmatic, tells its story backwards.