LUCIDMEDIA

Master Series: Nas

Written by Sebastian Frye Friday, 11 May 2007 10:10

"These guys definitely weren't standing around bullshitting. They were beating drums, tearing it up, hurling horses over cliffs...Somebody different was bound to come along sooner or later...He'd be able to balance himself on one leg on a tightrope that stretched across the universe and you'd know him when he came - there'd be only one like"
- Bob Dylan, Chronicles Vol. 1

Dj Premier is banging on the glass, yelling inaudibly as the young Nas stands in front of a microphone. His breathing is sinuous with his heartbeat. Nas says "I don't know how to start this shit" in the introduction of his song; only a blink of an eye away from one of his most infamous verses, one that would open the most gritty and vital Hip-Hop album of all time.

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The Beginnings

Under a Brooklyn sky on September 14th, 1973 Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones was born . He was born to his father Olu Dara, previously a jazz trumpeter, and his mother Fannie Ann Jones. His family was small. Nas only had one sibling, his brother Jabari, born in the Congo. When Nas was very young his family moved to Queensbridge, the infamous ghetto of New York and the largest group housing project in the United States. The buildings were foul and imposing. The tall reddish gray structures rose up and could block out the sun. The place was bleak and desolate; a graveyard, a wasteland and, evidently, an orchard for rap music.

Nas always showed an affinity for creativity. Sometimes he would sit on the steps of his home and play his father's trumpet. He even ventured into drawing and illustrating comics. Unfortunately, While Nas was 13, his father left the family. In his absence Ann Jones was left to care for Nasir and his younger brother. For Nas it must have been a devastating blow, although one which he would later forgive and even embrace in the 2004 Street's Disciple single "Bridging The Gap".

By the age of 14 Nas dropped out of school. He was now just another brick in the jungle known as New York City; a man-made wilderness where anyone could be eaten alive, left to freeze on the street, homeless and with nothing to live for. Although Nas took the route of selling drugs and doing petty crimes, he kept his creativity alive by focusing on reading and writing. His mind would store all his experiences and they would later explode onto acetate as Illmatic. A new music began to leak into his world and he became vastly interested in it's possibilities. This was Hip-Hop, the music Nas now epitomizes.

From a historical perspective, It was only natural. Hip-Hop was an ever present force deep inside New York City; it was literally born there. The street parties which looked to unite youth were heralded by Dj Kool Herc in the 1970's and then perfected by pioneers such as Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Bambaataa later on. Even some of Nas's earliest memories recall Hip Hop music: "The first time I heard rap was in my projects. In the park, outside, summertime thing, when I was crazy young. They had them old disco records and shit, cuttin' that shit up. I witnessed all that shit, the beginning, you kno'm sayin'?"

Often Nas could be found upstairs rapping at his friend Will's apartment but in 1989, at only 15, Nas received an opening for his career. Large Professor (real name, William Paul Mitchell) was a keen beat-maker and a disciple of the legendary Paul C. He had his first experiences brewing beats for Main Source's masterpiece Breaking Atoms, and at 17 was producing songs for the duo Eric B. & Rakim. At this point Nas was introduced to Large Professor by his friend Melquan. With his own money in his hand, and passionate hopes to make a demo tape void of commercial motivation, Nas approached Large Professor. Large Professor was excited to work with this young kid who seemed to be of some divine mold and soon Nas and Large cooperated artistically.

Willing to be led by people he trusted Nas was given a spot to rap on Main Source's posse cut "Live at the BBQ". On the song Nas is determined; his words are ferocious and startling; with images and phrases that could leave holes in your imagination. Nas became an emcee to watch.

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The Break

Nas was shopping around with fellow rapper Akinyele, trying to get labels interested in them, when he ran into former 3rd bass emcee MC Serch (3rd bass was an influential rap trio during the late 80's, proving that there was no racial divide in rap music). MC Serch heard "Live at the BBQ", which was identified as a classic, and asked Nas to jump in on one of the songs they were recording that day. Nas, with some lyrics in his pocket, jumped in on "Back to the Grill" and impressed Serch. After the recording session Serch asked Nas who he was signed with. Nas replied that he wasn't. Serch became very interested. The prospect of this phantom lyricist with undeniable potential must have excited Serch. He remembers: "Nas was in a position where his demo had been sittin' around, "Live At The BBQ" was already a classic, and he was just tryin' to find a decent deal. And I think Nas didn't know who to trust...it seemed that no one was teaching him the ropes." At this point Nas was becoming discouraged, because he wasn't making it; his light was slowly fading away, but that would all change.

Serch took the demo to a few people including Russel Simmons of Def Jam records, who rejected it (saying it sounded like other rap acts), until finally it was picked up by Faith Newman of Sony Music Entertainment. Serch showed Faith the tape and Faith was on board. It wasn't the first time she had heard Nas either, in fact, she was looking for him for one and a half years. Before Serch left her office Faith Newman would sign Nasir to the label. It was clearly to her delight: "I have never, in all the 15 years that I've been listening to rap, ever heard anybody express something so vividly and perfectly as Nas. He doesn't have to shout to be heard. It's so effortless. You listen to his music, you get this mental picture of where he's coming from. It's not gratuitously violent or sexist, it's just real. It's touching too."

Now it was official, dark days and fruitless nights had reached their end. Nas could forge a reality from his dreams. From this moment on everything would change, the whole landscape of hip-hop music would shift from one coast to the next and the expectations of hip-hop music would be elevated. None of the team, that would eventually be assembled, knew this though. Not even Nas, who seemed to possess prophetic powers, could imagine the impact of his debut. He knew he was capable though and wanted to make the best record possible.

Immediately famed master Dj Premier was on board. Premier is the second half of the current duo Gangstarr and had been constructing beats for years. In fact, it was Large Professor who had taught Premier the basic of the SP1200 sampling system. Even to this day Premier remains a vital standard bearer for hip-hop music. Premier was excited to work on the album: "Everybody that really know hip-hop will always remember that record "Live at The BBQ." Just hearing how his flow was on that record let me know that he was destined to be out here to last for a while...from that point, after Serch approached me about doing some cuts, it was automatic. You'd be stupid to pass that up even if it wasn't payin' no money." Other producers followed suite with their best. Large Professor would would produce 3 of the 10 tracks, Pete Rock (second half of Pete Rock and Cl Smooth) would produce one as well, so would Q-Tip (from a Tribe Called Quest) and L.E.S. These would be all the producers Nas would need to construct his masterpiece along with one other rapper, fellow Queens resident AZ Tha Visualiza.

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The Album

Everyone in the studio knew he was a profound rapper, but no-one knew what hit them as soon as he finished the opening verse to "New York State of Mind". Premier remembers: "...you hear him say, ‘I don’t know how to start this shit,’ ’cause he had just written it. He’s got the beat running in the studio, but he doesn’t know how he’s going to format [it] how he’s going to convey it. So he’s going, ‘I don’t know how to start this shit,’ and I’m counting him in. One, two, three...He didn’t know how he was gonna come in, but he just started going because we were recording...You hear him start the shit: "Rappers…." And then everyone in the studio was like, ‘Oh, my God,’ ’cause it was so unexpected. He was not ready. So we used that first verse.”

Not only were Nas's words profound, but the music behind them was what really separated the record from others. Songs like "One Love" were exotic and many rappers wouldn't have an idea of how to navigate through it, but Nas is confident. Over a Heath Bros sample of marimba and bass, Nas constructs his world. Using concise imagery and visual cues to paint a vivid picture of life Nas outlines a letter from himself to someone in jail. The lyrics to "One Love" are not only poignant, but framed in a unorthodox way. The song opens in a jail cell with the setting, then the letter opens and Nas begins illustrating vignettes and updating his reader on life outside. The song presents itself with a place as well as an alternate story; essentially it's a window view from a window. On songs such as "N.Y. State of Mind" Nas makes use of every beat in the music to open up a vast and graphic picture of life in New York City, all set to the unstoppable music of Dj Premier. On other tracks such as "Memory Lane" Nas is able to show his sensitivity in reminiscing and his sincerity in memories. Essentially, everything Nas felt a need too express was conveyed vividly and with intelligence on the album. The imagery Nas used was not only culled from his experiences, but also from his varied readings. His lyrics are not only scientific (in meter and in content), but also religious, metaphoric, concrete, and symbolic. It is if, when you listen to it, you are witnessing the world through a young man's eyes.

"I made [Illmatic] at 17, 18 years old, and I listen to it and it makes me say, 'wow this is what a young man was going through in this society. He's not bragging about carrying a gun. He's not bragging about selling crack. He's not bragging 'cause he's been through Hell, he's going through Hell and he's expressing it."-Nas

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The Release

The record would be released in 1994 to an unsuspecting audience. In 1994 the most anticipated hip-hop release was Snoop Dogg's debut, but as soon as Illmatic was finished it stole the show. Reviews across the country were raving. Spin magazine, Q, Musician, and The Village Voice all recommended it. Rolling Stone gave it 4/5 stars, New Musical Express gave it 9/10, The Source (a very prominent hip-hop magazine) not only gave Illmatic a very rare 5 mic rating, but also covered the album's development in a special called "The Second Coming". The album was a certified classic and the attitude around the industry was that Nas was something of a prophet (though, Nas considered himself more of a disciple). The perfection of Illmatic could never be repeated.

2 years later Nas followed up with It Was Written, a fine album but not a worthy successor to Illmatic. The album saw many changes in Nas's life and management which included mounting pressure from Sony to pursue Hip-Hop music down a more commercially viable route. The transition should have been easy but things such as production credits changed on the album and the atmosphere of making it was no longer that unknown excitement the Illmatic had been. The album is largely considered a flop. Many good things came from the album though. Nas's name was etched in stone in Hip-Hop circles, and he became a mainstream artist with already near legendary status. The album introduced the supergroup known as The Firm and Nas's alternate lifestyle; a Scarface style character called "Escobar". The dreams of the youthful and wide eyed Nas were now coming true.

Nas would continue to produce a steady stream of albums which sold relatively well and were critically accepted, but everyones hopes of an Illmatic II were never satisfied. In 1999 Nas released I am...The Autobiography, later that year he released Nastradamus, in 2000 The Lost Tapes was released, in 2001 Nas released Stillmatic, in 2002 God's Son, and in 2004 Nas released the critically acclaimed double-disc set Street's Disciple. Although to many it appeared Nas "sold out" or became diluted, this is not the case. Nas is an artist, and like any great artist, Nas develops and re-invents himself over and over again. Hip-hop has unlimited possibilities, and Nas harnesses these; never sticking to an "old-school" style or fitting into a strict format of "popularity". He was, and still is, creating music which he feels is inside of him; music he needs to express, no matter what it was about. To prove this: In 2004, before it was released, it was announced one entire half of Street's Disciple was going to be dedicated, and inspired by, Nas's marriage to Kellis. When Street's Disciple was released this was in fact true, and critics and audiences abroad embraced the daring move. Nas always has an agenda and the Hip-Hop market moves towards him, he doesn't move towards the it.

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The Conclusion

For a minute, imagine that Nas disappeared after the scorching debut of Illmatic. Would he have fallen off the radar like hordes upon hordes of acts which nearly unknowingly come and go? Or would he possibly have joined the likes of Rimbaud, Robert Johnson, even Mozart, in obtaining a mythical status? Even as he lives now he carries an aura of divinity around him, and he knows it. He is clever in utilizing his faith, not in a brash way, but with subtlety and conviction. For example: the cover of 2002's God's Son showed a melancholy Nas in-front of a blue background. At first it seemed to imply that Nas was God's only son; that he might actually consider himself "The Second Coming", as it were. But upon closer analysis Nas just displays, without the crown of thorns upon his head, that he is one of God's sons, just as we all are. From the Illmatic sessions Q-Tip remarks: "Nas ain't got no gimmick to his style, you gotta sit and decipher what he says." With not only a Hip-Hop generation's outlook on the world, but also a tight grasp on history, Nas is able to easily entrench himself into his respected position in time. Nas is not only a rapper or an emcee, or even just a musician; Nasir Jones is a poet, and one of the few great,extremely popular, and well-recieved ones that America has produced in recent years. Illmatic may be one of the few masterpieces that Hip-Hop music has culled from it's artists, and Nas, one of it's few Masters.