There's really nothing better than music to bring people together and to have amazing music being not just created inside walls but then decimating and activating is going to be special.
NasI have no tattoos that I regret - I have had some that I have had changed according to how my life was.
NasYou don't want to disappoint. Especially someone like me who's been out of music for years and hasn't had an album in like, four years.
NasI wanted to say what wasn't being said. I wanted to give people a real story. I wanted people to know people like me exist in the world.
NasHip hop started in NY so it's important that New Yorkers realise that to talk about NY music and its sound should not be a small-minded conversation. Music is supposed to evolve. It's supposed to be going through changes, it's not supposed to sound exactly the same as what it did when it started. NY hip hop has to be allowed to move on and grow and expand.
NasDivorce can be crazy. Man, if you're happy... Love is a beast, man. Hold on. Be prepared for any way it may go, and be honest.
NasI've gone through too much, from beefs to divorce to my mom passing which I always expressed in my music, so there's not album that sticks out as more important than the other to me.
NasHip-hop artist, especially the older ones, are the ones who new hip-hop was a worldwide phenomenon before the mainstream caught on, so hip-hop artists are forward thinkers. We want to stay with the new.
NasMy skin is an art gallery right, with paintings and crucifixes hoping to save me from all the dangers in the music business
NasAt one point, the old school club retires and you're next up to bat, but if you stop before your time, you will see someone else live your dream.
NasI got the opportunity to meet people all over the world. Brilliant women, tall women, short women, slim women, thick women, you name it. But, I don't meet them. I have the opportunities to and it's a little bit - I'm a little shy, so I don't meet them and I don't know who's right for me.
NasI think it's harder to make a classic now, not because of what people say, but because artists now are so concerned with what people say.
NasSunlight and seeing something that was a thought become a thing and materialize - that makes me come alive.
NasThe Internet made the world smaller, so it's easier for people to hear your music. You don't necessarily need a radio record.
NasDon't ever give up on yourself. Keep pushing because the change of guards is what life's all about. [...] You've always got to stick with whatever you're into because you're day is going to come. You're day is destined. If you walk away from that, whether it be from fear or whether you're just giving up. [...] The greatest sin is fear and giving up.
NasSpeak what I want, I don't care what y'all feel. 'Cause I'm my own master, my Pop told me be your own boss. Keep integrity at every cost.
NasI talk about Africa and its meaning, being the birthplace of man and all that great history that's been erased and even hidden. I think it's my duty to be proud and to bring about the conversation that allows us to talk about the great history of my people.
NasMostly every form of American music is dead. It's been dead. R&B isn't really good. You got a handful of great guys - Ne-Yo, R. Kelly, Usher. You have a handful of great female artists. But for the most part the music world's changing and change is good. You have to make adjustments if you want to survive in that world. You start to thinking about creative moments - bliss. When everything was all good. You realize that in comparison to the way hip-hop started off, where we should be at right now is not there.
NasMy record company had to beg me to stop filmin' music videos in the projects. No matter what the song was about, I had 'em out there.
NasThere's always going to be space for battle in hip hop. For competition. It's just an inseparable part of the game.
NasI definitely have plans to do more collaboration albums in the future. I'm a big fan of Common. I'm a big fan of Scarface; I'm a big fan of so many people, from Jeezy to... well, there are a lot of people's music that I respect. I don't know who I will collaborate with, but there's a great chance of something happening.
NasTo me, it's an honour to be accepted as a hip hop artist, it gives me a lot of opportunity to express myself.
NasI had been through, of course, the divorce and I had been hit with some taxes that really showed me to be careful who's working with you and your money, and you have to be the one that is responsible for your money - you can't trust anyone and I did and I ran into a problem.
NasI had a pretty public divorce. They're not easy - divorces - and it took me a long time to really get through.
NasUnfortunately, man, a lot of places in America have to deal with unnecessary violence. Somebody like me who knows it firsthand and could relate... I had a best friend killed, plenty other friends killed. I been through it. I seen it.
NasNew York city is full of great spaces. The best spaces of the world are here. This is the new Europe, where the settlers came and busted out their ideas and put it down so there's nothing but great space in this great city.
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