I like the way hip-hop is now. It's grown up enough so that it can get involved with politics if it feels like it.
NasToday, with the media, the internet, things get out there about anybody, anytime, so there's nothing wrong about talking about your life, because someone else is going to talk about it and mess it up.
NasSome people say I'm saying what they wanna say. Some people don't agree. Some people are outraged. Some people want to see what the album is about. To me, hip-hop's been dead for years. We all should know that, come on. With that being said, then, the object of the game now is to make money off of exploiting it. That's what it's all about - get this money. That's basically what I'm saying.
NasCalling Michelle 'Obama Barack's baby mama?' Tell me, is that acceptable? But the Obamas aren't the only targets. Fox's pattern of race-baiting and fear-mongering regularly focuses on black leaders, black institutions and ordinary black people.
NasWhen I made Illmatic, I was trying to make the perfect album. It comes from the days of Wild Style. I was trying to make you experience my life. I wanted you to look at hip-hop differently. I wanted you to feel that hip-hop was changing and becoming something more real.
NasWorking with great people makes you great; you learn a lot and it also gives you the experience and confidence to move on with your own career.
NasI used to carry a notebook to the studio. I don't do that no more 'cause I don't have the time to write anywhere but right there in the studio on the spot. So when you hear my stuff, know that I wrote it in the studio.
NasI sip the Dom P watching Gandhi til I'm charged - writing in my book of rhymes, all the words past the margin
NasI'm inspired by people like Nelson Mandela. Can you imagine - you know how racist America was back then - imagine how racism was in South Africa when he had to stand up and say what he had to say. That's bravery beyond comprehension.
NasAnybody I'm dating, I don't want them to talk about my music. I don't talk about my music to them.
NasWhen you're a teenager, you want to meet a lot of girls - you want to get the most girls. You don't know anything about respect; you don't know anything about being faithful and loyal to your girlfriend.
NasBusiness, endorsements and things of that nature, I got into it kinda naturally. Those ventures materialised as a direct result of things that I was actually doing; all the partnerships have been organic and not necessarily etched out plans for monetary gain.
NasLife is short is what some niggaz said; not if you measure life - by how one lives and what he did.
NasI want to sound like an instrument. I want my voice and my words to marry the beat. I go with the rhythm of it and the words start to come to my mind and those words could be based on things that's been on my mind for the past year, the past month, the past week, whatever; I write it.
NasBig L scared me to death. When I heard that on tape, I was scared to death. I was like there's no way I can compete if this is what I gotta compete with.
NasIf you really believe in yourself and your music that much, you're gonna do your thing, regardless what people say.
NasI love PBS! I grew up on it. If I had to say which channels were good, I'd say, you got your PBS, your History Channel, your Discovery.
Nas