S. Samuel
Grammy-nominated rapper Nas has revealed how he selects beats and why some collaborations and tracks get scraped due to time restraints.
According to Nas, his process begins by considering all the producers he would like to link with.
“Well I have a wish list sometimes or I have a dream list of who I would love to work with and wish they would want to get in the studio and do records or whatever,” Nas said in an interview. “Then I have my own ideas of being a producer. And what happens is a lot of time goes by with me being indecisive so it winds up with me kind of like doing what I have to do really fast because I played around for so long. Then, the deadlines come. But, you never know who has it, everyone’s got a lot of talent. You have Little Brother, you have Drumma Boy. There’s a lot of dudes I like right now. You have DJ Toomp.” (BET)
Last month, Nas talked about being a hip-hop veteran and watching rap newcomers.
“Where do I see myself, I’m waiting for the rap game to catch up,” Nas said during a press conference. “Not to sound arrogant, that’s just a generational thing. When the young guys come out, they hit me on the BlackBerry, real rap and it’s love because they can tell I love them. And it’s just like, we’re speaking from different perspectives so that’s why they appreciate the older stuff and kinda like it, or the guys that’s older than them because they can see where their future might be. But meanwhile, they’re reinventing the game from the early stage from a young stage.” (Rap Radar)
Nas is currently putting together his new Damian Marley collaboration album, Distant Relatives.
“Reggae and hip-hop are cousins,” he said in an interview. “Go back before the ’90s and think about the music that was playing on the ghetto blasters and you’ll hear it…The whole world is like family, split up all over the place. It’s overdue, and I want to help build whatever we can [in Africa]. I’ve worked with a lot of reggae artists, like Sizzla and Supercat, but not until [2005’s] Jamrock did I get a chance to work with Damian. I love his music and I’m a big fan of Bob Marley and the whole family. We haven’t worked out any tour dates yet. But I’m sure Damian and I will do something soon.” (Miami Herald)
Marley recently shared his reaction to Lil Wayne‘s contribution as a guest feature on the album.
“It’s funny, because the track is called ‘My Generation,'” Damian explained in an interview. “It’s definitely geared towards that. Wayne really showed a lot of respect in his verse, in the way that he handled it. He handled it exactly would’ve really loved him to. I don’t have any criticism at all about what he did. I think it’s a great and blessed track. That’s all I can really say about that.” (Hip Hop DX)
Check out a recent Nas interview below:
