S. Samuel
Rap veteran Nas recently discussed working on his latest solo album Life Is Good and why he places ample emphasis on the quality of his music.
With over two decades under his belt, Nas said he still looks for original and innovative ways to make new tunes.
“Every time I approach records, it comes from an honest place and comes from a place that I haven’t seen in any other rap artist because of how long I’ve been doing it,” Nas said in an interview. “So I fell it was important to represent for that guy where that lane was closing, so many different styles of music were starting to come out where a guy like me could be forgotten and the thing I represented could be forgotten. The thing is that so many people like me are still alive and still dying to hear the music by the artists they kinda grew with. It was important for me to give them that record that they can stand with and feel great about. So that was the process.” (VIBE)
In late summer, Roc Nation’s Jay Electronica called Nasty Nas an elite hip-hop veteran.
“Nas is one of the gods, one of the greatest of all time, one of the godfathers of even my own style,” he said. “I met him on a humble submission and he is one of the greatest ever — he never has or never will need a ghostwriter. He’s legendary, his pen game is unquestionable; salute to Nas. “And all of the other bullsh–, is just bullsh–,” he added, addressing the stories that have been told over the past few weeks. (MTV)
His new Life Is Good album has been fully embraced by rappers like Royce Da 5’9 and Fabolous.
“I think it’s actually a breath of fresh air for hip-hop,” Fab said. “It’s a different direction than a lot of the hip-hop that’s been coming out more recent. It’s so fresh. It’s so good to hear fresh music once in a while. You know, nothing wrong with the sound that’s in hip-hop right now, except for that it’s over-saturated you know, but I think Nas gives a different approach. I think that’s dope. “It’s just about making great hip-hop overall and I think Nas’ album adds to that,” ‘Loso added. (XXL Mag)
Recently, Nas spoke on older hip-hop artists having to adapt to the times.
“More than ever, entertainment is about self-promotion — using the power of your fans through social media to market live shows and new business ventures and move a few records. The direct connection to the fans is not just freeing artists from the old corporate structure; it’s redefining the relationship between creator and audience. When piracy hit the entertainment industry, artists were distraught and began distrusting their own fan bases. In truth, it was a response borne from confusion rather than logic. The passion the fans had for what we were creating never went away; we just had to evolve to survive in the new digital world. A huge aspect of that evolution is offering a glimpse into your lifestyle — being more accessible. The power that Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram offer is immense. Being an artist today is not only about being creative in what you produce, but finding creative ways to show people what you’re doing. Artists everywhere took notice when Louis C.K. sold his stand-up special and show tickets without a network backing him on the promotion and distribution. That truly was innovation at its best. [sic]” (Tech Crunch)
Check out Nas’ interview:
