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Rap veteran Nas recently gave his thoughts on the ever-changing rap game and why he felt authentic hip-hop died with the emergence of short-lived rap stars.
Claiming his 2006 Hip-Hop Is Dead project still holds true, Nas spoke on changes he notices in today's music industry.
"It died -- we're just picking up the bones in the graveyard and banging drums with the bones and re-creating what was there," Nas said in an interview. "It definitely died, but that doesn't mean that records can't be made, that that thing can't happen to get the world in a frenzy again. The difference is I don't know who these people are, I don't know what their intentions are and I don't think they care. It's just about money. And that's cool, I like money. But it's dead...I'm glad it became a business because that's the way of life and that's the way it happens. But before it was the thing to do, it was the most scariest, most beautiful, the most genius you ever witnessed. Now it's just a ghost of what it was. Artists get signed all over the place. They get told to make music like this or that, tattoo themselves up and they think they're gangstas and that's rap." (Boston Herald)
Nas has taken notice of rap newcomers as of lately including Young Money's Drake.
"[I'm listening to] Drake and always Scarface," Nas revealed in an interview earlier this year. "Drake is new. He's here to show anybody who questions him that he'll get at you. He's like fresh water right now on dry land." (Omaha World-Herald)
In addition to a collaboration record with Damian Marley, Nas is prepping the follow-up to 2008's Untitled.
"It's funny, drama is something that definitely kicks a fire underneath artists," he said in an interview. "But I try not to make that my focus. I'm trying to have peace and love. My sh*t right now is age-appropriate for myself. I love everything, most of the things that are going on musically. But my music will talk about what I see, how I see it, and it should be interesting. My last things were about what I felt about hip-hop and what I felt about race matters. This new thing will be a natural thing. I have a few things that I feel like doing, but who knows what it will be." (Billboard)
Claiming his 2006 Hip-Hop Is Dead project still holds true, Nas spoke on changes he notices in today's music industry.
"It died -- we're just picking up the bones in the graveyard and banging drums with the bones and re-creating what was there," Nas said in an interview. "It definitely died, but that doesn't mean that records can't be made, that that thing can't happen to get the world in a frenzy again. The difference is I don't know who these people are, I don't know what their intentions are and I don't think they care. It's just about money. And that's cool, I like money. But it's dead...I'm glad it became a business because that's the way of life and that's the way it happens. But before it was the thing to do, it was the most scariest, most beautiful, the most genius you ever witnessed. Now it's just a ghost of what it was. Artists get signed all over the place. They get told to make music like this or that, tattoo themselves up and they think they're gangstas and that's rap." (Boston Herald)
Nas has taken notice of rap newcomers as of lately including Young Money's Drake.
"[I'm listening to] Drake and always Scarface," Nas revealed in an interview earlier this year. "Drake is new. He's here to show anybody who questions him that he'll get at you. He's like fresh water right now on dry land." (Omaha World-Herald)
In addition to a collaboration record with Damian Marley, Nas is prepping the follow-up to 2008's Untitled.
"It's funny, drama is something that definitely kicks a fire underneath artists," he said in an interview. "But I try not to make that my focus. I'm trying to have peace and love. My sh*t right now is age-appropriate for myself. I love everything, most of the things that are going on musically. But my music will talk about what I see, how I see it, and it should be interesting. My last things were about what I felt about hip-hop and what I felt about race matters. This new thing will be a natural thing. I have a few things that I feel like doing, but who knows what it will be." (Billboard)
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