Nas participated in an AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Reddit yesterday. The Queens rapper shared some interesting anecdotes about his music career, his favorite albums, and his life in general. Notably, Nas wrote about how he didn't ghostwrite Will Smith's "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It." He also shared a list of albums he feels shaped hip-hop culture, including ones from Public Enemy, Jay Z, and Drake. Apparently the rapper also appreciates the works of Richard Pryor, and is infatuated with Sofia Vergara from Modern Family.
The AMA started with Nas writing, "This is Nas. My first album Illmatic is 20 years old. So today we're releasing Illmatic XX on vinyl and digital. Tomorrow Time is Illmatic (a documentary about the album) premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival here in New York City. Since 1994, I've released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums, had six number 1 albums on the Billboard 200 and sold over 25 million records worldwide. Besides rapping and acting I'm an entrepreneur w/ my own record label, retail sneaker store, and magazine publisher. Victoria from reddit will be helping me too."
Here is Nas' list of albums that shaped hip-hop:
Public Enemy's "It Takes A Nation of Millions To Hold US back"
Eric B and Rakim's "Paid In Full"
Drake's "Nothing Was the Same"
Jay-Z's "Magna Carta... Holy Grail"
Nas celebrated the upcoming 20th anniversary of his album,Illmatic, by performing it in full this past weekend at Coachella. Jay Z and Puff Daddy also made surprise appearances during his performance. Nas also released an album Illmatic XX, which includes remastered works of all of the songs from his classic debut and some rare freestyle and awesome remixes. You can purchase the album on iTunes right here.
Here is the full tracklist for the Illmatic XX album below:
Disc One:
01. The Genesis
02. N.Y. State of Mind
03. Life's a Bitch (Feat. AZ)
04. The World Is Yours
05. Halftime
06. Memory Lane (Sittin' In Da Park)
07. One Love
08. One Time 4 Your Mind
09. Represent
10. It Ain't Hard To Tell
Disc Two:
01. I'm A Villain (Previously Unreleased)
02. The Stretch Armstrong and Bobbito Show Freestyle (October 28, 1993)
03. Halftime (Butcher Remix)
04. It Ain't Hard To Tell (Remix) (Promo Single)
05. One Love (LG Main Mix)
06. Life's A Bitch (Arsenal Mix) (Promo Single)
07. One Love (One L Main Mix)
08. The World Is Yours (Tip Mix)
09. It Ain't Hard To Tell (The Stink Mix) (UK Single)
10. It Ain't Hard To Tell (The Laidback Remix) (UK Single)
