The Five Greatest Nas Songs
Nas busted onto the scene and was called the second coming of Rakim and was anointed the new Hip-Hop God Emcee. Nas would prove everyone right throughout his music career as the Hip-Hop chosen one destined for greatness. Nas would record numerous hits and sell millions of albums while going through musical changes that fans would agree with and question. From supergroup, The Firm, which failed to live up to expectations set by fans to the transformation from Nasty Nas to Escobar to Nastradamus back to Nas, only made Nas more respected by not only his Hip-Hop peers but the whole music industry. Even at Nas’s lowest creative put, he was still better than the above-average rapper. Nas’s determination to be recognized as the best emcee, dead or alive, has helped create an untouched legacy. In this article, I will be discussing the five best Nas songs.
5. Nas “One Mic” (2001)
Music is therapy when it’s done right, and throughout Nas’s career, he has done it right. Nas understands the assignment when it comes to creating classic Hip-Hop songs. Nas knows his words are like weapons, but at the same time, his words can be used to heal the pain. Nas paints a picture of hell in the inner-city while also asking God to forgive him for his sins and the desire for life to be simple. Nas could blend street life with political and religious themes that anybody from any race could connect to.
4. Nas f/ Lauryn Hill “If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)” (1996)
Nas’s first full-length album was considered the Hip-Hop Bible because of its impact on Hip-Hop music at the time of the album release. When it was time for the second album, Nas decided to go a different route and create a song that would still be loved by underground Hip-Hop fans and loved by the mainstream. The song’s theme is Nas painting a picture of what the world would look like if he ruled it. The classic song would be Nas’s first major hit on the R&B charts and airwaves. The song would feature Lauryn Hill singing one of the most incredible hooks in Hip-Hop history.
If I ruled the world(imagine that)
I’d free all my sons, and I love’ em love’em baby black diamond and pearls
(Could it be, if you could be mine, we’d both shine?)
If I ruled the world
(Still living for today, in these last days and times)
3. Nas f/ AZ “Life’s a Bitch” (1994)
Nas was only a couple of years removed from his teenage years, but his mind was always ahead of his peers at the time. The chorus for “Life a Bitch” was a raw statement made for the streets to feel where Nas and AZ came from. The song is a celebration of life because death is something that comes without warning. Nas starts the song by discussing how he wakes up on his born day and proceeds to tell us to make the most out of life while we’re alive. AZ used this song to create what many people consider the greatest guest verse in Hip-Hop history. Nas adding his father Olu Dara playing trumpet at the end of the song was the icing on a warm piece of cake.
2. Nas “It Ain’t Hard to Tell” (1994)
The Afrocentric Asian(Half man, Half amazing) showed and proved on the second single of his classic debut album Illmatic. The Michael Jackson Human nature sample by Large professor was the perfect beat for Nas to show his lyrical skills over.”Speak with criminal slang/Begin like a violin/End like Leviathan/It’s deep, well let me try again.” This is just a tiny piece of what Nas did on the song, but this is still one of the best songs Nas ever made.
1. Nas “N.Y. State of Mind” (1994)
New York State of Mind is Nas’s greatest song and solidified him as a top ten emcee of all time. In the song, Nas displays his complex lyrical abilities and his storytelling abilities that he has become known for throughout his musical career. The opening Track of Illmatic is a retrospective of New York city through what Nas saw growing up in his childhood. Nas talks about Mac-10s, fiends, blend tapes, drugs, and women with beepers which became the blueprint to the Queensbridge rappers style. In this legendary Hip-Hop song, Nas says one of the most iconic Hip-Hop bars of all time: “I never sleep, Cause Sleep is the cousin of death” that line has religious origins and has been something that Hip-hop artists have lived by throughout the years. It is a line that hints at paranoia, insomnia, and the fear of missing out on a successful life.
