The Evolution of Nas

Follow the Queensbridge rapper's career through the years.

Escobar Season - Nas followed another shocking sacrilegous threat on MC Serch's "Back to the Grill Again" ("I'm wavin' automatic guns at nuns") with his incredible debut single "Halftime" from the soundtrack to the 1992 film Zebrahead. After two guests verses and one song, some were already calling him the "Second Coming of Rakim."(Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records)
Nas - “The Genesis,” Illmatic (1994) - Illmatic introduces us to one of hip hop’s most cinematic rappers with an intro that contains audio clips from Wild Style, a movie that inaugurated hip hop into film.(Photo: Columbia Records)
Nas, 'Street Dreams' - Nas went mafioso for "Street Dreams," off his second album, It Was Written. It was fitting, then, that the video, also directed by Hype Williams, used the Martin Scorsese film Casino as inspiration. (Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records)
Belly (1998) - Which Nas song is being referenced towards the end of the movie when Nas is talking to the youth on the park bench?Answer: "One Love"     (Photo: Courtesy Big Dog Films)Go Ahead and Hate... - After The Firm, his supergroup with Dr. Dre, Foxy Brown, AZ and Nature, underwhelmed, Nas struck back at purists who lamented his mainstream dreams with "Hate Me Now," featuring Puff Daddy (oh the irony). The fiery song and its controversial video helped his 1999 album I Am... hit double-platinum.(Photo: Courtesy Sony BMG Music)

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N.Y. State of Mind - After having his demo rejected by Russell Simmons and Def Jam, Nas signed to Sony and delivered his 1994 opus Illmatic, one of the best hip hop albums of all time, and one of the best debuts of any genre. Backed by a production dream team that included DJ Premier, Large Professor, Q-Tip and Pete Rock, the album is practically flawless, featuring unforgettable anthems such as "The World Is Yours," "One Love," "N.Y. State of Mind" and "It Ain't Hard to Tell." (Photo: Courtesy Columbia Records) 

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