Nas Q&A on Reddit

by **Raul** » Apr 15th, '14, 18:28

http://www.reddit.com/r/Music/comments/233t3x/i_am_nas_amaa/

Some questions he answered:

Who were your influences when you were recording illmatic?

The beauty of life.

As a veteran of hip-hop, you have seen over 2 decades of change. Who do you think is pushing the genre the furthest? Who is moving the culture forward, and who is regressing it?

I love what Drake is doing, and Kendrick Lamar. And also J. Cole.

There is a small but notable proportion of your fanbase which believes that your sophomore effort It Was Written is superior to Illmatic (me included). How do you view both albums in relation to each other today?

I mean, that was my point. I had to grow. So I'm happy you feel that way, because that was my goal, to make a superior record. I felt like at that point, if I didn't, I wouldn't be here now.

When you were recording Illmatic, did the 19 year old you ever stop and consider the implications of what you were recording? Did you ever imagine that people would be talking about you two decades later?

I wanted them to talk about me that day. Two decades later was a little far ahead for me to think about.