Nas believes hip-hop is in a much better place ten years after he declared the culture was dead.
Nas released his “Hip-Hop is Dead” album back in 2006 and sparked the beginning of what turned into a revitalization of the culture with artists like Lil Wayne, J. Cole, Kanye West, Kendrick Lamar and Drake taking the reigns. The legendary Queens rapper told “Any Given Wednesday With Bill Simmons" that some of those guys inspire him. When asked what he thinks of the state of hip-hop today Nas replied “better,” and explained why. “Because it gave birth to Kendrick and J. Cole. Drake and a few other great, great artists…They inspire me. Drake said something on his first album about me. In the liner notes, and J. Cole made an interesting song about me. And Kendrick has said some really positive words. He gave me a shout out when he won his Grammy. So, they inspire me.”
Nas also touched on his beef with Jay Z during the interview. “It was a healthy rap rivalry,” he said. “It went a little too far. But look at the results. Things can go really too far. Things can get out of hand. And we’re expected to be leaders. Especially coming from communities that we come from. We gotta do better. It’s up to us. We’re responsible for these kids that [are] looking at us. For our families. It’s not just sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll. And nothing matters. Yes, it matters. We learned. I learned from losing Biggie and Pac,” he said.
