Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones, born September 14, 1973 in Queensbridge New York, more commonly known as Nas (formerly Nasty Nas, and Nas Escobar) is an American MC son of jazz musician Olu Dara, he grew up in the infamous Queensbridge housing projects in New York City His debut album Illmatic was released in 1994 was a critically acclaimed bestseller, and is widely considered one of the greatest rap albums of all time He married R & B singer Kelis in 2005, they have a son together and she filed for divorce April 29, 2009 Nas was also a part of hip hop super group the company released an album

In the years following the release of Illmatic Nas pursued a more commercial approach that leads to more success but declined artistic credibility among critics and hip-hoppurists also Nas' increased commercial success was accompanied by stylistic changes that benefited the accusations of "selling out" Nonetheless LP Still Matic often credited for restoring Nas credibility among fans as the result of Still Matic Nas continues to maintain a high profile within the hip hop community and has pursued a decidedly progressive and personal aesthetic While Nas current artistic direction differs greatly from his most successful work has been ensured that he remains one of the most respected ...

Early life

Nas, whose given name Nasir means "helper and protector" in Arabic, spent the first years of his life in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. His father Olu Dara was a jazz trumpeter and his mother Fannie Ann Jones was a Postal Service worker. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari who assumes the alias Jungle. While in Brooklyn, Nas would listen to his father's trumpet in his house's stoop at age four. The family soon after moved to the Queensbridge Houses. Olu Dara left the household in 1986, when Nas was 13, and Ann Jones raised her two boys on her own. Nas soon dropped out of school in the eighth grade. He educated himself, reading about African culture and civilization, 360° Lessons, Nubian Islamic Hebrew scrolls, the Bible, and the Qur'an. He also studied the origin of hip hop music, taping records that played on his local radio station.

DISCOGRAPHYEdit

Studio albums

• Illmatic (1994)
• It Was Written (1996)
• I Am... (1999)
• Nastradamus (1999)
• Stillmatic (2001)
• God's Son (2002)
• Street's Disciple (2004)
• Hip Hop Is Dead (2006)
• Untitled (2008)
• Life Is Good (2012)

Collaboration albums

• The Firm: The Album (with The Firm) (1997)
• Distant Relatives (with Damian Marley) (2010)

Compilation albums

• QB's Finest (with Various Artists) (2000)
• From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes (2002)
• The Lost Tapes (2002)
• Greatest Hits (2007)
• The Lost Tapes: Vol. 2 (2012)