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How did you
come across this project?
Nas: Spike is a cool brother.
Tanya came at me. They said they thought
I’d be good for it. They showed me two
or three episodes. I said yeah I could
relate to that. This is my first time
doing some major TV stuff.
Does this make
you want to do more TV? And do you have
any ideas?
Nas: Yeah. Definitely.
Did you score
music for each episode? How did that
work?
Nas: I just did the theme
song.
Have you ever
thought of having a television show
based on some of your rap stories?
Nas: Actually, we’re
developing one now. It’s about a young
girl living in the world. Its about what
our women are going through and coming
up in.
Do you have
anyone in mind to play the main role?
Nas: Its still in early
development.
What was your
take on the episodes?
Nas: Well, I saw about three.
I think it’s great. The first thing I
thought was like, wow, this is some good
TV. On my new album, I talk bad about
TV. So, when I was called for this and
they showed me…I was like good. Good. I
can relate to this. I think, not just
people like myself but kids everywhere
can relate to it.
Where there TV
shows that affected you?
Nas: Yeah. I talk about Red
Foxx and Jeffersons. And you know shows
I grew up watching. All in the Family;
those shows represented the times. When
watching shows now, I have a 10 year old
daughter, and she is watching
everything. And one day I caught some of
those cartoons and my thoughts were
like, some of it didn’t belong in
cartoons. And then in some shows,
there’s something missing. I love
Martin. But in some shows their just
doing anything.
Your talking
about television shows but what about
music? There is tons of music that has
profanity that sways minds as well.
Nas: I think the music plays
a small part. A really tiny part. TV is
in millions of homes where familys are
watching it. Television gets to people
differently. That’s why you only see
certain kinds of shows. With music,
there’s no real stopping it. They’ve
tried to stop rap music, rock n’ roll
before. And its only made it stronger.
For television, it’s not going to be as
raw as music. For good reason. But it
still should be good. And that was my
point.
Your music is
real authentic in the sense of real hip
hop. Do you think some of the music that
is put out today fake? Is it coming from
their heart and not a real true
experience?
Nas: It’s not really their
fault. They were babies when the true
artists were around. So when they grew
up it was when the sensationalism was
following Tupac and the murder of Biggie
Smalls. Thugism has become commercial.
To shoot somebody now is hot. So, that’s
were the problem is. And that’s not
where rap music is. It was just spoken
word from the streets. And you had guys
like De La Soul who never talked about
murder. They had album covers with a
flower pot on the cover. It was cool.
You had Slick Rick who talked about the
moment he feared. Rappers today are
like, I;m a killer, I;m a murderer. But
they don’t kill. They don’t murder. So,
why would you want to put that in your
universerse. And put that in your music
and go out to the universerse. And its
really harmful. There is going to be a
huge turn around real soon. Because kids
are starting to realize there was hip
hop before them. Its’ not about murder.
James Mtume sat
on a panel saying that the music
industry is interested more in making
hits than making careers. What’s your
response to that?
Nas: That’s absolutely true.
That’s why there’s not a lot of really
hip hop albums. Like stories or themes.
Like an album should have a feel. Like
when I hear I want you by Marvin Gaye.
It’s a feeling. It’s a vibe. I can get
into his head. But when I listen to rap
today, I’m just hearing the hottest
loudest drums in the world. Some guy is
doing what’s trendy whats hot today. And
that’s not what an album is. Anybody can
do that. My daughter can do that. So, an
artist is someone who paints pictures
and takes you somewhere else and makes
you cry. I like music that makes me cry.
You can’t get that on rap albums today.
I would get that from Tupac. I would get
that from earlier artists. But you can’t
get that from today’s rap.
The
collaboration on Thug Mansion was great.
How did you come about doing that?
Nas: I was honored. Afenie
Shakur and her assistant contacted me
and played me a bunch of records of his.
I was honored to be on the first single.
What parts of
the show affected the musical content?
Nas: I definitely watched it.
And the Lee family told me what it was
about and the network told me what it
was about. When you think about a Puerto
Rican mom…I added a guitar that sounded
Latin. The story was something that I
see everyday.
Are you looking
to do more in films?
Nas: Yeah. I was just telling
Spike how he worked with Prince and
Stevie Wonder in Jungle Fever. Curtis
Mayfield in Supa Fly. Celine Dion in
Titanic. Music makes movies. A lot of
movies were based on music. Menace to
Society was all of Ice Cube’s lyrics. I
definitely see were they work hand and
hand. I definitely have no choice but to
do more.
Do you have any
collaborations coming on your way?
Nas: There’s a lot of
interesting things out there, coming my
way. It’s all about what’s right for me
right now.
How’s married
life?
Nas: Married life is really
cool. It’s something that I feel is
mandatory as a man. So many people walk
through life scared and insecure. And we
have this picture of Knights in shining
armor in our head, this person in our
minds. I think its all about being
friends with somebody and enjoy that.
All my hero’s have been married.
Malcolm, Martin and Richard Pryor…over
and over again. All of my hero’s have
been married so it was inevitable. I
needed it my life. I was kind of
reckless. I’m an adult now. I can’t
afford to be reckless alone. I need
someone to be reckless with.
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