Nas

Nas (real name Nasir Bin Olu Dara Jones) is an American rapper, record producer, actor and entrepreneur.

Early Accomplishments

In 1992, Nas got his big break when a song he made titled Half Time was used as a soundtrack for the film Zebrahead. He got signed up by Columbia Records and the resulting album in 1994 titled Illmatic gathered plaudits from everywhere for his lyrical recital of the tough-as-nail inner-city life.

Best Known For

His premiere album, Illmatic, peaked at number 12 on the Billboard pop chart.

He has proceeded to record 10 more albums after that, selling 25 million copies worldwide.

Nas was also embroiled in a fierce conflict with Jay-Z for many years and they dedicated ‘diss’ tracks to each other. Ether is the most popular of these. They are friends and partners today.

Sexual Orientation

Nas is straight. He was engaged to Carmen Bryan before briefly dating Mary J. Blige. He eventually married R&B star, Kelis before getting divorced after 4 years.

Family

Nas and his brother, Jungle are born to Olu Dara and Fannie Ann.

He has 2 kids. Destiny is his daughter with ex-fiancée, Carmen and Knight is his son with ex-wife, Kelis.

Religion

There is no clear evidence as to what religion Nas practises. Although he is born to a Muslim father, his mother is Christian and he also titled an album “God’s Son” even if his lyrics contain both Islamic and Christian messages. Nevertheless, there are major claims he belongs to a religion called Nation of Gods and Earths (also known as 5 percenters).

Worth To Know

Asides being a rapper, Nas also paints. He once sold a painting he had just completed for $14,000 at an art gallery but donated the profits to charity.

As an entrepreneur, he has greatly invested in startup tech companies such as Dropbox and Lyft.

He also has his clothing line and sneakers store.

The man has other aliases such as Nasty Nas, Kid Wave and Nas Escobar.