Nas

Nas is an American rapper and actor who is the son of jazz musician Olu Dara. Nas has released eight consecutive platinum and multi-platinum albums since 1994, four of which topped the Billboard charts upon release and has sold over thirteen-million records in the United States. Nas was also part of the hip hop supergroup The Firm, which released one album under Dr. Dre's record label Aftermath.

In 1991, he debuted on the hip hop group Main Source's song "Live at the Barbeque". In 1992, Nas contributed the track "Halftime" to the soundtrack to the film Zebrahead. His debut album Illmatic, was released in 1994, followed by It Was Written, in 1996, which debuted at number 1 on the Billboard Charts. It included Lauryn Hill collaboration "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" and "Street Dreams". In 1999, Nas released two albums: I Am… and Nastradamus. While I Am reached double platinum status and included "Hate Me Now" and "Nas Is Like". Nastradamus featured the singles, "You Owe Me" and "Nastradamus".

After Jay-Z attacked Nas in his album The Blueprint, Nas released Stillmatic in 2001 with a track responding to Jay-Z's attack along with two singles "Got Ur Self A..." and "One Mic". Nas's 2002 album God's Son included "I Can" followed by the 2004 album Street's Disciple.

Nas settled his feud with Jay-Z by performing with Jay-Z in the rival rapper's "I Declare War" concert in October 2005. In 2006, he debuted on Def Jam with Hip Hop Is Dead, which became his third album to reach #1 on the American Billboard 200 album chart. In 2008, Nas released an untitled album that he controversially almost titled Nigger.

Nas has released three collaborative albums. In 1997, he teamed up with rappers AZ, Cormega, Foxy Brown, and Nature to form supergroup The Firm. Their self-titled album reached the top of the Billboard 200 and included two singles "Firm Biz" and "Phone Tap". In 2000, Nas released Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest, which included "Da Bridge 2001" and "Oochie Wally".In 2010, Nas and reggae singer Damian Marley released the collaborative album Distant Relatives. Two of his remixes reached the top ten of the Hot 100 which were "Hot Boyz" by Missy Elliott and "I'm Gonna Be Alright" by Jennifer Lopez. Nas has appeared in singles and tracks by his ex-wife Kelis, Sean Combs, Game, Ludacris, R. Kelly, and Mobb Deep.