Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones (September 14, 1973), better known by his stage name Nas, is an American rapper and businessman. Rooted in East Coast hip hop, he is regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time. The son of jazz musician Olu Dara, Jones's musical career began in 1989 as he adopted the moniker of "Nasty Nas" and recorded demos for Large Professor. He was a featured artist on Main Source's "Live at the Barbeque" (1991), also produced by Large Professor. Nas's debut album Illmatic (1994) received universal acclaim upon release, and is considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time; in 2021, the album was inducted into the Library of Congress's National Recording Registry. His second album It Was Written (1996) debuted atop the Billboard 200 and charted for four consecutive weeks; the album, along with its single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" (featuring Lauryn Hill), catapulted Nas into international success. Both released in 1999, Nas's albums I Am and Nastradamus were criticized as inconsistent and too commercially oriented, and critics and fans feared that his output was declining in quality. From 2001 to 2005, Nas was involved in a highly publicized feud with Jay-Z, popularized by the diss track "Ether". It was this feud, along with Nas's albums Stillmatic (2001), God's Son (2002), and the double album Street's Disciple (2004), that helped restore his critical standing. After squashing the feud, Nas signed to Jay-Z's Def Jam Recordings in 2006 and went in a more provocative, politicized direction with the albums Hip Hop Is Dead (2006) and his untitled 9th studio album (2008). In 2010, Nas released Distant Relatives, a collaboration album with Damian Marley, donating all royalties to charities active in Africa. His 10th studio album, Life Is Good (2012), was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards. After receiving thirteen nominations, his 12th studio album, King's Disease (2020), won him his first Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards; he then followed it by releasing his 13th studio album, King's Disease II (2021), as the album's sequel. In the same year, his 14th studio album, Magic, was released on Christmas Eve. In 2012, The Source ranked him second on their list of the "Top 50 Lyricists of All Time". In 2013, Nas was ranked 4th on MTV's "Hottest MCs in the Game" list. About.com ranked him first on their list of the "50 Greatest MCs of All Time" in 2014, and a year later, Nas was featured on the "10 Best Rappers of All Time" list by Billboard. He is also an entrepreneur through his own record label; he serves as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and the co-founder of Mass Appeal Records. Nas has released fourteen studio albums since 1994, ten of which are certified gold, platinum or multi-platinum in the U.S. Description above from the Wikipedia article Nas, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Filmography

• 2026Ice Cream Man — Executive Producer
• 2026Soul Patrol — Producer
• 2025Victory — Nas
• Supreme Team — Executive Producer
• 2022The Park Bench — Music Supervisor
• 2021Monster — Raymond 'Sunset' Green, Executive Producer
• 2021You're Watching Video Music Box — Self, Director
• 2018Nas: Live from the Kennedy Center — Himself, Executive Producer
• 2016Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping — Nas
• 2015Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives
• 2014Shake the Dust — Executive Producer
• 2013Black Nativity — Street Prophet (Isaiah)
• Hawaii Five-0 — Gordon Smith
• The Wendy Williams Show
• Short Circuitz
• 2005The Notorious B.I.G BET Official presents
• 2004Murda Muzik
• 2003Uptown Girls — Celebrity
• 2002Hype Williams: The Videos Vol. 1
• 2002John Q — Nas
• 2002The Making of What's Going On: All-Star Tribute
• 2001Ticker — Det. Art 'Fuzzy' Rice
• 1999In Too Deep — Drug Dealer on Street Corner
• 1998Belly — Sincere, Story
• 1997Men in Black — Songs
• The Chris Rock Show
• 1996Fugees: Live at New Pop Festival 1996
• All That
• Space Dogg — Music

Appearances as themselves (46)

• 2026Tribeca 25 — Self
• Billy Joel: And So It Goes — Self
• Sean Combs: The Reckoning — Self (archive footage)
• 2024TMZ Presents | The Downfall of Diddy 2: The Indictment — Self (archive footage)
• 2024Wu-Tang Clan & Nas: NY State of Mind Tour at Climate Pledge Arena — Self
• 2023Amazon Music Live: Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and De La Soul's 'N.Y. State of Mind Tour' — Himself
• 2022B.I.B.L.E. - The Documentary — Self
• 2022Louis Armstrong's Black & Blues — Self
• 2021Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 — Self - Performer
• 2020David Blaine: The Magic Way — Self
• The Last Dance — Self
• Rapture — Himself
• The Shop — Self
• American Epic — Self
• 2017Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G. — Self
• The Defiant Ones — Self
• 2017Word is Bond — Self
• 2016Alicia Keys - Here in Times Square — Self - Singer
• 2016The American Epic Sessions — Self
• 2015Fresh Dressed — Self
• 2015The Game: The Documentary 2 — Self
• The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self
• 2014Nas: Time Is Illmatic — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon — Self, Self - Musical Guest
• The Arsenio Hall Show — Self
• Finding Your Roots — Self
• Billy on the Street — Self
• 2010One Night in Vegas — Self
• 2009DJ Cinema Presents: Masterpiece Theater Blend Dvd — Self (archive footage)
• 2009DJ Juice: The King is Back Mixtape Blend DVD Vol. 70 — Self (archive footage)
• 2009DJ SWB Volume 6 | This Is How We Do — Self
• 2006Jay Z: Live at the Royal Albert Hall — Self
• The Colbert Report — Self
• 2005The MC: Why We Do It — Self
• And You Don't Stop: 30 Years of Hip-Hop — Self
• 2003Beef — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self, Self - Musical Guest
• 2003Nas: Made You Look - God's Son Live — Himself
• Real Time with Bill Maher — Self
• Diary — Self
• 1997Rhyme & Reason — Self
• The Daily Show — Self
• Yo! MTV Raps — Self
• MTV Video Music Awards — Self
• The Grammys — Self
• Nas: Life Is Good — Self