Nas

Nas, born Nasir Jones on September 14th, 1973, is a highly influential hip-hop artist who grew up in the Queensbridge projects of New York City, raised by his father, jazz musician Olu Dara. He began his music career in 1989 under the moniker Nasty Nas, collaborating with Large Professor and gaining recognition for his feature on Main Source's hit song “Live at the Barbeque” in 1991. Nas's debut album, Illmatic (1994), is widely considered a hip-hop classic and was certified gold. The album was later inducted into the Library Of Congress' National Recording Registry. Nas continued his success with his second album, It Was Written (1996), which featured the hit single ‘If I Ruled The World (Imagine That)’ with Lauryn Hill. Since 1994, Nas has released fifteen studio albums, with ten of them achieving gold or platinum status in the US. In addition to his music career, Nas is also an entrepreneur and co-founder of Mass Appeal Records, serving as associate publisher of Mass Appeal magazine and on the board of directors for The National Museum Of Hip Hop. His net worth in 2023 is estimated at $80 million. He has been recognized by The Source as the second ‘Top 50 Lyricists Of All Time’ and by About.com as the ‘50 Greatest MCs Of All Time.'