Explore the most impactful and insightful quotes and sayings by Nas, and enrich your perspective with the wisdom. Share these inspiring Nas quotes pictures with your friends on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, or your personal blogs, completely free. Here are the top 217 Nas quotes for you to read and share.
Man, me and Biggie were the biggest artists in New York. When he passed, I was so messed up. My attitude was messed up about him dying. There was an East-West thing back then, and I was in war mode. -- Nas
I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still blessed with the opportunity to make music and pass out a message like, 'Life is good,' to the world. -- Nas
I think a lot of us know when it's our time. No matter what profession you're in, you get a feeling. If you worked on it long enough, you know when it's ready. -- Nas
People give me a better understanding on things that I said, or a different way to look at it. -- Nas
I'm over dey heads like a bulemic on a seesaw -- Nas
The flaws, the mistakes I make - that's the real me. -- Nas
I'm not talking about Russia in my music. I've never been to Russia. I'm not talking about Africa, Switzerland, China. I'm talking about me being American and growing up in a crazy world and helping to reflect all different sides of life. -- Nas
When I try to sound like the contemporary sound, it never turns out that way. That's just me. -- Nas
I'm just flowing through, when I see things, I talk about 'em. And it's cool. I don't want any title. I just say what I say, and hopefully somebody gets it. I'm not perfect, and I'm just here and trying to make a dollar, and being real at the same time -- Nas
I see N.Y. hip-hop like I see N.Y. streets. N.Y. streets are grimy; it's a grind. N.Y. rappers are hustlers - whatever sound is in, we can adapt to that; there's nothing wrong with that. -- Nas
I want to have fun. It's a beautiful life. You learn, you win, you lose, but you get up. -- Nas
Play it cool, that's the old school rule man ... -- Nas
You got a handful of great guys - Ne-Yo, R. Kelly, Usher. You have a handful of great female artists. But for the most part the music world's changing and change is good. You have to make adjustments if you want to survive in that world. -- Nas
I wish the music business was a much easier thing, but you know what? Nothing easy is worth anything. So it is what it is. There comes a time when things can work out and everybody can be happy. And that's what it's all about in the end - everybody being happy and working it out. -- Nas
If I made an album just to sell you a story about how I'm the man, it really doesn't show any human side to me. It's good to talk about what's real and what's relevant. -- Nas
No temporary chaos is worth your sanity. Just knowing that whatever happens, it happens to the best of them too. -- Nas
My record company had to beg me to stop filmin' music videos in the projects. No matter what the song was about, I had 'em out there. -- Nas
You have to keep your vision clear, cause only a coward lives in fear. -- Nas
I love the art world, I love art galleries, I love what it means - I love art. -- Nas
Calling Michelle 'Obama Barack's baby mama?' Tell me, is that acceptable? But the Obamas aren't the only targets. Fox's pattern of race-baiting and fear-mongering regularly focuses on black leaders, black institutions and ordinary black people. -- Nas
There was a lot of negative that was put on rappers for using the word, and I feel like we're just misunderstood. Most of us are; some of us is just plain wack. -- Nas
No Ideas original - there is nothing new under the sun ... -- Nas
Through the lights cameras and action, glamour glitters and gold
I unfold the scroll, plant seeds to stampede the globe ... -- Nas
Anybody can be a rapper, but not anybody can be a classical artist. -- Nas
To me, hip-hop's been dead for years. We all should know that. With that being said, then, the object of the game now is to make money off of exploiting it. That's what it's all about - get this money. That's basically what I'm saying. -- Nas
It's a thin line between paper and hate,
Friends and snakes, nine millis and thirty-eights,
Hell or the pearly gates ... I was destined to come,
Predicted, blame God, He blew breath in my lungs. -- Nas
My success symbolizes loyalty, great friends, Dedication, hard work, routine builds character. In a world full of snakes, rats and scavengers -- Nas
Love the skinny model chicks but I prefer the thickness. -- Nas
The hardest thing is to forgive, but God does, even if you murdered or robbed, ya it's wrong, but God loves, take one step toward him he'll take two toward you, even when all else fails, God'll support you -- Nas
People afraid of criticism but I always put myself in a sacrificial position,they been know I ain't just rappin for fame -- Nas
Whats up with your motto? Will you lead? Will you follow? -- Nas
When you have a daughter, you want to protect her from the things that I've seen out there, you know, the things that's out there that ain't good for her. It's a crazy world we live in. -- Nas
I'm inspired by people like Nelson Mandela. Can you imagine - you know how racist America was back then - imagine how racism was in South Africa when he had to stand up and say what he had to say. That's bravery beyond comprehension. -- Nas
I never see the whips niggas be claimin' they drivin,
I guess 'entertainment' means blatantly lyin'. -- Nas
But uhh, a thug changes, and love changes
and best friends become strangers, word up -- Nas
I've been called everything. Gangsta rap. I've been called conscious rap. You know, everything. Whoever feels like calling it whatever they want to call it, that's on them. -- Nas
Some people say I'm conscious, some say I'm a gangsta rapper - it's just me doing me. I'm stomping in my own lane. I'm doing what I do. -- Nas
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe -- Nas
Speak what I want, I don't care what y'all feel. 'Cause I'm my own master, my Pop told me be your own boss. Keep integrity at every cost, -- Nas
We're all Africans, everyone - black, white, yellow. -- Nas
Used to ride with him to Brooklyn, Lewis and Halsey, co chocolate thai, vernon style and burn it down -- Nas
There was a side of me that knew I was gonna change the game, but I didn't know how many people would respect it. -- Nas
Hip-hop ain't died because of the South, that's retarded. -- Nas
I never brag, how real i keep it, cause thats the best secret ... -- Nas
It's not just hip-hop that's dead. Mostly every form of American music is dead. It's been dead. R&B isn't really good. -- Nas
Just sitting in silence is one of the best things a man can do. -- Nas
Hip-hop artists, especially the older ones, are the ones who knew hip-hop was a worldwide phenomenon before the mainstream caught on, so hip-hop artists are forward thinkers. We want to stay with the new. -- Nas
When you're a teenager, you want to meet a lot of girls - you want to get the most girls. You don't know anything about respect; you don't know anything about being faithful and loyal to your girlfriend. -- Nas
In hip hop no one cares. No one stands up for it and it's a mess. We need order so we can all follow the tradition of where we came from. We need to keep referring to the pioneers. -- Nas
My duration's infinite, money-wise or physiology. -- Nas
I lay puzzle as I backtrack to earlier times, Nothing's equivalent to the New York state of mind -- Nas
On the reals, all these crab niggaz know the deal,
When we start the revolution, all they'll probably do is squeal. -- Nas
My first record - it was 1991. I was 16 years old. My first album came out when I was 20. So, I've been here that long and I still have the passion to do it. -- Nas
I don't get jealousy, I don't get how people hate each other - I never did. -- Nas
Mind's in another world thinking how can we exist through the facts -- Nas
You're supposed to be who you are. You're supposed to make music that is true to you. -- Nas
I'm a storyteller and the Bible is a bunch of stories about life and things that took place here on planet earth. It's a great example to use and a great reason to be happy about being a storyteller because the lessons of the land are always in stories. -- Nas
DJs play a big responsibility of what hip-hop is doing ... At the end of the day, it's up to us to control and to own hip-hop. DJs need to challenge us rappers. They got so much power, they need to challenge us. -- Nas
I used to keep a dictionary and work with it and then I realized there are more words that exist in the English language than there are in this dictionary. -- Nas
All fatherhood is very important because single mothers shouldn't have to raise sons or daughters; they need that help. -- Nas
You ni**az get me sick, wannabe soundin like you know my arithmetic ... but we don't sound alike -- Nas
I can't control what people think. They know who I am. -- Nas
Marley is someone before his time, man. He's - he's almost - he's like a deity, like almost, you know what I mean? I just talk about what's going on, but of course, you know, Bob, before rappers, was already laying that kind of thing down. -- Nas
You know the block was ill as a youngster
Every night it was like a, cop would get killed body found in the dumpster -- Nas
You know, rap is sort of like a form of talking, right? So it's like you can hear, you know, the slaves doing it. You can hear, like, you know, Africans and Jamaicans doing it just kind of as, like, a rhythmic, poetic conversation, you know, to a rhythm. -- Nas
No matter who you are, black, white, green, there's going to be things in your way, you know what I mean? -- Nas
I got the opportunity to meet people all over the world. Brilliant women, tall women, short women, slim women, thick women, you name it. But, I don't meet them. I have the opportunities to and it's a little bit - I'm a little shy, so I don't meet them and I don't know who's right for me. -- Nas
I don't want any title. I just say what I say, and hopefully somebody gets it, man. I'm not perfect, and I'm just here and trying to make a dollar, and being real at the same time, you know? -- Nas
When I write a story, I just wanna tell you what's in my head. It can come from real life and then turn into fantasy, stuff just rhyming. And write about what you know. I just like to tell stories that have not been told or told from my perspective. -- Nas
I know you think my life is good 'cause my diamond piece,
But my life been good since I started finding peace. -- Nas
I used to carry a notebook to the studio. I don't do that no more 'cause I don't have the time to write anywhere but right there in the studio on the spot. So when you hear my stuff, know that I wrote it in the studio. -- Nas
I know i can, be what i wanna be, if i work hard at it, I'll be where i wanna be -- Nas
I wanted to say what wasn't being said. I wanted to give people a real story. I wanted people to know people like me exist in the world. -- Nas
Africa has been going through so much for so many years; it's time that it stands up the way other nations are standing up. -- Nas
You a slave to a page in my rhyme book. -- Nas
I think more people want to be rappers than anything else. -- Nas
When I say 'hip-hop is dead,' basically, America is dead. There is no political voice. Music is dead. -- Nas
I don't kill soloists only kill squads -- Nas
What you call a infinite brawl, eternal souls clashin
War gets deep, some beef is everlastin -- Nas
I'm the young city bandit, hold myself down singlehanded
For murder raps, I kick my thoughts alone, get remanded
Born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne
I'm deep by sound alone, caved inside in a thousand miles from home -- Nas
Everything will eventually come to an end,
So try to savor the moment, cause time flies, don't it?
The beauty of life, you gotta make it last for the better,
Cause nothin' lasts forever. -- Nas
Anybody I'm dating, I don't want them to talk about my music. I don't talk about my music to them. -- Nas
When I made Illmatic, I was trying to make the perfect album. It comes from the days of Wild Style. I was trying to make you experience my life. I wanted you to look at hip-hop differently. I wanted you to feel that hip-hop was changing and becoming something more real. -- Nas
People have stopped battling in hip hop, in the primitive sense, and the focus of the competitive element has shifted to the music. It's less about bragging and more about being the best lyrically and poetically. -- Nas
So many affluent men are faced with finding love problems. I'm sure beautiful, affluent women are faced with the same things sometimes. -- Nas
I've met a lot of people and happened to inspire a lot of people who I'm in conversation with about business. It's just how things are going for me and it's great, but music is always going to be number one for me. -- Nas
I had been through, of course, the divorce and I had been hit with some taxes that really showed me to be careful who's working with you and your money, and you have to be the one that is responsible for your money - you can't trust anyone and I did and I ran into a problem. -- Nas
Freedom or jail clips inserted, a baby's being born/ Same time a man is murdered, the beginning and end. -- Nas
I never stood for any president in my life, never voted, before Barack Obama. It changed my life to vote. It starts there with me. I never cared for politics before Barack Obama. I never thought it mattered to people like me. -- Nas
Shorty's laugh was cold-blooded as he spoke so foul,
Only twelve tryin to tell me that he liked my style.
Then I rose, wiping the blunt's ash from my clothes,
Then froze, only to blow the herb smoke through my nose. -- Nas
I think the hip-hop purists are purists through and through. They're here to criticize all of us. That's just how it is. We as MC's criticize each other. That's the nature of hip-hop. -- Nas
Big L scared me to death. When I heard that on tape, I was scared to death. I was like there's no way I can compete if this is what I gotta compete with. -- Nas
A lot of times it seems like, you ain't gon' make it where you wanna be in life. But, yo if you got a plan, believe me you gon' get there. You gon' get everything you ever wanted -- Nas
Every time I get in the studio, I feel like I wanna have some fun. My fun is not doing the easy work. My fun is doing what's me. -- Nas
Much success to you, even if you wish me the opposite. -- Nas
Turnin' nothin' into somethin' is God work, and you get nothin' without struggle and hard work -- Nas
I never sleep, cause sleep is the cousin of death. -- Nas
Failure is not an option, and I always felt like I'm a man who doesn't have regrets, and I don't live with excuses. I can't take excuses. -- Nas
America is a melting pot for all different groups of people, historically. And it's rare that the story of all of these people will be told in the history books. So I always felt I had to find out my history for myself and research my roots. -- Nas
Business, endorsements and things of that nature, I got into it kinda naturally. Those ventures materialised as a direct result of things that I was actually doing; all the partnerships have been organic and not necessarily etched out plans for monetary gain. -- Nas
I want each album to say something different and be accepted better than the last one but I don't have any point to outdo any particular album of mine. -- Nas
Rule No. 1 is you can't be fake. If you're fake, you become a gimmick and you're selling a gimmick; a little gimmick is cool, this is entertainment. But when you base your stuff on mostly real stuff, you never run out of it because every day is a different adventure. -- Nas
The whole thing is, do as much as you can, when you possibly can, and don't stress. -- Nas
I'm a firm believer that we all meet up in eternity,
Just hope the Big Man show me some courtesy -- Nas
Hip-hop lasted and survived all these years that you have to give it credit. Even though it's not up to people's expectations anymore, its still here, and that's says a lot. -- Nas
I expect the hip-hop audience to be avant garde. I want them to be where I'm at or beyond where I'm at. -- Nas
I'm capable of anything, my imagination can give me wings -- Nas
You can't count a man out because one record went different direction. You gotta count the things that scored, not the misses. -- Nas
I pledge allegiance to the fair and balanced truth.
Not the biased truth,
Not the liest truth,
But the highest truth. -- Nas
True in the game, as long as blood is blue in my veins
I pour my Heineken brew to my deceased crew on memory lane -- Nas
I have no tattoos that I regret - I have had some that I have had changed according to how my life was. -- Nas
The Internet made the world smaller, so it's easier for people to hear your music. You don't necessarily need a radio record. -- Nas
GaGa is one of my favourites. Her voice is incredible and she's fearless and she's ahead of the game. She's ahead of the entire game, and I admire that. -- Nas
If the virgin Mary had an abortion, I'd still be carried in a chariot of stampeding horses. -- Nas
Beyond the walls of intelligence, life is defined -- Nas
The reason I want to be alone, is I'm tired of all the things that went wrong that would've went right if I had did 'em on my own -- Nas
Every great person educates themselves. -- Nas
Some people work hard to be something that they're not, and I don't work at all, I'm just me. And that can bother anybody I'm not working nearly as hard as the other guys, and they don't like it. -- Nas
Your look reflects what's happening in your mind. You gotta have some swag to you. -- Nas
You only have one first chance to make one first impression that lasts a lifetime. -- Nas
The big stars in rap, they were too big, so when my rap generation started, it was about bringing you inside my apartment. It wasn't about being a rap star; it was about anything other than. -- Nas
I just enjoy life now. I just enjoy every morning I get to wake up. -- Nas
All I need is one mic
One beat, one stage
One ni%$a frontin' my face on the front page
Only if I had one gun, one girl and one crib
One god to show me how to do things his son did. -- Nas
To me, creatively challenging myself is my version of owning the Nets. -- Nas
I had a pretty public divorce. They're not easy - divorces - and it took me a long time to really get through. -- Nas
For my hustlers, here's some motivation: He who has begun is half done. -- Nas
With age comes common sense and wisdom. -- Nas
All I need is one mic . All I need is one life, one try, one breath, I'm one man. -- Nas
I talk about Africa and its meaning, being the birthplace of man and all that great history that's been erased and even hidden. I think it's my duty to be proud and to bring about the conversation that allows us to talk about the great history of my people. -- Nas
I'm a reader, so when I go to bookstores I need (stuff) that's going to help me. There a big emptiness there and I want to help fill that through song. -- Nas
Born alone, die alone, no crew to keep my crown or throne -- Nas
Some seek fame cause they need validation,
Some say hating is confused admiration. -- Nas
With rap music, because it's all so on the street, you get treated like a street cat: "All right, you've been eatin' enough, you're fat, get out of the way now and let somebody else come by." -- Nas
Hip-hop is such an amazing thing that kids still want to do it. They're not saying, "Ugh, that's the old people's music." No, they're younger than they've ever been that want to get into hip-hop music. -- Nas
You can't please everybody. You'd be crazy if you're trying to. So take some time out to do some things for yourself. -- Nas
That buck that bought a bottle could have struck the lotto -- Nas
I'm out for presidents to represent me (Say what?)
I'm out for dead presidents to represent me. -- Nas
And the stuff that I write, is even tougher than dykes -- Nas
Act your age don't pretend to be older than you are give yourself time to grow -- Nas
I think the fact that I made enough noise in the world that I might be remembered is an amazing achievement. You can't ask for more than that. -- Nas
What you base your happiness around?
Material, women, and large paper?
That means you inferior, not major. -- Nas
My weapon of choice is my voice. -- Nas
I don't meditate. Silence is golden though. -- Nas
No one's promised anything. You could have the biggest record on radio and sell no records. -- Nas
'Stillmatic' is the rebirth of 'Illmatic,' my first debut album to come out in 1994. 'Stillmatic' is me coming full circle in my career and with everything, and just bringing pure hip-hop back. -- Nas
No matter where you're from - you can be Native American, Italian, Jewish, Latino, African-American - whatever you are, we're all distant relatives. -- Nas
Respect all fear none my pride is everything -- Nas
Hip-hop is bigger than the South; hip-hop is bigger than New York. -- Nas
It's never been seen that a street artist go as far as I've gone - keep consistent without wanting to do a bunch of ventures outside of music to keep my face out there. -- Nas
'Life Is Good' represents the most beautiful, dramatic and heavy moments in my life. -- Nas
Life is short is what some niggaz said; not if you measure life - by how one lives and what he did. -- Nas
Hip-hop is the streets. Hip-hop is a couple of elements that it comes from back in the days ... that feel of music with urgency that speaks to you. It speaks to your livelihood and it's not compromised. It's blunt. It's raw, straight off the street - from the beat to the voice to the words. -- Nas
Street's disciple, my raps are trifle.
I shoot slugs from my brain just like a rifle. -- Nas
The Chinamen built the railroad, the Indians saved the Pilgrim,
And in return, the Pilgrim killed 'em.
They call it it Thanksgiving, I call your holiday 'hell-day.' -- Nas
I like the way hip-hop is now. It's grown up enough so that it can get involved with politics if it feels like it. -- Nas
Don't speak to fools, they scorn the wisdom of your words. -- Nas
Jamaican music can be aggressive, soulful, smooth and exciting all at once - just like hip-hop. At the same time, there's nothing like Jamaica in the United States. Jamaica is its own thing. -- Nas
My skin is an art gallery right, with paintings and crucifixes hoping to save me from all the dangers in the music business -- Nas
There's always going to be space for battle in hip hop. For competition. It's just an inseparable part of the game. -- Nas
I fell in love with words and I think that made my mom smile. I think that was cool for her. -- Nas
You lose money chasing women;
Never lose women chasing money. -- Nas
Hip-hop is really standoffish. It's really competitive and it's really about who's number one all the time. Sometimes it gets out of hand. -- Nas
I want to sound like an instrument. I want my voice and my words to marry the beat. I go with the rhythm of it and the words start to come to my mind and those words could be based on things that's been on my mind for the past year, the past month, the past week, whatever; I write it. -- Nas
I think marriage is a beautiful thing. I'm still a supporter of it. -- Nas
I don't want to disappoint - that's a nightmare to me. -- Nas
My earliest memories of rap music was mixed with my earliest memories of reggae music. They were big sounds around the way, heavy bass lines, strong messages, definitely. -- Nas
Who's world is this, the world is yours. -- Nas
It hurts to see anybody in pain, if you've got any kind of heart. -- Nas
Divorce can be crazy. Man, if you're happy ... Love is a beast, man. Hold on. Be prepared for any way it may go, and be honest. -- Nas
I talk about life, and I make universal music with an American style - and that's what I do. -- Nas
I think hip-hop could help rebuild America, once hip-hoppers own hip-hop ... We are our own politicians, our own government, we have something to say. We're warriors. Soldiers. -- Nas
Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain and be prosperous, though we live dangerous. -- Nas
I sip the Dom P watching Gandhi til I'm charged - writing in my book of rhymes, all the words past the margin -- Nas
I broke into shakespeare's tomb and stole his remains, grinded the bones, smoked it, then got in the game -- Nas
Vocabulary spills I'm ill. -- Nas
At one point, the old school club retires and you're next up to bat, but if you stop before your time, you will see someone else live your dream. -- Nas
I'm just little me, an American who wants to see his country do better. -- Nas
Unfortunately, man, a lot of places in America have to deal with unnecessary violence. Somebody like me who knows it firsthand and could relate ... I had a best friend killed, plenty other friends killed. I been through it. I seen it. -- Nas
I've gone through too much, from beefs to divorce to my mom passing which I always expressed in my music, so there's not album that sticks out as more important than the other to me. -- Nas
Props is a true thug's wife. -- Nas
I set it off with my own rhyme / cause I'm as ill as a convict who kills for phone time -- Nas
Let the music diffuse all the tension. -- Nas
God gushed me out his nuts, the devil swallowed me up and I burnt a hole in his guts -- Nas
I don't have time for the news clippings. I got my own mission. -- Nas
No idea is original, there's nothing new under the sun, it's never what you do, but how it's done -- Nas
Use your own intuition. You are tomorrow. -- Nas
Dogs live longer than rappers. -- Nas
Whenever I received too much praise, it just didn't feel right to me - ever. -- Nas
If I ruled the world Imagine that ... -- Nas
Always observe, watch, and talk to older people. -- Nas
If you're scared to take chances, you'll never have the answers. -- Nas
Somehow the rap game remind me of the crack game -- Nas
I promise you, if you have a plan, you can accomplish everything you ever wanted -- Nas
Once you make it to your point of making it, you'll appreciate the struggle. -- Nas
In the past I had to deal with issues that hit me as a younger man. As a man who wasn't married who didn't really have the experience that I have now. Today I'm a different guy. -- Nas
Niggas hate what they can't understand, fear what they can't conquer -- Nas
N.Y. hip-hop is ok, but we gotta become brave again; we have to be brave enough and do something new - that's what New York is about ... New. -- Nas
I'm never gonna die, never heard of death, energy can never be destroyed only the flesh. -- Nas
I don't go out unless I'm working. My quality time is when I'm doing nothing. -- Nas
Let's not forget, art can sell. You ain't gotta front all the time on your records. -- Nas
Every generation witnesses atrocities. People in power try to fulfill prophecy. -- Nas
I'll always love rap, no matter what's going on. -- Nas
Big up to Flex. Stop taking so much cizock in his mizouth. -- Nas
It's foul what this money could do, cash corrupts the loyal. -- Nas
Hip-hop is making a lot of noise. It should get some more spotlight. -- Nas
The further I get, the further I want to go -- Nas
I just appreciate what Andre 3000 has done musically - just the bravery. I think Andre 3000 may be one of the bravest artists in rap music. -- Nas
Just do as much as you can. -- Nas
Realize, how many classics I gave you/Perhaps if you think back you'll realize that I made you -- Nas
I rap for listeners, blunt heads, fly ladies and prisoners -- Nas
I love PBS! I grew up on it. If I had to say which channels were good, I'd say, you got your PBS, your History Channel, your Discovery. -- Nas
The sound of the '90s, to me, is a combination of soul and street - it's a feeling. -- Nas
I want to hear the artist. I want to hear them give me something that I can relate to, other than the fact that everything's about bragging. -- Nas
Working with great people makes you great; you learn a lot and it also gives you the experience and confidence to move on with your own career. -- Nas
Sunlight and seeing something that was a thought become a thing and materialize - that makes me come alive. -- Nas
You don't want to disappoint. Especially someone like me who's been out of music for years and hasn't had an album in like, four years. -- Nas
How can you lose when you're doing you? -- Nas