50 Things You Didn't Know About Nas

Nasty Nas is a legend, but he's often been an enigma. Find out some lesser known facts about QB's finest.

Not Available Lead
Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

Not Available Lead

Last week, we dug up a ton of obscure facts for a post revealing 50 things you didn't know about Jay-Z. And since we did one on Hov, it's only right to do one for Nas, because since the turn of the century, every rap fan knows that it's difficult to mention one of these artists without at least thinking of the other.

Nas is one of the greatest rappers ever, but he doesn't always like to reveal much about himself. He's sometimes elusive in interviews, and in many instances, isn't even the protagonist in his own songs, but instead an observer. Maybe that's why this year's Life Is Good was so well-received—it was such a personal project.

So, to put some aspects of the legendary MC's air of mystery to rest, we did some more digging and found several lesser known facts about Nasty Nas. Here's our list of 50 Things You Didn't Know About Nas.

RELATED: 50 Things You Didn't Know About Jay-Z
RELATED: The 100 Best Nas Songs

RELATED: Nas' 25 Favorite Albums

He was offered and declined an audition for the lead in Save The Last Dance.

Not Available Interstitial

He did Illmatic's "N.Y. State of Mind" in one take.

Not Available Interstitial

His daughter Destiny is listed as an Executive Producer on Stillmatic so she can always receive royalty checks from the album.

Not Available Interstitial

He sold a painting he had just completed for $14,000 at Art Basel Miami. The profits went to charity.

Not Available Interstitial

Large Professor would bring Nas to studio sessions during the making of Eric B. & Rakim's Let the Rhythm Hit 'E

Not Available Interstitial

Russell Simmons thought Illmatic would be a commercial flop, and that Nas sounded too much like Kool G Rap.

Not Available Interstitial

He wrote a screenplay called Scared and put up his own money to hire a cast and crew to shoot the film. He claims to have a copy of it on VHS but never intends to release it.

Not Available Interstitial

His advance was worth $17,000 after signing with Columbia Records.

Not Available Interstitial

He used to call himself Kid Wave.

Not Available Interstitial

"Live Nigga Rap" was originally Mobb Deep's record for Hell on Earth, but Nas bought it from them so he could use it on It Was Written.

Not Available Interstitial

Columbia Records had to redesign Nas' website in 1996 after the bulletin board section became overrun with racist messages.

Not Available Interstitial

It Was Written was supposed to be produced entirely by Marley Marl, but the idea fell through when Nas heard unfinished songs on the radio.

Not Available Interstitial

50 Cent was briefly in Nas' Firm crew, but left after it didn't work out.

Not Available Interstitial

The original version of "Ether" was produced by Swizz Beatz.

Not Available Interstitial

God's Son originally was an all-out battle record with Nas dissing nearly every popular rapper at the time, but he reconsidered and scrapped all of the songs.

Not Available Interstitial

He admits he messed up a lyric on "The Set Up" because he was too high.

Not Available Interstitial

To get the stars amped up, Hype Williams would have Nas, DMX, and others run around a building during the filming of Belly.

Not Available Interstitial

Ill Will introduced Nas to Chinese food by telling him to stick a plate out his window and dropping the food from the apartment above him.

Not Available Interstitial

He was supposed to be on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill but couldn't make the studio sessions.

Not Available Interstitial

Illmatic was so heavily bootlegged that MC Serch claims they found a garage with 60,000 copies of bootleg Illmatic albums before the album's release.

Not Available Interstitial

He got rid of his Lexus because he wanted to get a better car than Jay-Z's.

Not Available Interstitial

He recorded "Ghetto Dreams" on a handheld mic rather with a traditional studio booth set-up.

Not Available Interstitial

Mobb Deep formally introduced Nas to Raekwon and Ghostface Killah.

Not Available Interstitial

"Nas Is Like" almost didn't happen because DJ Premier had planned on throwing out the record with the sample on it.

Not Available Interstitial

He met Kelis at Cipriani in 2002 during Diddy's MTV VMAs afterparty.

Not Available Interstitial

During the height of his feud with Jay-Z, Nas called the Roots "sambos," "hypocrites," and "porch monkeys" on Hot 97 for performing with Jay on MTV's Unplugged.

Not Available Interstitial

I Am was supposed to have skits, but before Nas could record them someone walked into the studio with a bootleg copy of the album.

Not Available Interstitial

He had to talk Pete Rock into singing the chorus on "The World Is Yours" after Rock initially refused.

Not Available Interstitial

He lived in Crown Heights, Brooklyn before he lived in Queensbridge.

Not Available Interstitial

The original version of "Ether" featured the line, "It should've been you in that plane crash"—referring to the plane crash Aaliyah died in.

Not Available Interstitial

Kelis' father was also a jazz musician who played in the same bands as Nas' father.

Not Available Interstitial

According to Carmen Bryant, Nas would disappear: She once found him in his "secret" Long Island apartment with pages of rhymes everywhere.

Not Available Interstitial

He recorded a different verse for Fat Joe's "John Blaze" that's never been heard.

Not Available Interstitial

When Steve Stoute first went to Queensbridge looking for Nas, Jungle pulled a gun on him.

Not Available Interstitial

According to Prodigy, Mike Delorean from Bars-N-Hooks once had a physical fight with Nas at Sony Studios.

Not Available Interstitial

After having nothing decent to wear to the 1995 Source Awards and then watching Biggie win all of the major awards, he was convinced that he had to make a change.

Not Available Interstitial

Raekwon helped Nas formulate his verse for "Verbal Intercourse."

Not Available Interstitial

Acccording to Carmen Bryant, one of the reasons Nas didn't sign to Bad Boy was because Craig Mack was creating problems.

Not Available Interstitial

Salaami Remi got Nas and Funk Master Flex on the phone to squash the beef between him and Hot 97.

Not Available Interstitial

He played the trumpet when he was six but his father took it away for fear it would disfigure his lips.

Not Available Interstitial

He's recorded several sequels to his most popular records, but never released them because he thought they weren't as good as the originals.

Not Available Interstitial

He had to convince his daughter to avoid getting involved when Kelis started taking shots at him during their marital problems.

Not Available Interstitial

He originally wanted his favorite singer Denise Williams to do the hook on "Street Dreams (Remix)."

Not Available Interstitial

Nas originally didn't want the Trackmasters as producers because of their mainstream sound. He was scared of being

Not Available Interstitial

The first time he met Kelis, he said, "I've been wanting to make you my wife for all these years."

Not Available Interstitial

He lists Reasonable Doubt as one of his favorite albums.

Not Available Interstitial

He's a fan of the HBO show Girls.

Not Available Interstitial

He cried when he heard 2Pac diss him on "Against All Odds."

Not Available Interstitial

After not speaking to Nas for a year, Carmen Byrant heard "Ether" and "Superugly," called Nas, and said she loved h

Not Available Interstitial

His daughter Destiny helped him with choruses and gave him words to rap about on Stillmatic.

Not Available Interstitial

Latest in Music