A Decade Later: Did Nas' "Nastradamus" Predictions Come True?

The year was 1999. As the millennium approached and a rumored massive computer crash threatened our very existence, Nas began to fancy himself a prophet. That November, the Queens-born MC released Nastradamus, an album themed around his own predictions for the years ahead. Like Illmatic, the cover art featured a portrait of the rapper set against the Queensbridge projects where he grew up—this time, though, Nas was cloaked and contemplative. The video for the album’s lead single showed him piloting a space shuttle into his QB stomping grounds. While bewildered residents looked on, Nas outlined his vision for the future. Some of his predictions came to pass, others seem far-fetched. So would he make it as a professional soothsayer? Let's take a look at Nastradamus' trendcasting and see...

Prediction: "Childbirth becomes outlawed."

Outcome: Having children is still perfectly legal, but America’s birthrate did hit an all-time low last year. There's still a chance we can fuck around and end up on the Maury show, though.

Prediction: "I let y'all niggas bang my shit before Saddam hits."

Outcome: Suspecting he posed a threat to the country (and wanting to secure world oil supplies), America overthrew Saddam Hussein in 2003. Like George W. Bush, the Queensbridge MC was convinced that the Iraqi president would spearhead an attack against America in the coming years. He must have been feeling like a Black Republican.

Prediction: "Leave the streets alone for a sec/Hit the Sky Bar on Sunset/And the sex is so high-tech."

Outcome: While sex still works and feels the same, its substitutes—webcams, sexting, and electronic sex toys—have grown pretty sophisticated. But exactly what Nas had in mind is anyone's guess. Maybe he dresses like a robot!

Prediction: "Bentleys, Porsches, Piaget watches/Sick with the bread, Lamborghini trucks topless/Laptops with 100 gigabytes."

Outcome: In 1999, the prospect of carrying around a computer that could hold 80 gigs of files seemed pretty futuristic. Now, even your average entry-level laptop boasts more than 200 gigabytes of storage space. If only Nasir had known what that would do to his record sales.

Prediction: "Millennium Thug/Computer chips up in my slug." - Nashawn aka Millenium Thug

Outcome: Guns still fire bullets, but more shots are fired on Twitter than anywhere else these days. So the prediction is semi-relevant.

Prediction: "My prediction is you rewind this/Your highness/Q-borough’s finest."

Outcome: Nas overestimated himself. Nastradamus is widely considered his worst album. Rather than rewind it, many of his fans tried to forget about it. Less than two years later, Prodigy, who appeared on this song, would join Cormega, Nature, and any number of Queensbridge rappers in challenging Nas’s title. How's that for family?

Prediction: "There’s no tomorrow/It’s the bottom of the 9-9."

Outcome: On January 1, 2000, we were still alive. It was hard to say the same about Nas' career at that point, until his battle with Jay-Z woke him up from his creative stupor.

Prediction: "New ways to make money/New ways to break dummies/Forge they name and take money/Computers ain’t that smart."

Outcome: Online identity theft is a serious threat, and computers still aren't smart enough to recognize forgery. Just ask your friend who gave his banking info to that Nigerian prince.

Prediction: "Solar-energized rides/No steering wheel/Tell it how to drive."

Outcome: As gas prices climb and our oil supply dwindles, many of us are turning to hybrid cars, but they still don't drive themselves.

Prediction: "While the poor people starve/Computers takin’ over they jobs/A man’s forced to live off land/Back to the caveman era."

Outcome: The U.S. unemployment rate is currently sitting around 10%. Surely the many industries taking advantage of computer automation and cheap overseas labor haven't helped. As for the caveman reference—at least those Geico commercials were popular!

Prediction: "Cash is the past, a new way of spending."

Outcome: Today, credit is king. 610 million credit cards are held by U.S. consumers alone. Sidebar: should we try to pay more than the minimum amount on our $80,000 balance each month?

Prediction: "And U.S. embassies overseas/Almost every foreign country’s under siege/Covertly starting wars/C.I.A., Navy SEALS commit larcenies that be worth over mil's."

Outcome: Uh, the Iraq War? The current WikiLeaks scandal? Take your pick. Nas might be hip-hop's answer to Julian Assange.

Prediction: "No propellers in the sky/Airplanes like mini rockets/Waiting lists for the rich to get tickets to visit Mars."

Outcome: Contrary to what Nas predicted, conventional airplanes are still commonplace in our skies. Space tourism is on the way, though, and the wealthy are already booking their tickets for $200,000 a pop.

Prediction: "Oil in the earth spills."

Outcome: That's right—straight into the Gulf of Mexico. If only former BP CEO Tony Hayward had listened to this album.

Prediction: "Yo, it's real/Swallow a little pill, there's a four-course meal."

Outcome: We still like our portions large. However, AMERICANS ARE FAT AS FUCK. The FDA might wanna consider approving a pill like this.