Nas Talks 2Pac, “Life Is Good”, Hip-Hop Today & Performs @ SXSW [Video]

Nas talks his relationship with 2Pac, the “Hip hop is dead” statement and hip hop today, the upcoming album ‘Life Is Good’, and the first album that inspired him with former manager Steve Stoute at a music panel conference at SXSW. In addition, the video contains performance clips of “N.Y. State Of Mind” and “Life Is A Bitch” with AZ, DJ Premier, & Pete Rock at the VEVO show during SXSW.

Nas on the first album that inspired him:
“The Jackson 5 ABC album. That record is the… first it was Sesame Street, then the Jackson 5 ABC album was the second album I ever bought.”

Nas on ‘Hip Hop is dead.’ and hip hop today:
“I knew that statement right there would make everyone think of hip hop again and make everyone question themselves, how much of hip hop do they really know? … I think hip hop is now becoming.. it’s getting some age on it. It’s no longer a 10 year old thing that’s been around since ’79. It’s this thing that’s been going on for decades now, and it looks like it’s going to keep growing. I say right now that it’s thriving. It’s thriving and there’s a lot of potential. I’m optimistic about the future.”

Nas on his relationship with 2Pac:
“Pac’s one of my favorite artists. When we saw each other, I feel like he’s in my city I gotta step to this guy. So we stepped to Death Row and really just got to the bottom of it. What he said to me was, ‘Me and you are brothers. We’re not supposed to, me and you are never supposed to go out [after each other] but I heard you dissin’ me on mixtapes… it was a very dangerous situation right there, but greater heads prevailed and we both knew we was supposed to continue that conversation and probably even squash the whole thing but.. I was scheduled to meet him in Vegas. But you guys, you [former manager Steve Stoute] and Jimmy Iovine called me about 4 in the morning and told me he might not make it… it was a moment.”

Nas on the upcoming album ‘Life Is Good’:
“The eras that I like, the sound, circa 90s.. ‘Nasty’ was like 90s kind of vibe so that’s woven in there. And there’s some personal stuff, some life stuff in there; I try to put that out there and get that off my chest.”

Previously: Nas & David Banner On 106 & Park [Video]

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