The Following is a Q & A With Nas at the Def Jam Listening Party For "Hip Hop Is Dead" conducted by Mr. Choc & the people at R.E.H.A.B. Projects In Los Angeles Thursday December 7th, 2006.  For those that were there, you know shit was crazy.  For those that weren't, we got you…

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thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) – You called the album “Hip-Hop is Dead,” that’s a pretty bold statement, tell me why you think it is and why you titled your album that way.

Nas - Now shit is all about MTV cribs and gettin' paper. A nigga wanna be like Nas fuckin' overnight. There is so much money in it, that we sometimes forget why we even do this shit. There’s also a control issue of programming and radio. None of you guys (in the audience) own a radio station. If one of you guys owned a radio station, then I would feel safe putting out a Nas album, but because you don't, I don't know what's gonna happen. Video channels don't support or protect it. The Grammy Awards is still disrespecting rap music. They are still not putting it in the category it deserves, they’re still not giving it the exposure it deserves. So there is many reasons why I say “Hip Hop Is Dead.”

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - Can it be resurrected though?

Nas - Yeah, I mean the shit is still poppin'. You got The Game and Kanye (West). E-40 killed them this year. Snoop Dogg just fuckin' murdered them. There is a whole bunch of shit that's coming and people are still spittin' stuff.

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - What were some memorable moments for you when you were making this album?

Nas - When I started making this album, I said “which way am I going with it.” It's called "Hip Hop Is Dead" and I thought there was many ways to go about this shit. The first thing you do is say, "fuck the way you’re used to recording." If it's dead you can do what you want. So you can just say what you want however you feel like saying it. Then I thought with the shit I was thinking of doing, niggaz would say I'm buggin' out. Jim Morrison said rock & roll was dead back in the days and so did Kurt Cobain. I was like, “what was they on, they was free, express yourself, be free and do some next level shit.” But then I thought the rap world would think I'm buggin' out. The only nigga that was able to do something, but he went real left was Andre 3000. But he sang even though he's one of my favorite lyricists. So I thought “how do I start this shit?” Then I said, maybe just chill and blaze a few up. So that's what I did. I just got blazed up and did whatever.

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - You want to talk about any beefs or anything man? You wanna put any of that out there a little bit?

Nas - (video clip) The beef thing ain't what it should be. It should be something you really wanna hear. I'm not anxious to hear the Jim Jones diss record. The niggas that used to get a nigga a little nervous was B.I.G., Pac, and even Canibus. Them niggaz used to have you like, "If we go at it dog, we got to go hard." Take like a Jim Jones. I respect you gettin' your money, but that's it.

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - So your not respecting his lyrical game right now?

Nas - I respect his hustle. That's about it. I was gonna do the “Nigga” album next.

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - You should call it “The Kramer” album?

Nas - The “Nigga” album was originally the name, that's why I called it The “N,” and you see it on all my posters up here. I was thinking about this next album, "Revenge Is The Best Dish Served Cold," to really address every rap situation out there. Every nigga that's saying my name in a funny way and just make it dedicated to that. But then I said, “it might be contradictory because me and homeboy (Jay-Z) squashed the shit, so why set off something else?” But I do sense something happening. I feel like niggaz is trying to start something.

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - I think you just need to “Ether” one more MC and I don't think no MC will step to you after that...

Nas - But if it was like Jim Jones, imagine putting a pen to paper and writing about him. Even something nice about him, how do you do that? What's the first sentence? What the fuck do you write about him?

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - You got a song on your album with Kelis, let's talk about that and who's idea was it?

Nas - It's called "Not going back." Because it's like the hood is in me, but I don't be in the hood. Jungle be in the hood. So I ain't out there as much as I want. The song is about me not going back to that. Because really niggaz, we don't come from the hood. We come from a place that is majestic and beautiful. We don't come from the hood. So that is a place where we were put that we had to get up out of. It's a survival test and niggaz gotta make it out. Once we get out, we bring other muthafuckas out. We go down to the corporate areas and shit and say, “nigga we here.” It ain't about holdin' down this block no more. Cause we know what's gonna happen. Niggaz get shot 50 times. You can't shoot me in a board room nigga. So we gotta start thinkin’ like that. Cause the hood, we ain't never gonna leave that because it's in our heart. That's what that song is about.

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - I noticed on the album there was no Primo joints...

Nas - Yeah, Premier gave me like 2 records. We started the album with Premier. Premier has been around so long that he's got a certain way to work it and I got a certain way to work it when I'm in the studio. I just turn the shit on, write my shit or I freestyle the shit or whatever. Premier has his entourage and I have my entourage so everybody is in there excited and I wind up hangin' out and talkin' with them instead of making records. So we could never put that together. So I wanted us to go somewhere and go away, but we could just never fit the schedules up to go away where niggaz can't bother us. Maybe in the future though.

thaFormula.com - (Mr. Choc) - When your done with this rap shit, what are you gonna be doing. Are you still gonna be in this industry? 

Nas - Dog, I'm not even in the industry now. I just fake this shit. I just go up there tell the label “I'm doing this, and y'all niggaz ain't gonna see me.” I don't fuck with this industry at all. I be meeting niggaz who be like, "what up people, I love your shit." Then they come out with an album, the shit goes platinum. Now the niggaz is looking at me like “who the fuck is you?” It's like so much of that going on. I just be like “wow!” So I don't fuck with this shit at all.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - What video would you say is your favorite one?

Nas - Probably "Street Dreams."

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Why is that?

Nas – ‘Cause nigga, I put on that pink shit on first nigga! I don't get no credit yo! I be startin' so much shit yo. I swear to god they don't give me no credit for that shit.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Yo, what up Nas?

Nas - What up nigga!

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - For up and coming MC's in the game, what advice would you give them as far as getting your music out to the masses?

Nas - Oh, y'all are fucked up man. It's a fucked up game dude. It's good and bad cause when I was tryin' to come up, we didn't have the Internet. So it was a smaller circle of people that you had to get around to get your shit heard. It's way easier to network nowadays. I wish I could have saw a Kool G Rap or Kane do something like this here. But back then, it wasn't nothing like that happening. Somebody tried to sue me for giving me a fucking CD. Some corny ass rap shit I never even heard. He said I took his beat. So you got to give one of my boys a CD ‘cause it's an easier process. As far as how to get on, I don't know. I don't even know how my records are still spinnin' without me talkin' shit. I don't even fuckin' know.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Where is AZ?

Nas - You all like AZ?

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Yeah!

Nas - I'm gonna let him know. Really, ‘cause that nigga don't go nowhere man. I’ve got to find out, he's got a new number everytime. Then I see him in magazines talking about why I don't be coming out to check for a nigga. I got 5 wrong numbers on you nigga!

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Where's Wiz?

Nas - Wiz in the ‘Bridge with a missin' tooth lookin' crazy. God bless him cause that's where he wanna be.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Is there a “Belly 2” coming out?

Nas - If you all find DMX, let me know. That nigga is crazy. That's one of the truest niggaz I ever met in this rap shit. You see him, you get what you get. He's not frontin', he's not lyin', he's the truth 100 percent. Actually I did speak to his wife. His wife knows my wife so, we keep the connection and we keep developing a story. There are two studios that want the movie. We’re trying to get it out late 2007. Just for the hood.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - That beefin' shit, with fuckin' Dip Set, what is that shit all about?

Nas - It ain't nothing. Niggaz got to remind me about the shit because I don't really know. I can't keep up with how many dudes is sayin' what. I seen Jim here (Los Angeles). It was me and Mike (points to someone in his crew). There were about 20 of them and I didn't know it was him. We just walked by into the hotel and Mike started laughin'. He said, "you see your man put his head down." I said, "Who?" He said, "Jim Jones." So I said “whatever.” So on a DVD a few months later, I heard he said that he saw me and he said, "Nasir Jones, Nasir Jones, what up." He said I had a bunch of bodyguards and I had my head down. I said, why even acknowledge that you saw me? It don't even fuckin' make no damn sense nigga! So we dealin' with a lot of you know, I don't want to disrespect ‘cause they gettin' they money and it brings me lower when I talk about them muthafuckas.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - I just got this one question man. Do you wanna smoke this blunt?

Nas - Now that's what I'm talkin' about nigga. We gonna do that. I'll smoke a blunt with anybody in Cali. In a place like Baltimore, I don't know. But L.A, we blazin' nigga.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - What made you and Jay just drop all that beef shit and reunite?

Nas - You know after a year I wasn't thinkin' about it and I don't think he was thinkin' about it. When L.A. Reid went to Def Jam, he told my boy, “we need Nas on Def Jam.” I said, “you know what that would be interesting.” He asked how was my relationship with Jay. I said “there is none.” He said he would talk to Jay. He said to me if we wanted to sit down and meet? I said, "if he do," Jay was like, "if he do." We finally figured out a time and a place and it was nothing. Then we just started laughing. It was like empowerment. And these niggaz is so mad! These rap niggaz is so mad dog, you wouldn't believe this shit. You be seeing a nigga that got so much paper mad, like “shiiit!”

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Can you ever see your self squashing your beef with 50 Cent if he came at you real respectful?

Nas - With me, I don't have no problems with none of these guys. You never heard me on records mentioning his name even when we was cool. I never had any problem with the dude. I can't respond to him because he talks about everybody. So it don't make sense. You talk about me, Jadakiss, Fat Joe, then Oprah Winfrey. I’d rather hear Oprah Winfrey respond to tell you the truth. So I don't really have nothing to say. I think we can all get this money, it's nothing.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - How do you feel about Kelis’ music? Do you support her 100 percent no matter what she puts out?

Nas - Yeah, dog. She's my inspiration. She just got a Grammy nomination and she's pissed off. I love that shit. This morning she's like, "yeah people told me I got this Grammy nomination." I said, "that's dope." Later on she told me, "I fuckin' hate this Grammy nomination." So I love her for that. An honestly, I'm gonna tell you this secret, secret. I named this album "Hip Hop Is Dead" cause Andre 3000 had produced a joint on her album and they was talking about doing a song called "R&B Is Dead & Hip Hop Is Dead" on her last album. They didn't do it, so I stole that shit nigga! You heard it here first!

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Who would you say were the top 2 MC's that put you to the test?

Nas - You know what's crazy. I remember one time when” Illmatic” was out and I was still hanging in the neighborhood and all that shit so a lot of shit was going down. So we was still on the block when “Illmatic” had got cold so we was tryin' to figure out the next move. Then we heard "Big Poppa" and my man's looked at me like, "shit is fucked up son." "How the fuck is you gonna fuck with this nigga here." They made that shit fly. So that nigga Biggie had me fucked up ‘cause he was out of control with the shit. He was crazy. We saw Jay coming, but he wasn't there yet. It's like “we see this nigga, but he wasn't all the way there yet.” So it was really like B.I.G. and Raekwon was like a monster. That nigga was crazy. When I heard Eminem's demo, it was a whole album and Jimmy Iovine was still trying to convince (Doctor) Dre to sign him and niggas gave me the tape to let me hear the shit. I was like, “this nigga is crazy.” But that was later on. After that I was cool. ‘Pac would make a nigga cry. That nigga talked about his momma, that's Marvin Gaye type of shit, that's soul. Canibus had me worried for like a second, but then I was like, nah.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Who you think is the most slept on mc?

Nas - Royce the 5'9 is nice.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Phonte from Little Brother!

Nas - Oh yeah, he's great. I'm on a roll nigga, ask me anything right now. Can we smoke in here?

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Yeah!

Nas - Nigga you too anxious. Hold up.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - I grew up listening to all the greats like Big L...

Nas - Big L had me shook for a minute too. He had me shook. God bless Big L, but I got him when he was trying to do that “Devil's Son” shit. I had him there. I knew I fucked them niggaz up with “snuffin' Jesus” and all that nun shit. I said, "oh these niggaz wanna follow that shit, I got them." So it was like the Gravediggaz and all them started doing “horrorcore” rap from that “snuffin' Jesus” shit. That shit started “horrorcore” rap. Then I would just sit back and say, "oh these niggaz is weirded out,” Gravediggaz was too weird. So I said “let me come back and talk about what we doing right here.” There was no blueprint to my first album. Now niggaz be like, "yo I got cocaine and this." I'm like, “dog that's easy to do because everybody showed you how to do that.” We talk about, "yo, I'm fucked up, I'm broke." "Nigga I just had some hash last night and that shit is good." That's the shit I was writing down, ‘cause I could not make a song like the nigga that was out there cause that would be like biting. Now biting is the shit.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Hip Hop has spread to all races now. What do you think about Asians like myself that buy your stuff?

Nas - I love that. Y'all spend money. Y'all got cake. I don't know too many broke Asian muthafuckas man. Word is bond.

thaFormula.com - (Audience) - Who do you think is the “King Of New York” and what do you think of people that say it should be you?

Nas - It has been me. That thing is something that you want. When you first come on the scene, you want to be the King. I've been the “King of New York.” I've had that, I've done that. It's a great crown to have, but it's a very nervous walk. So I think everybody got it. Jay is the King, B.I.G. is the king, Nas is definitely the King before them niggaz. People will tell you that. That's real talk!

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