![Eminem: Mathers has always been a frequent and vocal fan of Nas, but nothing shows his sheer love with the KONY than a track like 'Infinite' off of Em's first album. While the words are very much indicative of the Detroit rapper's immense talent, his flow is an exact replica of Nas, like exactly.]()
Eminem: Mathers has always been a frequent and vocal fan of Nas, but nothing shows his sheer love with the KONY than a track like 'Infinite' off of Em's first album. While the words are very much indicative of the Detroit rapper's immense talent, his flow is an exact replica of Nas, like exactly.
![Amy Winehouse: Is common knowledge that Winehouse and Nas had a close and fruitful relationship as evidence from their collaborative track, 'Cherry Wine'. However, Winehouse's allegiance to the rapper extends deep into own discography in spiritual and sample form. Amy sampled Nas' 'Made You Look' on her 2003 single, 'My Bed'.]()
Amy Winehouse: Is common knowledge that Winehouse and Nas had a close and fruitful relationship as evidence from their collaborative track, 'Cherry Wine'. However, Winehouse's allegiance to the rapper extends deep into own discography in spiritual and sample form. Amy sampled Nas' 'Made You Look' on her 2003 single, 'My Bed'.
![Kendrick Lamar: Speaking to BET, Kendrick explained what Nas' Illmatic sparked in his own writing:]()
Kendrick Lamar: Speaking to BET, Kendrick explained what Nas' Illmatic sparked in his own writing: "To be able to elevate your mind a little bit further past that through writing is bigger than one song. In order to do that and craft that, it's on another plane, and I wouldn't have been able to do that if it wasn't for that album, truthfully."
![Bishop Nehru: Considering how young Nehru is (19 years old if you were wondering), his understanding and dedication to MCing is closest to the mark than any other new rapper out there. Nehru has sourced this back to Illmatic's innovation as a album with structured verses as opposed to the sloppier, on the fly structures like the Wu-Tang Clan:]()
Bishop Nehru: Considering how young Nehru is (19 years old if you were wondering), his understanding and dedication to MCing is closest to the mark than any other new rapper out there. Nehru has sourced this back to Illmatic's innovation as a album with structured verses as opposed to the sloppier, on the fly structures like the Wu-Tang Clan: "Nas was the first person to sit down and make an art of [structure]".
![Action Bronson: Not the most orthodox of rappers but Action is true to the purity of the artform, even if it doesn't always reflect in his own music. Speaking on Illmatic:]()
Action Bronson: Not the most orthodox of rappers but Action is true to the purity of the artform, even if it doesn't always reflect in his own music. Speaking on Illmatic: "It's a seamless project. There is a reason why there is only ten songs on there and it's only him"
![Ghostface Killah: Despite being at the top of the food-chain around the time of Illmatic dropping, Ghost feels like Nas as an artist kept him striving to write better and rap harder. It's this competitive spirit that makes hip-hop the most diverse and interesting culture is music and cultivates the most driven artists.]()
Ghostface Killah: Despite being at the top of the food-chain around the time of Illmatic dropping, Ghost feels like Nas as an artist kept him striving to write better and rap harder. It's this competitive spirit that makes hip-hop the most diverse and interesting culture is music and cultivates the most driven artists.
![Lil Wayne: It's hard to believe but Tunechi used to be a seriously credible rapper - check out the first Carter record if you don't believe me. Anyway, Wayne has always been jumping off of Nas' legacy for his own purposes, frequently freestyling of beats and even dropping the line:]()
Lil Wayne: It's hard to believe but Tunechi used to be a seriously credible rapper - check out the first Carter record if you don't believe me. Anyway, Wayne has always been jumping off of Nas' legacy for his own purposes, frequently freestyling of beats and even dropping the line: "Fuckin with my iPhone, bumpin' Illmatic / I'm on the road to riches, there's just a lil' traffic".
![J. Cole: Though is rapping style is a few channels off of Nas', Cole's album cover for Villematic follows suit of all the rappers that used their baby photos as artwork following Illmatic. Cole spits the line later in the track:]()
J. Cole: Though is rapping style is a few channels off of Nas', Cole's album cover for Villematic follows suit of all the rappers that used their baby photos as artwork following Illmatic. Cole spits the line later in the track: "He said Cole, 'A lil' birdy told me on the low you got an Illmatic' / Nobody touching Nas nigga it%u2019s more like Villematic".
![Jay Z: This one is a bit tricky. Jigga and Nas haven't had a great track record as the best of pals but it's an undeniable fact that Nas moulded Jay-Z as the rapper he was at his peak. You can chart the change in Jay's rapping style pre and post Illmatic. Prior to the album, Jay was rapping with a vigour and hunger similar to Big L which transformed into the more meditative spitting style that Nas is renowned for. Even in 2009, Jay dropped a line saying:]()
Jay Z: This one is a bit tricky. Jigga and Nas haven't had a great track record as the best of pals but it's an undeniable fact that Nas moulded Jay-Z as the rapper he was at his peak. You can chart the change in Jay's rapping style pre and post Illmatic. Prior to the album, Jay was rapping with a vigour and hunger similar to Big L which transformed into the more meditative spitting style that Nas is renowned for. Even in 2009, Jay dropped a line saying: "I had the Illmatic, on bootleg / The shit was so ahead, thought we was all dead".
![Jay Electronica: A co-signee, a producer and friend of Nas, Jay Electronica's vocal appreciation for the New York rapper is thinly concealed. The rapper has recorded a song called 'Nas Salute' using the beat from 'The World Is Yours' for god's sake.]()
Jay Electronica: A co-signee, a producer and friend of Nas, Jay Electronica's vocal appreciation for the New York rapper is thinly concealed. The rapper has recorded a song called 'Nas Salute' using the beat from 'The World Is Yours' for god's sake.
![Lupe Fiasco: Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, triggered a realisation in the mind of young Lupe Fiasco. While his comments on Obama the 'terrorist' divided the hip-hop community, Lupe's appreciation for 'the supreme best' Nas, found a lot more support among fans and artists alike.]()
Lupe Fiasco: Nas' 1996 album, It Was Written, triggered a realisation in the mind of young Lupe Fiasco. While his comments on Obama the 'terrorist' divided the hip-hop community, Lupe's appreciation for 'the supreme best' Nas, found a lot more support among fans and artists alike.
![Vic Mensa: Fresh out the gate, Vic Mensa has been killing it on a daily basis. Out of all the XXL Freshmen of recent years, there's very few MCs who grind as hard as Vic. He credits this to Nas' work ethic and dedication, saying:]()
Vic Mensa: Fresh out the gate, Vic Mensa has been killing it on a daily basis. Out of all the XXL Freshmen of recent years, there's very few MCs who grind as hard as Vic. He credits this to Nas' work ethic and dedication, saying: "I used to print out pages of Nas raps and imitate them, count the syllables and bar structures and make clone raps. Same flows, just different words".
![Killer Mike: The unofficial chief of Atlanta and one half of Run the Jewels, Killer Mike may be a Southern rap through and through but that's not to say he escaped the impact of Nas. While the New York attitude didn't directly change Mike's trajectory, Nas' strive for perfection is something Mike holds close to his own heart.]()
Killer Mike: The unofficial chief of Atlanta and one half of Run the Jewels, Killer Mike may be a Southern rap through and through but that's not to say he escaped the impact of Nas. While the New York attitude didn't directly change Mike's trajectory, Nas' strive for perfection is something Mike holds close to his own heart.
![A$AP Mob: It makes sense that the King Of New York would have had a hand in shaping the most successful New York collective in recent years. Specifically, A$AP Nast has described Nas as the artist that put him on the path to becoming a rapper.]()
A$AP Mob: It makes sense that the King Of New York would have had a hand in shaping the most successful New York collective in recent years. Specifically, A$AP Nast has described Nas as the artist that put him on the path to becoming a rapper.
![Jay Rock: Despite being quintessentially West Coast, Jay Rock found common threads between Nas' themes and his own life:]()
Jay Rock: Despite being quintessentially West Coast, Jay Rock found common threads between Nas' themes and his own life: "You know, I come from the projects too, and he comes from the projects where he comes from. It's like everything he was talking about was related to everything we were going through in our neighbourhood."