Def Jam Recordings a ținut o conferință la nivel de industrie în dupămasa zilei de ieri(5 Aprilie) pentru a anunța viitoarea lor gamă de lansări muzicale de primăvară. Rapper-ul Nas a organizat conferința ce lega peste 400 de jurnaliști, bloggeri, Dj și directori de stații radio, cu știri din unele registre ale artistului siglei. De asemenea incluși în urgenta chemare au fost rapperii YG, Big K.R.I.T. și 2 Chainz, care au ținut la curent curioșii cu detalii despre ultimele lor asociații și muzică.

Nas a vorbit despre viitorul lui single „The Don„, curând să deservească precum principala de pe albumul său ce va apărea în această vară, Life is Good.

Partea sa din conferință a început cu un sample scurt inspirat din India vestică, o piesă încărcată de lirică – una care mai târziu a aflat că a fost produsă de Heavy D după moartea rapper-ului/producătorului de la Mount Vernon.

„The Don” va fi de asemenea în atenție ca parte din muzica selectată pentru NFL Draft-ul 2012.

„Salaam( :)) ) sent me a track – no, he played it over the phone – and when he played it, I heard Supercat‘s voice in it. I like Supercat, I’ve always liked Supercat, so I kinda had an idea of what I wanted to do with it,” a spus Nas in conferință. “When Heav died, Salaam called me, he said, ‘Yo man, you know who gave me that beat?’ I’m thinking since Heav just died, it gotta be by Heav. So, I’m like, ‘Who?’ and he’s like, ‘Heav.’ I’m like, ‘Wow.’ So it just took on a whole new level.”

Rapper-ul de la The Queensbridge a fost mai vocal decât deobicei la conferință, răspunzând la întrebări participante la tot, de la responsabilitatea hip-hop-ului de a vorbi despre Trayvon Martin la gânduri despre sigla istorică, la care este semnat momentan.

„Trayvon Martin is a conversation we’re having everyday since the beginning of America,” Nas a notat. “So, it’s amazing that this young man, his life has become something to pull us all together to protest this sickness of racism. It’s just sad that someone this young had to come to that kind of cowardice, you know what I’m saying.

“Hip-Hop having a responsibility? Of course. Hip-Hop has many responsibilities, and does Hip-Hop as a whole? No. There’s too much going on for Hip-Hop as a whole to focus on one thing. But, yeah, why not? Yeah. Trayvon was Hip-Hop, he’s one of us so, of course, we have a responsibility to do something. Something. You know what I mean?” a adăugat.

Pe de altă parte, Nas a vorbit de asemenea despre apariția sa feat. în „Champion” de pe recentul lansat album Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded de Nicki Minaj.

“You know, Nicki’s the sh*t. I love how she works,” Nas said. “Just listening to her music, I can kinda get a vibe on how she works. It sounds like a lot of hard work, and I love her music. I was just down, I was just down to do it.”

(îmi vine să nu mai scriu despre asta…)

Despre noul album, Life is Good, si referintele sale raportate la munca sa din trecut, a spus: “There’s a couple of records; there’s another ‘Black Girl Lost’. We trying to place the album sequencing right now, and the album songlist is coming soon. So, hopefully that cut will be on the piece when it’s slated for its position, ‘cause there’s some other records that just feel kinda better in the lineup. If it doesn’t come out on the album, I’m gonna put it out anyway.”

Când întrebat despre ce simte în legatură cu Def Jam, o amprentă despre care a vorbit cu împotrivire în trecut, Nas a spus: “I definitely am very serious about this Def Jam label and what I thought about Def Jam just coming up. They did the unthinkable. They put out Beastie Boys, they put out Public Enemy, and the list goes on. Just having a record out on Def Jam is me crossing things off the list, you know what I’m saying, things I want to do, things I want to accomplish, things I want to conquer. That’s one of the things that’s always been on my list, and I gotta tell you, every label that I’ve been at, there’s always been the bad side. You know, nothing’s perfect in anything you do in life, especially when it comes to music and the music business.”

In lungile sale pauze dintre albume, Nas a spus că depinde de prietenii săi Dj să îi împingă muzica la nivelul străzilor pentru a concura împotriva ultimelor trenduri din industrie.

“As far as mixtapes, I don’t do those… Do what you do and may God be with you. I do what I do.

“It’s been a long time since I dropped a solo album…I don’t think it’s Escobar season this year. It’s Nasty Nas season. All my dons, raise a glass, Nasty Nas season has begun.”

Life is Good este asteptat să apară in 15 Iulie prin Def Jam.