Drum Magazine Issue 2 | Page 34

3 2 Bridging The Gap Multi-million albums sold, numerous awards won and countless collaborations with the best in the business notoriously tough housing projects of Queensbridge, New York. “It was really needed. He and my mum really instilled that into me and my younger brother. I realise today now how hard it must have been for both of them. They must have thought me and my brother were crazy; we’d do graffiti on the bedroom wall, we’d fight all the time, I chipped my tooth, cuts, bruises, running around – we must have almost gave them heart attacks as kids. But they told us to be the best, to always strive to be better.” They’re words Nas has clearly adhered to. With multimillion albums sold, numerous awards won and collaborations with everyone from Lauren Hill to Alicia Keys and Tupac to Puff Daddy, Nas has achieved more than most in his relatively short life. So what next for the man who has already earned legendary status as a rapper and who has dabbled in the film and fashion worlds? Well, Bridging The Gap marks a new musical direction but it also points to a continued growth in his lyrical life. Taken from his new double-album, Street’s Disciple, the 25 tracks deal almost exclusively with social and political concerns. “When I recorded Illmatic, I talked about what I lived and what I saw as a teenager,” he says of the battlescarred similes that informed his first thesis. “I just thought it was crazy that we were living like this at this young age. After that, I’d do new records and talk about how I’d grown,” he explains. “It’s always been about growth for me. I don’t talk about guns on this album. I thought about it; I wondered if I mentioned guns and cocaine and fashion designers enough?” he grins. “But it wasn’t necessary for me to do that here because that’s not what was really in my head, what I really wanted to get off my chest. I wanted to express how I feel today – whether it be the state of hip hop, the black family structure, or father and son – all that is what came across on this album.”