Nearly 20 years ago now, Nas sparked controversy with his declaration that Hip-Hop Is Dead. Fortunately, his prediction turned out to be wrong, but when asked to reflect on the moment by Rolling Stone in a new interview about the Mass Appeal collaboration with Marvel Comics, his perspective was much brighter — something that could be attributed to the presence of visionary Pulitzer Prize-winning Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar.
After Rolling Stone‘s Andre Gee (who we miss a lot here at Uproxx) compared the title track “Hip-Hop Is Dead” with Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 song “Watch the Party Die,” Nas called Kendrick the “North Star” of hip-hop. “Kendrick is one of the brightest stars we’ve ever seen, and I don’t only mean superstar, I mean like the North Star — I think he’s one of those,” he said. “Out of all of the artists in this business, there’s some that’s not here for the art. When we see those people that are not here for the art damaging it, you’re hurting the future of the art. So I think artists like Kendrick are going to speak out.”
“It’s just been in the conversation naturally, like any sport you want to thrive,” he continued. “You don’t want the NBA to start slowing down. You want it to thrive. The ball players want it to thrive. We’re going to call out anytime we see it. Sometimes the rest of us won’t see it. Sometimes it’ll take Kendrick to remind us where we are lacking.”
In addition, Nas gave a status update on his long-awaited album with DJ Premier, insights on the label’s Legend Has It… initiative, and his thoughts on fans’ responses to his and Jay-Z’s competing New York casino bids.