American rapper and songwriter who became a dominant voice in 1990s East Coast hip-hop. Nas built a reputation as an articulate chronicler of inner-city street life.

Nasir Jones, the son of a jazz musician, grew up in public housing in Queens, N.Y. He dropped out of school in the eighth grade and searched for a creative outlet, finally settling on hip-hop. His breakthrough came in 1992, when his song "Half Time" (credited to Nasty Nas) appeared on the soundtrack to the film Zebrahead. Columbia Records soon signed him to a contract. His debut recording as Nas, Illmatic (1994), drew widespread acclaim for its poetic narration of hard-edged inner-city life.

The more pop-oriented approach of It Was Written (1996) helped that album reach an even wider audience than its predecessor but ignited a recurring tension in Nas's career between the appetite of the pop audience and the demands of hip-hop purists. By 2000, sales and airplay of his records had declined somewhat; at the same time, he became embroiled in a public feud with fellow rapper Jay-Z over which of the two was the preeminent voice in East Coast hip-hop. The schism inspired Stillmatic (2001), a comeback album that was well received by both critics and consumers. The two rappers publicly settled their differences in 2005, and shortly thereafter Nas signed with Def Jam, of which Jay-Z was president at the time. Nas's first album for the label was Hip Hop Is Dead (2006). A Greatest Hits compilation with Columbia Records followed in 2007, though Nas continued to record new music for Def Jam.