Ill Will Records was an American vanity record label founded by Nasir "Nas" Jones. The label was named after Willie "Ill Will" Graham, Nas' childhood neighbor and best friend, who was shot dead on May 23, 1992, when both were teenagers. Nas founded the label in 1999 following the release of "

Nastradamus ''Nastradamus'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Nas, released on November 23, 1999 by Ill Will and Columbia Records. Originally scheduled to be released on October 26, 1999 as a follow-up composed of material from sessions for hi ...

" with the help of Steve Stoute who was the manager of Nas. After signing to

Def Jam Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

in 2005, Nas relaunched Ill Will by the name The Jones Experience as an imprint under Def Jam Recordings.

Early life of Willie Graham

Willie "Ill Will" Graham was born 1972 in Queensbridge Houses, New York City. Willie Graham, Nas' best friend and upstairs neighbor, influenced Nas' interest in hip hop by playing him records. As a teenager, Nas enlisted Graham as his DJ. Nas first went by the nickname Kid Wave before adopting his more commonly known alias of Nasty Nas.

Former artists

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

Bravehearts Bravehearts are an East Coast hip hop group from New York, New York. The group's roster originally included Jungle (born Jabari Jones, son of jazz trumpeter Olu Dara, and younger brother of hip hop star Nas), Wiz (born Mike Epps), and Horse (born ...

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

Former producers

Trackmasters The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...

* L.E.S. *

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is a Grammy winning American record producer known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, Robby, Fugees, Fergie, Estelle, Black Thought, and Miguel, and for his reggae-tinged (often referred to as ...

Arkatech Beatz Arkatech Beatz (formerly known as The Infinite Arkatechz) are a music production team from New York City, now based in Atlanta. They were affiliated with Loud Records/Sony Music Entertainment as A&R executives, and have composed, written, and pro ...

Discography

References

{{Authority control American record labels Nas Hip hop record labels Record labels established in 1999 Record labels disestablished in 2005 Vanity record labels Hardcore hip hop record labels 1999 establishments in the United States