"Nas Is Like" is the first single from

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 ( ...

' third album '' I Am...''. The song is the sixth collaboration between Nas and producer

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

. It was well received by critics as it was a change from the more commercial and pop-oriented singles from ''

It Was Written ''It Was Written'' is the second studio album by American rapper Nas, released on July 2, 1996, by Columbia Records. After the modest commercial success of his debut album ''Illmatic'' (1994), Nas pursued a more polished, mainstream sound for ''It ...

'' and '' Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album''. The song contains a combination of braggadocios and introspective lyrics over a choppy string sample.

Content

The lyrical presence of Nas was clearly evident from the first lines: "Freedom or jail, clips inserted,/ a baby's bein' born Same time my man is murdered,/ the beginning and end"
In the third verse of the song, Nas uses similes to describe his prowess. These include: "I'm like a whole lot of loot, I'm like crisp money / Corporate accounts from a rich company / I'm like ecstasy for ladies, I'm like all races / combined in one man; like the '99 summer jam."

Production

In the 14 Deadly Secrets by DJ Premier, he said:

Samples

The song is also notable for featuring one of the most sought-after samples by cratediggers. For almost a decade since the track's release, the main sample used by

remained unknown. However, in April 2008, an unnamed

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

file featuring the original sample used was uploaded to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

by Dusty Kid from Strictly Breaks. Right after, the sample was identified as "Cantata of New Life" by John Rydgren. However, it was later revealed that the track was actually John Rydgren and Bob R. Way's 1966 song "What Child Is This?", from their record ''Thoughts on the Carols''. Other than this, the song also contains scratched vocal samples from Nas' previous songs "

It Ain't Hard to Tell "It Ain't Hard to Tell" is the second single and last track from American rapper Nas' debut album, ''Illmatic''. Although the track was technically the second single on the album, it was the first single to be released after the album was presse ...

" from 1994 and " Street Dreams" from 1996. The song also samples bird chirps from Don Robertson's "Why" and a vocal sample from

Biz Markie Marcel Theo Hall (April 8, 1964 – July 16, 2021), known professionally as Biz Markie, was an American rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, and record producer. Markie was best known for his 1989 single "Just a Friend", which became a Top 40 hit in ...

's "Nobody Beats the Biz".

Music video

The song's music video, directed by Nick Quested, shows Nas rapping in the Queensbridge projects and features cameos by NBA player

Ron Artest Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in '' Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

and fellow Queensbridge rappers

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the 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. Although humans are ...

and

The 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 ...

Reception and influence

"Nas Is Like" was positively received on a commercial and critical level. It reached number 86 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, number 14 on the Canadian Singles Chart and peaked at number 3 on the Rap songs chart. M.F. DiBella of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

justifies the success of "Nas Is Like" stating: "Superproducer Premier comes to save the day... Nas Is Like" isnothing short of ''

Illmatic ''Illmatic'' is the debut studio album by American rapper Nas. It was released on April 19, 1994, by Columbia Records. After signing with the label with the help of MC Serch, Nas recorded the album in 1992 and 1993 at Chung King Studios, D&D Re ...

'' perfection. "Nas Is Like"'s symphonic composition is the perfect complement for an MC of Nas' supreme vocal quality and precise lyrics." The song's popularity caused various songs to borrow "Nas Is Like"'s beat, structure and lyrics: *During his brief feud with Nas,

Memphis Bleek Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known by his stage name Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper who was a protégé of fellow New York rapper Jay-Z. Cox started his own labels: Get Low Records in 1998, and Warehouse Music Group in 2016. He ...

recorded a song named " Memphis Bleek Is..." which stylistically mimicked "Nas Is Like". *On Royce da 5'9"'s 2007 mixtape ''The Bar Exam'', he freestyles over the "Nas Is Like" instrumental and forms a song with a similar structure. *Lyrics from "Nas Is Like" were later sampled in Braille and

Rob Swift Rob Swift (born Robert Aguilar; May 14, 1972), is an American hip hop DJ and turntablist. He was an original member of the turntablist group The X-Ecutioners until 2004. He has also released numerous solo albums and collaborated with various ar ...

's 2008 song "The IV". * West Coast rapper

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

made a freestyle to this song in January 2013 on Hot97.Kendrick_Lamar_Freestyles_on_the_Funk_Flex_Show_[Video]
/ref> *J._Cole.html" ;"title="ideo]">Kendrick Lamar Freestyles on the Funk Flex Show [Video]
/ref> *J. Cole">ideo]">Kendrick Lamar Freestyles on the Funk Flex Show [Video]
/ref> *J. Cole uses the first part of Nas Is Like for the intro of his song, Let Nas Down. Nas himself would later appear on a remix of the song. *Apathy (rapper), Apathy recorded a song named "Ap is like" with the same instrumental. *Rapper Wale (rapper), Wale sampled the song for his single "Folarin Is Like" *The song was included in the soundtrack of ''

NBA 2K18 ''NBA 2K18'' is a 2017 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the 19th installment in the ''NBA 2K'' franchise, the successor to ''NBA 2K17'', and the predecessor to ''NBA 2K19''. It was r ...

''.

Track listing

A-Side

# "Nas Is Like" (Main) (3:50) # "Nas Is Like" (Clean) (3:57) # "Nas Is Like" (Instrumental) (3:57)

B-Side

# "Dr. Knockboots" (Main) (2:25) #*Produced by

Poke & Tone 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 ...

# "Dr. Knockboots" (Clean) (2:25) # "Dr. Knockboots" (Instrumental) (2:25)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

External links

Nas - Nas Is Like
Official Hip Hop Music Video {{authority control 1999 singles Nas songs Song recordings produced by DJ Premier Songs written by Nas 1998 songs Columbia Records singles Songs written by DJ Premier