Nas: “I think I like great artists and they’re in that category. Outkast is the dopest shit in the world.”

Nas: “It was ahead of its time. He rapped from a perspective of someone who lived a full life. He rapped from a perspective of someone looking ahead, someone who was looking to move on from one phase to another. It was a double album which was a bold move. It also showed that he was an artist of substance, so much that one album would not be enough. He’s honestly one of the greatest to ever do it.”

Nas: "I seen this kid Jay, I already knew he was nice. I’m watching him come into the game and he delivered a lyrical album, a street album, and he grabbed his spot. A lot of people couldn’t do that. A lot of people that were putting out albums around the time Reasonable Doubt dropped are no longer around."

Nas: “At that point, Snoop was the most anticipated person in music. How could you do it twice was the question. You did The Chronic which was out of this world and then it was like, ‘What’s going to happen with Snoop?’ The whole world was waiting to know and they delivered.”

Nas: “The Chronic was a psychedelic, funkadelic, California hip-hop genius piece of work. It lifted rap music as a whole to its next stage. That album single-handedly lifted the whole culture higher, made it stronger, kept it street, and it’s just beautiful. It’s a beautiful-sounding album and hardcore at the same time.”

Nas: “They had already caught the controversy and in Niggaz4Life, it was like, ‘What do you do now?’ People want to ban you, people want to censor you. The group probably single-handedly made the government invent the censor logo advisory stamp on rap albums. That was a challenge and I like to see people grow and how are they going to manage now that Ice Cube had left. It’s just a lot on their backs and they rose to the occasion and they killed it.”

Nas: “Back in my little hustling days, I was trying to do my one, two thing. Scarface’s record spoke to me and my crew. Here we are in Queensbridge, New York City and a guy from Houston is talking that talk. His voice, his words, he’s still one of my favorite MCs in the game to this day. I don’t buy many rap albums but I’ll buy Scarface records every time he puts them out.”

Nas: “I felt like People’s Instinctive Travels was a crazy album. But they evolved on The Low End Theory. It was already dope shit on the first album but the second album took it to a broader audience and they stepped it up even higher which I didn’t even think could be possible. It’s just one of those records that just took everybody by storm.”

Nas: “Death Certificate is one of the albums that changed my life along with Down By Law, Criminal Minded and a few others. Death Certificate hit me at a time when I was hustling, when I was hanging with hustlers, when I was making life-changing decisions in my life. Death Certificate spoke to me. To this day, it’s one of the boldest, bravest, realest rap albums that will ever be made.”

Nas: “It’s one of my favorite albums. Definitely. I’m on it so... [Laughs.]”

“Kool G Rap is a major influence. What he did with rapping was he took the lyric level to the highest level it can go. Rakim was scientific, Big Daddy Kane was acrobatic, but Kool G Rap was bloody chainsaws fighting each other lyric style. He took it to a level where it can’t go no further. He took it to the highest level.”

Nas: “It was something like I’ve never heard before. Chuck D’s voice and what he was saying made me think. Flava Flav’s voice, his attitude, and how he supported Chuck [was dope]. And the beats by the Bomb Squad were out of this world. Public Enemy took a strong position as a leader in the music community. They were brave.”

Nas: “It’s a musical storybook. It’s from a New Yorker with an English accent with an imagination that’s never been heard of before in music. He’s just amazing.”

Nas: “I’m a big time fan of Big Daddy Kane. ‘Ain’t No Half Steppin’’ and ‘Raw’ are great songs.”

Nas: “That album changed my life. A big reason is because Shan is from Queensbridge. But still, his rap style, it helped me craft my rap style. The production with him and Marley opened my head to what I wanted to sound like, what I think I should sound like, and what I can potentially sound like.”