Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones(pronounced
/nɑːˈsɪər/;
born September 14, 1973), who performs under
the
mononym Nas
(/ˈnɑːz/),
formerly Nasty Nas, is an American
rapper and
actor. The son of
jazz
musician
Olu Dara,
he was born and raised in the
Queensbridge
housing projects
in
New York City.
Although he dropped out of
middle school,
he managed to attain a high degree of
literacy which is prominent in his
lyrics.His debut album
Illmatic,
was released in 1994 on
Columbia Records.
Illmatic was critically acclaimed and would
go on to be widely hailed a classic in the
genre. Nas was part of hip-hop
supergroup
The Firm,
which released
one album.
Damian was two years old when his father Bob Marley died; he is the only child born to Marley and Cindy Breakspeare, Miss World 1976. Damian's nickname Junior Gong is derived from his father's nickname of Tuff Gong. Marley has been performing since the age of 13. He shares, along with most of his family, a full-time career in music. Unlike his brothers and sisters, however, his musical specialty is "toasting", a Jamaican vocal technique that is a predecessor to rapping.
