Aside from the fact that, Nas is one of my favorite rappers of all time, he is still one hip hop illest mc’s to date. However, new rumors have surface the web earlier this week insuating that Nas actually used ghostriders for his 2008 untitled lp ” N—-R”. According to Dream Hampton [notable writer in the game who wrote “Decoded” for Jay-Z], Nas received assistance with his lyrics with the help of Stic of Dead Presidents and Jay Electronica who wrote most of the songs on Nas last lp.
Now, this rumor sparked much debate and questioned the illmatic mcee’s rap credibility. Nas was recently asked about the controversy in a an interview with Power 106 and denied the rumors. Here’s his response:
“No. ….You know who is my ghostwriter? My friends, people I meet on the street. People say something and I get something from that. Somebody will say something and that sparks something in me.“
Now Jay Electronica has yet to confirm or deny his involvement. According to Frank Miller, Electronica reportedly stated that he was commissioned by Def Jam [when Jay-Z] was president to write for Nas.
As for Stic of Dead Prez, he sides with Nas and wrote the folowing on his facebook page:
“As far as the rumors about myself and jay electronika ghost writing for Nas, let me say this. Nas is one of the if not the most prolific original lyricist to EVER do it. My contributions to his album was a collaboration and an honor and under his direction of what he wanted to convey and say. Haters cant discredit that man’s genuis. Nas is the Don.”
Here’s my opinion of it all.
Now I could be wrong on this but, it seems as though rappers have to work ten times harder than the average artist to appear AUTHENTIC to fans in comparison to other artists. Now, I’m not fully aware of the rap doctrine, but the rules of ghostwriting is an acceptable NORM in the industry and its given unto other artists [R&B, Pop, Country, Rock n roll], but somehow, its frowned upon and not acceptable in the rap culture. That’s mindblowing to me given the wave of the industry today. Everyone from Lil Wayne, to Jay-Z , Kanye, and other top rap elites have had a helping hand in their songs. Ghostwriters are used to inspire artist creativity . They create the writing visuals to an artist idea or story that they’d like to rap or sing about. As a blogger, to me that’s no different than a person with an idea, and the person [graphic/web designer] displaying the visuals to that idea. This concept is used in every business model [Social Media – Facebook, Twitter, The Fashion Industry, Blog Sites, Movies, etc]. The two are equally important.
So the question begs: Is it a bad thing for a rapper to have ghost writer or is Nas the exception to this rule given his longevity in the game and street credibility of being one of the talented lyricists of the hip hop game?