A Southern Mother Prepares Son
In a recent interview with Common for his new Audible Podcast “Mind Power Mixtape”, Nas gave insight into how he prepared to face racism in America. While Nasir Jones, who is better known as Nas, was born in Brooklyn, his mother the late Fannie Ann Jones was from Richmond County, North Carolina.
Nas claimed that his mom instilled knowledge in him from an early age on how to move as a young black man in a prejudiced society. When their family moved to New York, Nas said his mother was wary of the city’s law enforcement concerning black men.
Nas had told Common in the interview: ”I knew [about racism] early because my mom would teach me all of that….. Be careful with a water gun, son, the cops kill Black kids for water guns,”. Messages like this along with several others from Nas’s mother seem timely in light of the police brutality that has occurred in 2020.
Nas’ Awareness Fuels Success
2020 has been a great year for Nas as he released the album King’s Disease in late August. The album served as a follow up from his previous project titled Nasir, produced by Kanye West. King’s Disease produced by Hit-Boy, sold 47,000 copies and debuted at number 5 on the US Billboard 200.
Nas was also honored with a Grammy nomination for King’s Disease in the category of Best Rap album. His 2021 nomination marks the end of an eight-year drought from being acknowledged by the Recording Academy. Before this nomination his last one came in 2013 for his work on Life is Good.
While Nas is never one seeking validation from a source like the Grammys, it is still good to see a Hip-Hop veteran be acknowledged for exceptional work. Nas’ interview with Common can be streamed on Audible exclusively as part of the Audible Plus catalog.
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