Nas has a few words for the rappers of both today and yesteryear: Stop all of the beefing between the generations and work together like musicians from other genres. He conveyed that message on Instagram while promoting his single “Walk Thru,” featuring Future and DJ Esco.
“Today’s game is as big as it gets. It seems like nobody getting along, though,” wrote Nas. “It’s a big enough game to do what you do and let your talent speak for itself. This new cat over here says something bad about Pac. This older guy gets mad at the new guy. Or ‘Nas ain’t hip hop, Migos and Future are Hip Hop.’ Neil Diamond and Jack White have a concert coming up together, getting it done.”
“White musicians have that freedom and are praised for coming together. More power to them and I’m a fan of it,” he added. “Why can’t Black artists do that and make it cool? We are all artists. Let’s all evolve together.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bg9TQh-lMoS/?hl=en&taken-by=nas
Nas mentioning Migos and Future has to do with a comment made by Los Angeles Laker Lonzo Ball in 2017.
On his reality show “Ball in the Family,” the then 19-year-old said “Nobody listens to Nas anymore and that real hip-hop is Migos and Future.” Then one month later, he doubled down on that statement after receiving plenty of social media backlash.
Nas’ message also has to do with the perpetual bickering between the rap generations, like Waka Flocka and Pete Rock getting into it last year, and 21 Savage and T.I. having a debate as well.
After the “Illmatic” rapper shared his post, people thanked him and agreed that hip-hop’s needs less ageism and more unity.
“Ageism is a real thing,” one person commented.
“As long as we continue to build and grow, there will be more opportunities,” wrote another. “It’s all a mindset. Artists just need to make it happen and be honest about it.”
From here, we’ll have to see if Nas’ words changes things any.
