Nas and Prince could have been on a song together if the Purple One had said yes to the New York rapper’s request for a collaboration. But things didn’t happen that way, which Nas talked about during a recent visit to Nore’s “Drink Champs” podcast.
And Nas didn’t say Prince didn’t like his music or thought collaborating was a bad idea, he said it was just a matter of business, as well as owning his own masters.
“I sought him, because he came to my ‘I Am’ release party,” said Nas, who released his long awaited “The Lost Tapes II” LP on July 19.
“I pulled a N.O.R.E. move,” he continued. “I said, ‘Yo, look man, let’s do this. Let’s do this song.’ And he was like, ‘Do you own your masters?’ But he blew my sh– because I was like, ‘I don’t and I’m far from it, ’cause I owe this label about four, five albums.’ So I was like, ‘Damn.'”
The “Illmatic” writer then said he appreciated Prince’s response because it gave him something to ponder. And he understood that he was often pestered by a lot of artists to work together.
“He dropped a jewel. He kind of helped me see the future, and he was like, ‘When you own your masters, give me a ring,'” Nas explained.
“But we kicked it a few times. We got cool, he was seriously a very cool dude to me,” he added. “He invited me onstage to perform. … I think everybody wanted to work with him, so the pressure that he had from everybody. … He turned Michael Jackson down. The pressure he had from people who wanted to work with him was crazy.”
You can listen to Nas talk about Prince below starting at the 48:31 mark.
