Nas is reflecting on a special moment he shared with late rapper DMX.
The Crown Heights native recently appeared on an episode of “Desus & Mero,” where the trio discussed Nas’ latest project “King’s Disease II,” which was released in August. During the conversation the 48-year-old also divulged some memories he has of X from while they were on set of their classic 1998 film “Belly.”
“That was a great time, man,” the “One Mic” emcee said of working on the Hype Williams-directed film alongside X. Nas also told the hosts Desus and Mero of the “brotherhood” he formed with the “What’s My Name” emcee in the process.
“I didn’t have to see him, I didn’t have to call him, he didn’t have to call me,” the “Monster” actor revealed. “When we saw each other though, it was … beyond. Even working on the film, man, we cried, man. We was at the tunnel outside doing a scene and I was like, ‘You feel that, bro? You know what’s happening?’ And he was like, ‘yeah,’ and he started talking to me and he started crying, and now I’m crying.”
Later on, Nas claimed X’s presence was larger than life as he argued against the idea X wasn’t valued enough as an artist.
“People need to understand DMX had more love than most rappers will ever see,” Nas said. “People said that when he passed, ‘Where was the love when he was alive?’ You gotta be kidding me. He had more love than probably 98 percent of rappers will ever have.”
He continued, “He walked through any hood, sold millions of records, he had an incredible movie career. Kids ain’t doing that today! I wish he was still here with us, but in this life, he saw more love than 1,000 rappers put together.”
X, whose real name is Earl Simmons, died last April after falling into a coma and being hospitalized for nearly a week for what later turned out to be a cocaine-induced heart attack. The rapper was known for his longtime battle with drug abuse. He was 50 years old when he passed.
Be sure to check out the interview down below starting around the 5:40 mark.
