| "Nas Is Like" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| SinglebyNas | ||||
| from the album I Am... | ||||
| B-side | "Dr. Knockboot" | |||
| Released | March 2, 1999[1] | |||
| Recorded | 1998 | |||
| Genre | East Coast hip hop | |||
| Length | 3:57 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Songwriter(s) | ||||
| Producer(s) | DJ Premier | |||
| Nas singles chronology | ||||
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| Music video | ||||
| "Nas Is Like"onYouTube | ||||
"Nas Is Like" is the first single from Nas' third album I Am.... The song is the sixth collaboration between Nas and producer DJ Premier. It was well received by critics as it was a change from the more commercial and pop-oriented singles from It Was Written and Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album. The song contains a combination of braggadocios and introspective lyrics over a choppy string sample.
In the 14 Deadly Secrets by DJ Premier,[2] he said:
This shit is crazy : the day I made this record, I was at my house in Long Island, and I found this old record that I was gonna throw away. It was a ten inch record from a Lutheran church, and it was pink with a black fish on it. And I was gonna throw it in the garbage, 'cuz it didn't look like it had anything hot on it. But somethin' told me "before you throw it away, put it on the turntable, see if you can find something on it". And I found that sample of "Nas Is Like", and I broke it into 3 parts, scratched it live to the drumbeat that I already had, with the little chirpin' birds and from there, "Nas Is Like" was born, man...
The song is also notable for featuring one of the most sought-after samples by cratediggers. For almost a decade since the track's release, the main sample used by DJ Premier remained unknown. However, in April 2008, an unnamed MP3 file featuring the original sample used was uploaded to the Internet by Dusty Kid from Strictly Breaks. Right after, the sample was identified as "Cantata of New Life" by John Rydgren. However, it was later revealed that the track was actually John Rydgren and Bob R. Way's 1966 song "What Child Is This?",[3] from their record Thoughts on the Carols.
Other than this, the song also contains scratched vocal samples from Nas' previous songs "It Ain't Hard to Tell" from 1994 and "Street Dreams" from 1996. The song also samples bird chirps from Don Robertson's "Why" and a vocal sample from Biz Markie's "Nobody Beats the Biz".
The song's music video, directed by Nick Quested, shows Nas rapping in the Queensbridge projects and features cameos by NBA player Ron Artest and fellow Queensbridge rappers Nature and The Bravehearts.
"Nas Is Like" was positively received on a commercial and critical level. It reached number 86 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 14 on the Canadian Singles Chart and peaked at number 3 on the Rap songs chart.[4] M.F. DiBella of Allmusic justifies the success of "Nas Is Like" stating: "Superproducer Premier comes to save the day...["Nas Is Like" is] nothing short of Illmatic perfection. "Nas Is Like"'s symphonic composition is the perfect complement for an MC of Nas' supreme vocal quality and precise lyrics."[5]
The song's popularity caused various songs to borrow "Nas Is Like"'s beat, structure and lyrics:
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Canada (Nielsen Soundscan)[7] | 14 |
| USBillboard Hot 100[8] | 86 |
| USHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[9] | 30 |
| USHot Rap Songs (Billboard)[10] | 3 |
| Chart (1999) | Position |
|---|---|
| UK Urban (Music Week)[11] | 20 |
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| |
|---|---|
| Illmatic |
|
| It Was Written |
|
| The Firm: The Album |
|
| I Am... |
|
| Nastradamus |
|
| Stillmatic |
|
| God's Son |
|
| Street's Disciple |
|
| Hip Hop Is Dead |
|
| Untitled |
|
| Life Is Good |
|
| Nasir |
|
| King's Disease |
|
| King's Disease II |
|
| Other singles |
|
| Collaborations |
|
| Other songs |
|
