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Nas – Hate Me Now

• 16th Feb 2011

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Simply put Nas is the best rapper of all time. Lyrically there isn't another rapper who can touch him. To me music mirrors life and all it's ups and downs. When your in a relationship you have a song don't you, when you have a good holiday you have a song and when you were younger you have many songs which symbolise your experiences growing up. Well for me there is one artist and in particular one song which means more to me than any other, Nas' ” Hate Me Now”.

Nas has always been a leader with his music and in 1999 when this song come out Nas was one of the highest profile rappers in the World, this is post 2Pac and Biggie era. Nas was brash, confident and stylish with his delivery, not to mention his style (Shiny Suit Man era) and to be fair he always has and will be.

When I first heard “Hate Me Now” I was dumbstruck, what you have got to understand is that there wasn't really an Internet back then and if you wanted to buy a rap album you had to go to town and pay at least £20 for
an album and that's if it wasn't an import. Music wasn't disposable back then like it is now. I have embraced the digital era and for me it has improved the overall standard of music but back then if you got your hands on something like a Nas single you embraced it; you listened to it; you studied it bar for bar and you let it into your life.

I was 14 going on 15 then and i wasn't particularly confident teen more likely to go with the crowd than be my own person.

A young white teenager who loved rap whereas all my mates liked Oasis and well Oasis. So to say i didn't fit in was an understatement. This song didn't only last a few weeks it was the whole summer and into the winter; it helped me find confidence and not to let the haters win and change my perspective in life.

To boot there was lots of controversy surrounding the song. The video, which was directed by Hype Williams, depicted Nas on a cross being crucified like Jesus, and the original edit also had Puff Daddy (Diddy) being crucified on a cross.

Diddy didn't want the final version with him on the cross and asked for it to be removed from the final version, it wasn't and to say Diddy wasn't happy was an understatement. Within hours of it airing on MTV Diddy charged in Steve Stout's (Nas' manager) office and cracked a champagne bottle over his head.

The song itself only reached number 14 in the UK charts and number 8 on the US Billboard Charts but for me it's up there with the very best rap songs there has ever been. The first two verses are addressing the haters with boasts, brags and facts, lines such as “First rapper to bring a Platinum plague back to the projects, but you still wanna hate, be my guest I suggest”.

But it's the third verse which absolutely, bar for bar, cannot be rivalled, check it out below:

“It's a thin line between paper and hate
friends and snakes, nine millis and thirty-eights
Hell or the pearly gates; I was destined to come
Predicted, blame God, he blew breath in my lungs
Second to none, wicked turn wives to widows
Shoot through satin pillows, the desolate one
Took a little time to claim my spot
Chairman of the board until this game stop, and I side with the Lord
Ride for the cause while drivin n****s shot at my doors
Plottin I'm sure to catch me with they glocks to my jaws
Tried, stickin me up, but I flipped on these ducks (you tried)
Instead of me, ambulances were picking them up (that's what you get)
N****s fear what they don't understand, hate what they can't conquer
Guess it's just the fury of man
Became a monster, on top of the world, never fallin
I'm as real as they come, from day one, forever ballin
C'mon”

Powerful words indeed. This point in my life I was struggling whether to concentrate on school or to hit the streets like others selling drugs and
making money. But this song helped me put my life in perspective. Rap isn't about the glamorising the gangster lifestyle (some is but the majority isn't) it is about telling a story, explaining the struggle, successes, emotion and what we need to do to stay out of the gutter. To put it in another context for me this is what separates humans from animals. Nas is a truly lyrical genius and it won't surprise you to hear I own everything he has released pre “Hate Me Now” and since.

The man is a legend and I was lucky enough to see his Distant Relatives tour last year with Damian Marley which was the best show I have ever attended. He is not to be missed live and guess what you can catch him live soon on his upcoming UK tour.

Remember to follow me on Twitter @alexgrantlfc for more musical ramblings and musings.