Nas Talks Summer Jam, Hot 97, Nicki Minaj and Lauryn Hill

Nas recently sat down with our friends over at Rap-Up to exclusively talk about Summer Jam, Nicki vs. Hot 97 and Lauryn Hill. Nas gave his insight on some of the things that occurred before the big concert special. He also spoke from experience about going through the same thing back in 2001 with his rivalry Jay-Z.

 Check out some of the excerpts from the interview below.


What was it like to touch down on the Summer Jam stage?
It was magic. I didn’t want to be announced. I wanted to keep it quiet, a surprise for people. It was an honor to do it again because I haven’t done it in years.

How did you get Lauryn Hill to come out?
Nicki had asked me to come out during her set and so I figured that would be a great way to go into my show. I only wanted to bring out Lauryn during my set, so she was with it. That’s my sister.

Have you kept in touch with her over the years?
I don’t really keep in touch with anyone except my family. Artists, we’re too busy to be in touch, but we’ve seen each other through the years and it’s just love.

Can we expect another collaboration between the two of you?
I don’t know. She’s amazing. I’d love to.

What do you make of the whole YMCMB vs. Hot 97 drama?
I’ve been there before and things like that happen every couple of years. I guess this is the second time something has happened like that between the artist and the radio station. We don’t always agree and the nature of hip-hop can be aggressive and get real gangsta on you now and then. That’s just what it is. These things happen.

Lauryn wrote a letter in support of Nicki. Do you stand by her decision not to perform?
[YMCMB's] situation was different than mine and I’m not clear on all of it, but of course when it happened with me years ago, it was based on the Jay-Z drama and a whole bunch of other stuff. Her situation is based on something different between her and her camp. Eventually I got cool with Hot 97 and they got cool with me. It’s one hip-hop family, and that’s how it should be at the end of the day.

Did you speak to Nicki about the situation?
I think it was just really messy. When you’re in the heat of that moment, no one has time to inform anybody, but we spoke after briefly and it seemed like it was a crazy situation for her to handle. When put in that position, it’s no easy thing and I guess I was in support of her, in support of Hot 97. I’ve been there before, so at the end of the day, it could be fixed. It’s one hip-hop family, let’s unify it.


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