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The record executive stopped the demo halfway through the first song and said “I’ve been looking for Nas, trying to get in touch with him.” Serch recalls, “they literally wouldn’t let me leave the Columbia office until we had a deal in place for Nas. I played Nas’ demo-which was “It Ain’t Hard To Tell,” “Halftime” and “I’m A Villain”-and Russell said, “Ah, he sounds like G Rap, and G Rap don’t sell no records, I’m not interested.” MC Serch Always Knew Nas’ ‘Illmatic’ Was The Greatest Album Of All Time | XXL MagĪfter Russell passed on Nas, Serch brought the young Queensbridge rapper over to Faith Newman at Columbia. Then I went to see Russell, and Russell was at his apartment with a woman named Tracey Waples.
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In an interview with XXL, Serch recalls Russell’s reaction: One of them was Def Jam, which at the time was seen as the seminal hip hop record label, run by Russell Simmons. Linking up MC Serch, who signed Nas to his company Serchlite and became his manager, the pair went demo shopping to different record labels. You think of Illmatic his beef with Jay Z, “Hate Me Now” and “Nas Is Like”, and if you’re interested, of his recent tech investments which are on track to make him more money than music did.īut back in the early ’90s, Nas was just a supremely talented yet raw rapper who had a ton of buzz thanks to his appearances on Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque” and MC Serch’s “Back to the Grill,” as well as his debut single “Halftime” which appeared on the Zebrahead soundtrack.
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The original cut of the video hasn't been seen since then, and the only likely chance of it surfacing would rely on someone having taped the original broadcast.When you think about Nas today, you think of a legendary rapper who arguably be in everyone’s top five greatest of all time list. This led to a lawsuit being filed against Puff Daddy by Stoute, but it was later settled out of court. In the video, for Nas track 'Hate Me Now,' Puffy Combs appears in a number of. The video, directed by Hype Williams, controversially depicted the two rappers being crucified (amongst other things).īefore the video was to air, Puff Daddy (being a devout Catholic) spoke to his priest and decided that he wanted his crucifixion scene cut from the video, however, when it premiered on Total Request Live on April 15, 1999, the original cut was accidentally shown, and within minutes, Puff Daddy had burst into the office of Steve Stoute (Nas' manager), with several bodyguards, and struck Stoute over the head with a champagne bottle, allegedly taking (and presumably destroying) the master tape afterwards. Sources say the beatdown came as a result of a video which aired on MTVs 'Total Request Live' earlier in the day. In early 1999, a music video was produced for Nas (' single "Hate Me Now", featuring Puff Daddy ( Sean Combs), from Nas' third album, I Am., the followup to 1996's hugely successful It Was Written. Its been a long time been a long time comin Looks like the death of me now. Halftime by Nas, Live At The Barbeque by Main Source, One Love by Nas, The World Is Yours by Nas. The cut version of the "Hate Me Now" video.