In The Beginning

Welcome to The Nasir Jones Experiment aka Rebel To America aka Escobar Theory aka I got a lot of mp3s and time on my hands. And as this is the inaugural posting, why not start at the start?

Live at the Barbeque, from Main Source's 1991 Breaking Atoms, was the first time the mass public had a chance to hear a young Queensbridge MC calling himself "Nasty Nas." He would later pop up on the Zebrahead soundtrack and come Back To The Grill alongside MC Serch, then storming into history with a little album called Illmatic. But Barbeque, that was the first.

In two words on Live at the Barbeque, Nas gave himself an identity, "Street's Disciple." In one line, he gave himself a calling card, "my raps are trifle." In a single verse, he introduced himself to the world, a combination of verbal spitter, stoop dweller, young prophet, and mystic presence.

In one of the rapper's earliest interviews, with Rap Pages Magazine, Nas spoke on his genesis:

"First, I think New Edition made me want to come out. I seen them and was like,
Fuck them niggas--I want to get on and be a star.' I heard Dr. Jeckyll and Mr.
Hyde talking about 'Magic Potion' and said, 'That shit is clever.' Run-DMC was
ill. Shan. Marley Marl used to do jams in the park. And Biz performed; Shante
too. We didn’t know who the fuck Biz was, and he came out doing the beatbox. It
was fat. Marley on the tables, right there. You didn’t pay nothing. At the end
of it, somebody’s ass was out. But that’s how it was. It was butter, cuz we all
had shows. If you was a little muthafucka who didn’t know shit about rap, but
they said there was a show in the park, you were there, so now you gonna know
something. The foundation was right there."

Main Source f/ Nas, Fatal, Akinyele: Live at the Barbeque