When Nas practically joined Junior M.A.F.I.A

Queensbridge legend and Illmatic creator Nas is taken into account one in every of hip-hop’s biggest lyricists and has by no means been a crew or collective member at any level throughout his profession. Nevertheless, it was as soon as unveiled that within the Nineties, he was within the working to be a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A.

Though acts corresponding to Nas, the Wu-Tang Clan and Bone Thugs-n-Concord had been prevalent throughout the Nineties, the last decade was undoubtedly dominated by Bad Boy Entertainment and Death Row Records. That stated, based on Lance’ Un’ Rivera, Nas was near being signed to Diddy’s label.

In 1991, an A&R named Religion Newman signed Nas to Columbia Data after listening to a number of demos he had recorded on the legendary Energy Play Studios in Queens. Nevertheless, after listening to phrase on the road about the King’s Disease musician shortly after, Rivera was trying to draft him into Junior M.A.F.I.A., the supergroup he was creating with Biggie Smalls.

In an interview with DJ Vlad for Vlad TV, Rivera recalled, “What happened was is that he just got his record deal. This is when Faith Newman had him. The first time I seen Nas through the ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell’ video, I said, ‘Yo B.I.G., this kid is perfect for this group!’ Now, this is how the universe and the story is working.”

He continued, “I never met Nas at this moment in time. But as we was shopping Junior M.A.F.I.A., Daddy-O took me to Faith Newman’s office, and she had just signed Nas. And Daddy-O introduced me as this brilliant marketer, director, visionary type, and she gave me Nas’ second single and said can I come up with a video treatment for it. And I wanted Toni Braxton, who’s hot at the time, to be the girl in the video.”

Nevertheless, a minor concern arose when Rivera bought Biggie and Nas a joint present. Recalling the live performance, the Undeas founder detailed, “So the next thing you know, Biggie and Nas do a show somewhere in their early careers. This is when B.I.G. had ‘Party and Bullshit’, and Nas might’ve had ‘Live At The BBQ.’ They end up doing the show, and Nas start liking [Lil] Cease’s sister. ‘Cause I used to say, ‘Why does B.I.G. hang with Cease?’”

In response to Lance ‘Un’ Rivera, each Biggie Smalls and Nas started to have emotions for Lil Stop’s sister, and it added a little bit of gasoline to their then-rivalry, which led to Nas changing into utterly incompatible with the Junior M.A.F.I.A collective.

You possibly can take heed to the crew’s creator discuss Nas within the video under.