NASIR The Film
Five months after releasing NASIR, Nas has returned with a new short film via Mass Appeal/Def Jam Recordings. The rapper stars alongside Slick Rick and Demarius Mack in the Rohan Blair-Mangat-directed visual which features seven tracks from the full-length album of the same name.
Just days ago, Nas teased plans for some form of a visual he would be involved with. On November 15, he released the Nasir short film in support of his eleventh studio album by the same name, which dropped back in June as part of Kanye West’s G.O.O.D. Music summer rollout.
Directed by Rohan Blair-Mangat, the 16-minute visual touches on social issues ingrained into his neighborhood of Queens, New York, including racism and police brutality. His 7-track album, executive produced by Kanye West, serves as the soundtrack, while Slick Rick and Demarius Mack make cameos.
“I’m a product of the old school and the newest of the new,” says the hip-hop icon while addressing his legacy.
Some initially believed that will be a solo music video, but the Queensbridge native decided to go a step further and deliver an in-depth visual telling the story of his 2018 LP. The iconic MC collaborated with director Rohan Blair-Mangat, who helmed the flick, and Mass Appeal on the fresh venture.
What better way to end the year than with a short film by Nas? The legendary New York rapper has just published a small film entitled NASIR – The Film, which includes four songs included in his most recent album, Nasir.
“Not For Radio”, “Cops Shot The Kids”, “Adam & Eve” and “Everything” are some of the cuts included throughout the 16-minute video, which also combines social themes such as oppression to African Americans in the United States. A single father murdered in the street, a young man running from the police and a black Egyptian king who emerges in the middle of a basketball court, are some of the stories that are seen in the short, which also appears briefly the veteran MC, Slick Rick.
Nasir begins with a powerful visual for the intro track “Not For Radio” without Diddy and transitions into “Cops Shot The Kid” with a brief cameo from Slick Rick. The film continues to revive other songs like “Everything,” “White Label” and more with touching shots that will hit home for anyone who’s lived a life like Mr. Jones.
Nas is now working on the follow-up to Nasir. During an iHeartRadio interview with Angie Martinez in July, Nas revealed that he has been in the studio with Swizz Beatz and RZA .”It’s another album that I already had been working on before [Nasir],” he said. “Since I did this, I gotta do something that, you know, goes in another direction a little bit. So I’m finishing up the next one.”
Aside from the music, NASIR sheds light on social and economic issues affecting the Queens community that are frequently referenced on the project like racism and police brutality. The film clocks in around 16 minutes long. Watch it all unfold above.
Five months after releasing NASIR, Nas has returned with a new short film via via Mass Appeal/Def Jam Recordings. The rapper stars alongside Slick Rick and Demarius Mack in the Rohan Blair-Mangat-directed visual which features seven tracks from the full-length album of the same name.
