(AllHipHop News) Hip Hop legend Nas did a sit down interview with Zane Lowe for the “Relentless Ultra presents Soundchain” series. During the Q&A, the Queens rhymer was asked about the infamous feud between Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G., and Nas revealed the deaths of the two icons had him questioning the future of rap music.
[ALSO READ: Keith Murray Recalls Fights With Prodigy & Dame Dash + Being Confronted By 2Pac (VIDEO)]
“Those two things hit me real hard, because I knew both of them. I knew Biggie more, but what they meant to the art form can never be redone, can never be replaced,” stated Nas. “And when those two guys passed away I thought [it] was the end of rap.”
The creator of the 2006 album Hip Hop Is Dead, also spoke on his own verbal back-and-forth with former rival Jay Z and how the game has changed since the two Hip Hop titans faced off in the early 2000’s.
Nas said:
Today’s music industry it’s really about money now and back then during that period, when you talk about me battling with Jay, it was about something else. It was not just about being the top guy in rap. It felt like we were leaders of nations. Not that we were egotistical as, “I’m the leader.” No, not in that sense. I mean what you felt surrounding us was – there was an importance in what we were doing that mattered more than just success.
It was more than just, “Oh my record’s going to sell,” or… Yeah we need the records to sell to make money. That was something we thought about, but put that aside. When Pac made “Dear Mama,” and these records and then he had to switch up to get in war mode, these were chess moves. This was real… today it’s a whole other world. I’ll just leave like that.
[ALSO READ: Loaded Lux Says “Eminem Vs Nas” & “Eminem Vs Jay Z” Battles Are Coming (VIDEO/POLL)]