Nas Album Done
by DJ Khaled (featuring Nas)

Album: Major Key (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This features some old-school rhyming by Nas about issues facing minorities over Cool & Dre and 808-Ray's new-school beat. Nas told Complex the story of the song.

    "Khaled hit me up and said that he wanted to do this and we had planned some studio days to sit down and we cleared some studio days just to go over records. He knew exactly what he wanted. He had a couple of ideas, but the one we put out, that was the one he really wanted."
  • The song samples "Fu-Gee-La," by the Fugees. It was Khaled who came up with the idea and Nas revealed how he got Lauryn Hill's approval to borrow from the track.

    "I texted Ms. Lauryn Hill to ask her if she was cool, she said she was cool. She signed off on it, she gave me the approval. I don't have the rest of the Fugees' phone numbers, so I hit Salaam Remi who worked with the Fugees and he signed off on it. I just wanted to get her blessing and we were good."
  • Nas touches on his hip-hop resumé throughout the song, including his iconic Illmatic album cover, which featured a picture of the rapper as a child:

    To every baby on the album cover existin'
    This trend I was settin', it came to fruition
    I'm assistin' to push the culture forward


    He explained in a Genius attribution: "I was thinking, 'How do you pop s--t?' I'll be standing here for a while trying to fit all the little things that I put in the game into a verse. I had to pick and choose the first ones that came to mind and shot that out there. But the list is long. Everybody got a list. You shine a light on that—that's hip-hop. Hip-hop is poppin' s--t."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Petula Clark

Petula ClarkSongwriter Interviews

Petula talks about her hits "Downtown" and "Don't Sleep In The Subway," and explains her Michael Jackson connection.

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Kim Thayil of SoundgardenSongwriter Interviews

Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he Inspired

Muhammad Ali: His Musical Legacy and the Songs he InspiredSong Writing

Before he was the champ, Ali released an album called I Am The Greatest!, but his musical influence is best heard in the songs he inspired.

Brenda Russell

Brenda RussellSongwriter Interviews

Brenda talks about the inspiration that drove her to write hit songs like "Get Here" and "Piano in the Dark," and why a lack of formal music training can be a songwriter's best asset.

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde

Johnette Napolitano of Concrete BlondeSongwriter Interviews

The singer/bassist for Concrete Blonde talks about how her songs come from clairvoyance, and takes us through the making of their hit "Joey."

Dave Edmunds

Dave EdmundsSongwriter Interviews

A renowned guitarist and rock revivalist, Dave took "I Hear You Knocking" to the top of the UK charts and was the first to record Elvis Costello's "Girls Talk."