Busta Rhymes and
Nas go way-back, and it is clear, from the collaborations that the two have done in the past, that they have mutual respect for each other. So, when the rumours of
Nas using ghostwriters surfaced, it was only a matter of time before
Busta would speak on it. And his verdict was- NOT GUILTY.
What actually started all this was when, a couple of weeks ago on twitter, a hip hop journalist,
Dream Hampton, tweeted that
Nas had gotten
Stic.Man of
Dead Prez, and
Jay Electronica to ghostwrite some tracks off his
Untitled album for him.
Check out what she said below-
“I think Jay writes what he believes. Nas' Ni**eralbum was largely written by Stic of dead prez and Jay Electronica,”
That was actually in defence of Jay-Z. Dream Hampton is a close friend of Jay-Z, and she helped write his Decoded book. What happened was that she was going back and forth, defending Jay-Z and Beyonce who had recently been accused of not doing enough charity with the level of success they have both attained. Well, that is none of my business anyway, but what is my business is this Dream Hampton lady saying something of this magnitude... that could potentially destroy a rapper's career...a career that has been built over 20 years.
Anyway, the guy she was arguing with said something about Jay-Z not speaking enough about the situation of the country or something of that nature...and why Jay couldn't make a politically conscious album like Nas's Untitled album, then the Dream Hampton lady fired back with what she said...what I put above.
Below is what Busta Rhymes had to say about the issue-
"I kind of just look to the facts for the truth. You got to research the facts. You can take a little bit from everywhere, but you research it and you get the facts. Fortunately I have access to a lot of resourceful information and people, so I base my sh*t on that. But speaking on the Nas ghostwriter thing, I think that's really funny because I've known Nas from before he put out a solo album. I sat in Large Professor's house, and he actually made the "Halftime" beat for me. The "Halftime" beat on the Illmaticalbum was originally for Busta Rhymes. I didn't know what to do with it. I gave it to Nas and he sledgehammered that. Back then, Nas recorded in Power Play Studios [in Queens]. Power Play was also where Leaders Of The New School recorded some of the first Leaders' album." (VIBE)
"Nas never needed a ghostwriter in his life--and I don't have to ask nobody to confirm that. I know what I saw with my own two! I'm not taking away from nobody and what they do. I'm not even knocking ghostwriters. To each his own. Get your money how you live. Whatever way you got to live, get it the way you got to get it. I don't knock nobody's hustle, but Nas needing a ghostwriter, using a ghostwriter, or having a ghostwriter--for me to believe that, a n*gga would d*mn near have to swallow gunpowder, swallow a match, blow himself up and float around on some Daffy Duck sh*t [Laughs]." (VIBE)
I always believe there is no smoke without fire...there is always an element of truth, even if it's a little element, in every rumor. What I am guessing is that the
Dream Hampton lady didn't get the full story. I think probably, Nas got
Stic.Man and
Jay-Electronica to give concepts of songs, or hooks or something, and not to write his actual lyrics. Cos, if you listen to
Nas, you know his lyrics are quite complex, and really unique.
Anyway, below is what
Jay Electronica had to say on the issue-
"Nas is one of the gods, one of the greatest of all time, one of the godfathers of even my own style," said Jay in an interview with MTV's RapFix.
The elusive emcee did acknowledge that he submitted something to the project, but disagrees that his contributions amounted to ghostwriting. "I met him on a humble submission and he is one of the greatest ever — he never has or never will need a ghostwriter. He's legendary, his pen game is unquestionable; salute to Nas."
"And all of the other bullshit, is just bullshit," added Electronica. (hiphopdx.com)
And you can also check out what Stic.Man of Dead Prez had to say below-
"I just feel like the people who are saying different things about the process of how that record was created I’m wondering, where were you at? To be totally honest, me and M1 went to Cali at the request of Nas. And we would be in the studio together working on stuff with nobody else there except Nas, who would come in and leave... It’s gone from the collaboration that we did with Nas, which involved producing, idea exchanging and writing hooks, which is one thing, to us being ghostwriters.
To me, ghostwriting, as far as I know, is hiring somebody to write words for you to actually say. That didn’t happen… were there to work in general: production, writing and ideas to help develop some of the songs on the album.
Even some of the songs we gave input on, in terms of hooks and phrases, it was Nas’ vision in terms of knowing what he wanted… Nas was the director. It was his vision on everything. My job was simple: can you help make this happen whether it was music or concepts. The only thing is they didn’t want [the standard] dead prez/Nas collaboration. They didn’t want to have me and M on the record with Nas. We were there as producers and collaborators.
People don’t understand what [traditional] producing is. I’m kind of still like, “Wow.” I’m trying to understand what’s the big deal and where it’s coming from. It’s weird." (globalgrind.com)
WTF!!! I almost fell off my seat when I read that back in 2012. It was almost like finding out that the book I had been reading for guidance all my life was all fairy tale. In 2012, Dream Hampton, who is pretty close to Jay Z and Beyonce (she helped write Jay Z's Decoded book) was on Twitter defending the couple from people who were bashing them for not doing enough for the black community in America. Along the line, someone asked why Jay Z couldn't make an album with enlightening message for the blacks in America like Nas's Untitled (Nigger) album, and Miss Hampton hit back with...
