Before making it in the rap game, Logic was in talks to sign with Nas when he started out. For a budding musician, Logic mentioned it being a once-in-a-lifetime shot, saying, “I find out that Nas wants to sign me. And I’m like, ‘Oh my God! This is crazy! Nas, my idol, wants to sign me!”.
After meeting with the New York rapper on his home turf, Logic mentioned Nas having problems with some of his lyrics. When bringing up the song ‘Numbers’, Logic went on to say that Nas had issues with some lyrics, saying, “I have this line in I think it’s ‘Numbers,’ where I’m like, ‘I’m at the penthouse popping bottles of that $100,000 wine!’ Ugh, cringe! And I’m so broke. $100,000 wine? It’s like, are you joking? Like, what? But you’re on HOC. You’re on food stamps”.
Though Logic had cringed at hearing one of his heroes call him out, he did say it was surreal hearing Nas spit one of his lines back at him. It’s a moment in time that will continue to haunt Logic.
While Logic respected Nas, he turned down the chance to sign with him in favour of working alongside him, saying, “He was such a good dude. For me, I never wanted to live in his shadow, and in my mind, I had all these other deals, Def Jam included, and I could sign under him and forever try to fill his shoes or I could try to be his label-mate. I chose the latter, respectfully”.
After spending years with Def Jam, Logic has been independent since then and proud to be in control of his work, saying, “There’s a lot of bullshit in the music industry. I’m just glad to move on to a place where I can be independent and respected as an artist, and feel like I’m in control of my career”.
Listen to Logic’s ‘Numbers’ below.
