Nas praises Kendrick Lamar for keeping hip-hop alive
Nas has given high praise to Kendrick Lamar following the release of his GNX album. The comments arrive after K.Dot saluted Escobar twice on the project, both with lyrical mentions and through his instrumentals.
Kendrick Lamar addressed the controversy around him taking away the 2025 Super Bowl slot from Lil Wayne on ‘wacced out murals’, claiming Nas was the only rapper in the industry to congratulate him on the achievement.
He raps on the song, “Won the Super Bowl and Nas the only one congratulate me/ All these n-ggas agitated, I’m just glad they showed they faces/ Quite frankly, plenty artists but they outdated/ Old-ass flows, tryna convince me that you they favorite/ This is not for lyricists, I swear it’s not the sentiments/ Fuck a double entendre, I want y’all to feel this shit.”
Not only that, but another Kendrick Lamar track, ‘man at the garden’, produced by Sounwave, Jack Antonoff, Craig Balmoris, Tyler Mehlenbecher and M-Tech, samples the classic ‘One Mic’ from Nas’ 2001 album Stillmatic.
Nas posted a photo of the GNX cover art to his Instagram feed and stated that he believes Kendrick Lamar is keeping hip-hop alive and well, while also giving him inspiration for his own career. “Always inspired by my brother KL,” he wrote. “Keeping the essence of this shit alive and at the forefront. Salute King!”
After securing the Super Bowl slot, Nas praised Kendrick Lamar publicly on Instagram, writing, “Congratulations to my brotha @kendricklamar. Can’t wait to watch the party die!!!!” Nas was one of just a few notable names to praise Kendrick due to the fact that many felt Lil Wayne should be the artist performing.
While Nas and Kendrick Lamar have never collaborated, they’ve always had mutual respect for one another. “There’s not many like him. He’s a breath of fresh air. His shit is genius,” Nas told Complex in 2014. “This dude’s a rhyming animal. I feel like he’s going to be one of the most important writers of our time as we watch him go forward. Without a question, you can already see that.”
The album mentions also go both ways, with Nas rapping about Kendrick Lamar on the song ‘First Time’ from his King’s Disease III album. On the track, he recalled the moment he was introduced to Kendrick for the first time in 2009.