While promoting the new Netflix documentary Rapture, Queenbridge rap icon Nas told Billboard that he almost signed one of the documentary series’ subjects before she blew up with 2017’s Laila’s Wisdom and a 2018 Best Rap Album Grammy nomination on Jay-Z’s Roc Nation.
Nas revealed that he always had respect for North Carolina rapper Rapsody, and even considered signing him to his Mass Appeal Records alongside fellow Rapture subject Dave East. Unfortunately for fans of the label and its roster of boom-bap heavy traditionalists (where she would have fit in quite nicely), Nas missed out on his chance for one reason or another. However, he was able to make sure she gets some of her due on a wider platform by having her highlighted in director Sacha Jenkins’ upcoming docuseries.
“I’ve known Rapsody for a while, and we were talking about signing her for a while,” he admitted. “Very interested in her whole thing, so it was an honor to have her — a female hip-hop artist who could spit better than most of the hip-hop artists right now. It was important that we showcase that, especially right now with the season of Netflix and the Roxanne Roxanne movie about a hip-hop pioneer.”
He also went on to praise other women in hip-hop, calling himself “a supporter of all rap, male and female, since the beginning. Antoinette, MC Lyte — Rapsody, to me, comes from that lineage, so it’s important right now and we are so timely and so on point with this Rapture piece. She was just nominated for a Grammy. She just dropped a great album. It’s just her time.”
It’s high praise coming from a rap pioneer whose own groundbreaking debut elevated the way fans think about the craft of rapping. Rapture will detail the lives of Nas, Rapsody, Dave East, and a host of other hip-hop luminaries including T.I., Logic, and 2 Chainz, with all eight episodes dropping March 30.
