https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJkjLmsy5KA
One of the most enduring and hilarious internet memes paints New Yorkers as perpetually rocking Timberland boots and yelling at younger heads to listen to more Nas, so there’s an unintended element of comedy to Timberland’s latest colorfully animated ad promoting the brand’s latest model featuring the legendary Queens rapper. Entitled “The Legend Continues,” the short clip finds an animated version of the New York icon reminiscing about his come-up from the stoop to being one of the most recognized purveyors of rap music in the world.
Relating hip-hop to its jazz roots over a cool saxophone solo, Nas remembers how his father’s career playing the trumpet led to his own musical career. “My father played the trumpet,” he relates, “So for me that’s where my journey started… Notes and melodies, beats, and bars that could get up inside people.”
Lately, Nas has occupied himself with passing on his own musical legacy, by collaborating with young, up-and-coming artists like Joe Fox, and canoodling with fellow Queens rapper Nicki Minaj. Of course, that hasn’t stopped him from sharing his opinion on the modern state of rap music himself — and he’s not happy with the direction his successors have taken at all.
But, he’s doing his best to help keep “real hip-hop” alive; his proteges Fashawn and Dave East have both released records this year through his Mass Appeal imprint, and with ads like “The Legend Continues,” the history of the culture will never fade away. Deadass.
