Nas Working On High School Diploma

Many people don’t know that the legendary Queens MC dropped out of school very early, in 8th grade to be exact. Part of the reason people don’t know is because Nas doesn’t brag about it in his raps like some of his peers would do or the younger generation might brag about after having success even after quitting school. He brushed on it early in his career but that was about it and I would guess it’s because he’s socially aware about the kind of message it would send to kids. Just recently Nas was in my home city/state Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the Boys and Girls Club’s 43rd annual National Keystone Conference. He spoke with the kids about deeply regretting not staying in school and getting his diploma. He urged the kids to not make the same mistakes he made as a youth and shared his plan of obtaining his high school diploma. “The reality of it is, you need to keep educating yourself, and I wish I had stayed in school,” Nas explained. “Be your own leader.”

This is just one of the reasons Nas has always been a favorite of mine. Although I’m sure that he’s aware (like the rest of us) that most of the inner city school systems are flawed, we still have to pick our battles. First we have to get the kids to have the will to learn and want to progress as people.

Nas is currently getting ready to release a collaboration album with Damian Marley titled Distant Relatives. The goal of the album is to raise awareness on the conditions of those living in poverty in Africa and the in U.S. The album is slated to release May 25, 2010.

[info AHH]