Looks like Jim Jones was on to something or not … Anyways, look like Fivio Foreign has entered the Nas chat, after recently sparking a conversation after admitting that he cannot recite a single bar from Nas, even though he has collaborated with the rap legend.
The Brooklyn rapper appeared in a clip from Jim Jones’ new platform Artist2Artist, where the two discussed the artists who influenced them. “I grew up with ni***s like Sosa, Gino, and I’m not saying that the man is wack, he’s not a legend,” Fivio explained. “I got a song with the ni***a. I got a song on the album [King’s Disease] and the album got a Grammy. But I can’t sit there and say a Nas bar to you or a song.”
He did acknowledge liking Nas’ classic track “One Mic,” but stressed again that he couldn’t name many songs from Esco’s catalog. Jim Jones, who grew up in the era when Nas was at his prime, quickly jumped in, saying he could because he lived through that period before helping usher in a new sound and lane in Hip Hop.
When the conversation turned to the rappers who shaped his style, Fivio didn’t hesitate. “I was infatuated with Chief Keef,” he said. “Chicago. The sht was the sht. It was just like, it was crazy. I liked the Meek Mill’s. I loved Dipset. Jim Jones, Juelz Santana.”
At 35 years old and raised in New York, Fivio was around during Nas’ peak years. Still, he made it clear that his influences came from a different generation of artists.
Fivio did get the chance to work with Nas in 2020, featuring on “Spicy” from the Grammy-winning album King’s Disease. Now, five years later, he is reestablishing himself in the music world after serving more than half a year behind bars for threatening a woman with a firearm. He was credited with 196 days served and is now on a three-year probation.
While many Hip Hop fans hold Nas as one of the greatest to ever touch a mic, Fivio Foreign is sticking to his truth: the Queensbridge legend wasn’t the soundtrack of his come-up, and that reality shaped the artist he is today.