Editing Nas (section)

==Early life==
Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/05/01/2009-05-01_say_pregnant_kelis_set_to_divorce_nas.html|title=Pregnant singer Kelis set to divorce rapper Nas|date=May 1, 2009|work=[[Daily News (New York)|New York Daily News]]|access-date=October 25, 2009|archive-date=May 4, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090504085026/http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2009/05/01/2009-05-01_say_pregnant_kelis_set_to_divorce_nas.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> was born in the [[Brooklyn]] borough of [[New York City]] on September 14, 1973, to African American parents.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2sg3CwAAQBAJ|title=Finding Your Roots, Season 2: The Official Companion to the PBS Series|last=Gates|first=Henry Louis Jr.|date=January 28, 2016|publisher=UNC Press Books|isbn=9781469626192|pages=219|language=en}}</ref><ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url={{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p44732|pure_url=yes}}|title=Nas&nbsp;– Biography|last=Birchmeier|first=Jason|website=[[AllMusic]]|access-date=December 23, 2008}}</ref> His father, [[Olu Dara]] (born Charles Jones III), is a jazz and blues musician from [[Mississippi]]. His mother, Fannie Ann (née Little; 1941–2002) was a [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Postal Service]] worker from [[North Carolina]].<ref>Stated on ''[[Finding Your Roots]]'', PBS, October 28, 2014</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/05/arts/music/hiphop-family-values.html|title=Hip-Hop Family Values|first=Alex|last=Abramovich|work= [[The New York Times]]|date= December 5, 2004|access-date= October 10, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media | people=One9 (director) | date=April 16, 2014 | title=[[Time Is Illmatic]] | medium=Motion picture | location=United States | publisher=Illa Films|minutes=20}}</ref> He has a brother, Jabari Fret, who raps under the name Jungle and is a member of [[hip-hop]] group [[Bravehearts]]. His father adopted the name "Olu Dara" from the [[Yoruba people]].<ref name=findbookref1>{{cite book|last=Gates|first=Henry Louis|date=2016|title=Finding Your Roots, Season 2: The Official Companion to the PBS Series|publisher=UNC Press Books|page=229|isbn=978-1469626192}}</ref> "[[Nasir]]" is an [[Arabic]] name meaning "helper and protector", while "bin" means "son of" in Arabic.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dyson |first1=Michael Eric |last2=Daulatzai |first2=Sohail |title=Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic |date=2009 |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |isbn=9780786727650 |page=163 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gno4DgAAQBAJ&pg=PT163}}</ref> He is a cousin of actors [[Yara Shahidi]] and [[Sayeed Shahidi]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.essence.com/celebrity/black-celeb-couples/yara-shahidi-flower-girl-nas-kelis-wedding|title=Flashback! Yara Shahidi Was The Cutest Flower Girl Ever In Her Cousin Nas' Wedding|website=Essence.com|access-date=July 8, 2018}}</ref>

As a young child, Nas and his family relocated to the [[Queensbridge Houses|Queensbridge housing project]] of the [[Long Island City]] community area in the borough of [[Queens]]. His neighbor, Willie "Ill Will" Graham, influenced his interest in hip-hop by playing him records.<ref name="Exclaim">{{cite web | last=Cowie|first=Del F.|title = Battle Ready | url = http://exclaim.ca/articles/multiarticlesub.aspx?csid1=65&csid2=9&fid1=3570| access-date = September 16, 2006}}</ref> His parents divorced in 1985,<ref name="Exclaim" /> and he dropped out of school after the eighth grade.<ref name="allmusic" /> He educated himself about [[African culture]] through the [[Five-Percent Nation]] (a splinter group of the [[Nation of Islam]])<ref>{{cite book |last1=Dyson |first1=Michael Eric |last2=Daulatzai |first2=Sohail |title=Born to Use Mics: Reading Nas's Illmatic |date=2009 |publisher=[[Basic Books]] |isbn=9780786727650 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gno4DgAAQBAJ |language=en}}</ref> and the [[Nuwaubian Nation]]. In his early years, he played the trumpet and began writing his own rhymes.<ref>Jackson, Margaret. "Nas". Grove Music Online. (January 2014): 1. Oxford Music Online. Web. February 21, 2015.</ref>