Seated in a quiet corner of New York restaurant the Spotted Pig, Nas is drinking a glass of rose. He’s dressed comfortably in jeans, Velcro-fastened sneakers and a white T-shirt featuring the image of a poster from Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier’s “Thrilla in Manilla” fight. His black Rolls Royce is parked outside and he’s awaiting a few cigars from his driver.
That’s not really relevant to the Fila deal, but I think that the writer essentially captured the Nas that we’ve been exposed to since late 2006. Since Hip Hop is Dead, his numerous collaboration verses and even with The Nigger Tape (on which the Little Homey throws around the word Fila/velour/suit a couple times) we’re listening to a new rapper. Rhymes laced front-to-back by a braggadocio, champagne sipping, expensive painting scoping, grown-paper spending Nasir. Not that speaking on money or expensive things is something new to Nas, or rappers in general, but it’s a step away from where he was focused and it seems to be the zone he’s been in lately.
And although he hasn’t just started mentioning Fila, it seems that being in that paper getting mind-state has only gotten him more paper. Apparently the real Juan Ep, a John Epstein at Fila scooped him up for a deal, after he was spotted shopping at Fila Manhattan:
Rapper Nas has broken his tradition of sidestepping brand partnerships and inked a one-year partnership with athletic apparel company Fila, Billboard can reveal. Fila will offer reciprocal financial support for Nas’ print and TV ad campaign as well as his upcoming tour in support of his untitled album, due July 15 via Def Jam. In return, the MC will wear Fila products and co-create an apparel line that draws from fashions of the late ’80s.
“My best friend Will and I loved Fila,” Nas tells Billboard. “It represented prestige and everything that was cool to us. When Will passed, we buried him in a black Fila sweat suit, so doing a deal with them has a lot of significance for me.”
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