Nas has won his first-ever Grammy Award (on March 14), after being nominated at the annual awards show 14 times. Taking home the award in the Best Rap Album category for his 13th studio album ‘King’s Disease’. Nas beat out fellow nominees including D Smoke (Black Habits), Jay Electronica (A Written Testimony), Freddie Gibbs and the Alchemist (Alfredo), and Royce 5’9” (The Allegory).
King’s Disease arrived last August, serving as the follow-up to 2018’s NASIR and the Illmatic legend’s 13th studio album. The project debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200 with roughly 47,000 total album-equivalent units sold in its first week.
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Nas did not appear on the livestream to accept his award. He had received his first Grammy nomination in 1996 for his track, ‘If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)’. The rapper was nominated for Best Rap Album in 1999, 2007, 2008, and 2012 for ‘I Am’, ‘Hip Hop Is Dead’, ‘Untitled’, and ‘Life Is Good’, respectively.
In other wins, Kanye West won his 22nd Grammy Award with Best Gospel Album for ‘Jesus is King’. The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were delayed owing to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. The annual show shifted from its original January 31 broadcast to March 14.
Stream Nas’ “King’s Disease” below.