Billboard honored the 50-year anniversary of hip-hop with their R&B/Hip-Hop Power Players ceremony on Tuesday (August 8). There, along with Larry Jackson winning Executive of the Year and Ice Spice winning R&B/Hip-Hop Rookie of the Year, Nas and Lil Wayne both received the special honor of being inducted into Billboard‘s Hip-Hop Hall of Fame.
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First, Lil Wayne offered his immense gratitude with a speech, where he keyed in on the hard work it took him to get to this position and the appreciation he has for his fans.
“First of all, of course you know we’ve got to give thanks to the man above,” he started. “Also those that we lost, those that we wish were here, we thank you as well. And to my fans, I think I word it the best way when I say, ‘I ain’t shit without you.’ This is for y’all. Y’all as in my fans, y’all as in the people in the crowd, my supporters, those that work with me, those that work for me, those that work around me, those that work like me. This is for us. Just another footnote. I ain’t stopping. They told me what time to be here, I was in the studio. They told me what time I could leave, I’ll be going back to the studio. So, thank you. I love you all… And thank you to my motherfuckin’ kids, I love y’all.”
Then, Nas grasped his hardware and went up in front of the event’s attendees to reminisce on his career, including his newfound musical prime which he touched on in a June interview with Vanity Fair.
“I’m starting to win awards in my third prime. I never won awards in the ’90s,” he said. “Thank you Billboard, this is cool. 49 years old, about to turn 50 along with hip-hop, and I’m starting to see awards too. I didn’t get into it for awards, we got into it because we love the art form.”
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Later in his speech, Nas touched on the significance of hip-hop’s 50th birthday while promoting Friday’s Hip Hop 50 Live festival at Yankee Stadium in New York, which sees Lil Wayne as a headliner.
“The art form has been vampired and sent to all kinds of shit that keeps the pioneers from touching anything,” he insisted. “50 years of hip-hop, we have a concert in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx this Friday. 50 years of hip-hop, saluting some of the pioneers who inspired me since the cassette tapes was out, since DJ Mr. Magic started rap radio, since Marley Marl and Red Alert made us record mixtapes of our own, when this shit was underground. From seeing it back then, I’m just so honored to be alive to see it be 50 years, as a fan.”
Finishing his speech, Nas explained why he was never fond of award shows, and why he is appreciative now. “I want to thank you all for (giving) awards at 49. Not when I was 29, y’all motherfuckas (were) cheap,” he joked. “But I appreciate y’all. Not gonna lie, I stayed away from award shows back then, I thought that shit was the devil. But it ain’t, you make it what it is… Thank you to all of yall here. I love you, God bless you. This shit is fun, I’m having fun. My 50th year, hip-hop’s 50th year, what’s better?”
Photo by Daniel Knighton/Getty Images
