Explain how hiring a manager to help direct and stabilize your career means that you're not a superstar.
"I felt like I could take the responsibility and make the Nas movement bigger and not keep it confined to the Tri-State area, so to speak. He allowed me to do that. When we were together, we made a lot of noise and I made him an international star."---- Steve Stoute
According to Stoute, Nas was confined to the Tri-State area vs. being an international star. Explain how you're a superstar when you're confined to the Tri-State area.
I'm puzzled as to how people are trying to push this narrative that Nas blew up with
Illmatic. It was a critical success, but it was widely slept-on initially. It hardly made Nas a star. That came later. 2002 was the first time in Nas's career where the critical acclaim, the sales, and the streets were on the same page. 1996 was a big year for him, but he received backlash from the critics and even fans. Same with '99, but '02 saw him become "that dude" in terms of the commercial success, critical acclaim, and the streets riding for him.