The Don
by Nas

Album: Life Is Good (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This single was premiered on Funkmaster Flex's radio show on March 14, 2012. The song features Jamaican dancehall deejay Super Cat and was produced by Salaam Remi, Da Internz plus the late Heavy D, who passed away suddenly in November 2011.
  • Nas acknowledged to MTV News the significance of Heav's contribution to the song. "When Salaam played me the beat for it, I said, 'That's the single — do this and do that and we're golden.' So he started flipping it around," he recalled of the first time that he heard the instrumentals. "When we heard that Heavy D died, of course we were messed up, and Salaam called me and told me, 'You know your record "The Don"? You know who gave me that, right?' "He's like, 'Heavy D gave me that. He liked what we did with the other single, "Nasty," and he sent me this record.' And the rest is history."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Early Days of MTV

Early Days of MTVFact or Fiction

If you can recall the days when MTV played videos, you know that there are lots of stories to tell. See if you can spot the real ones.

Emilio Castillo from Tower of Power

Emilio Castillo from Tower of PowerSongwriter Interviews

Emilio talks about what it's like to write and perform with the Tower of Power horns, and why every struggling band should have a friend like Huey Lewis.

American Hits With Foreign Titles

American Hits With Foreign TitlesSong Writing

What are the biggest US hits with French, Spanish (not "Rico Suave"), Italian, Scottish, Greek, and Japanese titles?

U2 Lyrics

U2 LyricsMusic Quiz

How well do you know the lyrics of U2?

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The Remasters

Brian Kehew: The Man Behind The RemastersSong Writing

Brian has unearthed outtakes by Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Elvis Costello and hundreds of other artists for reissues. Here's how he does it.

80s Video Director Jay Dubin

80s Video Director Jay DubinSong Writing

Billy Joel and Hall & Oates hated making videos, so they chose a director with similar contempt for the medium. That was Jay Dubin, and he has a lot to say on the subject.