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Nas has been nominated for 13 Grammy Awards throughout his career, which started with Illmatic, his critically-acclaimed debut album that’s celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. But despite those nominations, he’s never won. Even so, the 40-year-old rapper said although he’s really honored to be nominated, he’s not that heartbroken that he’s never taken home a trophy.
“The Grammys matter…but something that huge is never going to get it right,” Nas told an audience Thursday night at the New York City red carpet premiere of VH1’s latest hip-hop documentary, The Tanning of America. “It gives me an opportunity to wear a nice suit on a red carpet in front of the world. I feel the way rock & roll people fought against corporate America with merging together and stuff.”
Nas added, “I personally feel like it’s kind of selling out to go grab the award in the first place. That’s just me, because I don’t come from that and rap was made because we were never let in anyway. So I want to stay in this place and enjoy this place. And when they announce me and all of that, it’s cool. Salute.”
At this year’s Grammy Awards, Nas was nominated for four Grammys — Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration and Best Rap Album — for his latest, Life Is Good.
The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip Hop, a four-part documentary on the evolution of hip-hop, premieres on VH1 Feb. 24 at 11 p.m. ET/PT.
Copyright 2014 ABC News Radio
