'Festival Crush' Kept Nas From Australia

27 March 2014 | 2:00 pm | Staff Writer

Also speaks on his love of Bliss N Eso

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Australian fans were denied a chance to see Nas because of a festival crush, according the man himself.

The legendary rapper was billed as the headliner for the Movement festival before the touring event was cancelled. At the time it was the latest in a string of failed hip hop tours but unlike others Movement was backed by two reputable companies in Live Nation and Niche Productions. The focus of blame turned to the market instead of the industry.

Speaking to theMusic.com.au's Cyclone recently Nas said that there was just too much on.

“Yeah, I wanna come back when there are not five other festivals going at the same time,” he said. “I think that had a lot to do with what we were facing before. So I definitely wanna come back when the people are ready. I love Australia, so hopefully soon.”

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He's got some ties down under. He collaborated with Bliss N Eso, who were to be co-headliners on the Movement shows, for the track I Am Somebody from their most recent record, Circus In The Sky.

“I think they're really talented,” he said of the Sydney duo. “Once I heard it – someone played it for me and we had a request to do a song… I liked them. I think they're talented, they're really cool guys, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

“It was fresh and new for me and exciting to work with them – I'm more excited to work with new people.”

Nas' next release, a 20th anniversary edition of Illmatic, Illmatic XX, is out Friday 18 April.