Ginuwine takes credit for Nas' crossover appeal

When Nas first came into the game, he took rap back to its core. Nas did not make records for the pop charts and his popular collaboration, "If I Ruled The World" with Lauryn Hill, was still a song about the issues. To this day, Nas focuses on the issues, but he knows how to loosen up.

Eleven years ago, Nas released Nastradamus. The album was not much of a critical success. However, one single that stuck out was "You Owe Me." All of a sudden, Nas was openly rapping like other rappers. This was the first crossover single from Nas and it was very popular. It led to more crossovers.

On Nas' new album, he plans to step outside of his comfort zone and record songs like "You Owe Me." Ginuwine said if it had not been for his vocals on the song, Nas would not be doing this. For years, he was in the corner, but Nas came out after they collaborated.

Ginuwine credits Nas for staying true to himself, but still finding a way to cross over and reach the mainstream crowd. Had it not been for "You Owe Me," there is a chance Nas would have not branched out the way he did over the years. Ginuwine feels Nas has a message in his music which needs to be heard. Because of this, he is glad Nas has been able to cross over. His words have reached a lot of people and has inspired change in a lot of communities. There is a chance this would have never happened if "You Owe Me" never came.

The song, in Ginuwine's opinion, was one of the biggest songs of Nas' career because of the doors it opened up for him. He said no rapper wants to keep themselves in a box and he was glad Nas found a way to keep himself out of the box and reach the people. Ginuwine said the song still receives love when he performs it at clubs across the world. "You Owe Me" is one of Ginuwine's personal favorite songs and a song he loves to go out and perform.

Ginuwine urged all rappers to think outside of the box and expand themselves. If they do, they may be surprised with what they may come up with.