One Song in a Driveway Sent a 25-Year-Old to Find Nas in Queensbridge
The first stranger he asked for directions turned out to be the rapper's brother, Jungle.
David Senra · The Marketing Genius of Steve StouteSteve Stoute was sitting in his car in his parents' driveway, listening to "It Ain't Hard to Tell," when he decided he had to meet the young rapper who made it.
Stoute was 25 and living at home, trying to break into the music business without a clear path. Nas, then a teenager from Queens, New York, had released "Halftime" and then this second single, built on a Michael Jackson sample. Stoute thought the writing was so brilliant he could barely believe what he was hearing.
So he started from what he called ground zero. He drove alone to the Queensbridge Projects, the cluster of public housing buildings in Queens where Nas lived, to find him. There was no record label contact, no manager to call, and no front door to knock on, just a maze of buildings with people outside.
That trip led to a relationship that has lasted about 31 years. Stoute became Nas's manager, and Stoute said of Nas: "He's one of the greatest things that ever happened in my life, in my family's life."
He walked up to the first person he could find and asked where Nas lived or hung out. The man started to go for a gun, because Stoute looked like someone the neighborhood had trouble with. Then a second man stopped him, saying, wait a minute, that guy works with producers. That pause gave Stoute enough room to keep asking questions.
The first man he had approached at random turned out to be Nas's brother, known as Jungle. Jungle never left home without a gun, Stoute said.
The meeting that followed convinced Stoute that Nas, for all his talent and for all the acclaim for his debut album "Illmatic," did not have the team around him to become everything he could be. Stoute later said he was one of about 50 people trying to work with Nas at the time. Nas picked him, a 25-year-old who had never managed anyone, for reasons Stoute said he still does not understand.
What has lasted is not the scare but the partnership it started. Stoute and Nas began their careers together, and nothing has broken the bond since. "That's my brother," Stoute said.
Questions people ask
What is Queensbridge and why was it risky to just walk in?
Queensbridge Houses in Long Island City, Queens, is one of the largest public housing projects in the United States, with more than 3,000 apartments. In the early 1990s it had a reputation for poverty, drug dealing, and violence, and outsiders asking questions could be mistaken for rivals or police.
What made Nas's early music stand out?
Nas released his debut album, Illmatic, in 1994 when he was 20, with lyrics he had written as a teenager. Critics praised his dense rhymes and vivid street portraits, and the album is now routinely ranked among the greatest hip-hop records ever made.
What does a music manager actually do?
A manager guides an artist's career, hiring lawyers and agents, shaping deals, lining up promotion, and planning long term moves. Managers typically take 15 to 20 percent of earnings, so trust matters, especially when the artist is young and the manager is unproven.