Nas was allegedly almost a member of Junior M.A.F.I.A., had it not been for a crush he had on Lil Cease’s sister, according to music executive Lance “Un” Rivera. Rivera, who is known for having close ties to both The Notorious B.I.G. and his Junior M.A.F.I.A., detailed the dynamic during a recent interview with VladTV.
“What happened was is that he just got his record deal,” Rivera explained, as noted by HipHopDX. “This is when Faith Newman had him. The first time I seen Nas through the ‘It Ain’t Hard To Tell’ video, I said, ‘Yo B.I.G., this kid is perfect for this group!’ Now, this is how the universe and the story is working.”
Nas On the “NY State Of Mind” Tour
He continued: “I never met Nas at this moment in time. But as we was shopping Junior M.A.F.I.A., Daddy-O took me to Faith Newman’s office, and she had just signed Nas. And Daddy-O introduced me as this brilliant marketer, director, visionary type and she gave me Nas’ second single and said can I come up with a video treatment for it. And I wanted Toni Braxton, who’s hot at the time, to be the girl in the video. So the next thing you know, Biggie and Nas do a show somewhere in their early careers. This is when B.I.G. had ‘Party and Bullshit’ and Nas might’ve had ‘Live At The BBQ.’ They end up doing the show and Nas start liking Cease’s sister. ‘Cause I used to say why does B.I.G. hang with Cease? I’m tryna piece it all together. Like yeah, he was the little brother but Cease was a kid. And B.I.G. embraced him. So this is how they met. B.I.G. and Nas”
The comments from Rivera come after a clip of an A.I. version of The Notorious B.I.G. performing Nas’ “New York State of Mind” went viral on social media, earlier this week. While the A.I. made a cover in that case, the technology has also been responsible for new tracks from artists such as Drake, The Weeknd, and more.
Lance Rivera On Nas & Junior M.A.F.I.A.
[Via]