Hip-hop producer Pete Rock says that Nas hasn’t paid him a cent in royalties for his work on the rapper’s era-defining double-platinum album “Illmatic” — and he’s finally gearing up to sue.
Rock and his attorneys claim that the Queens rapper signed a contract that would allow the producer a cut of the proceeds from the classic track “The World Is Yours,” a total that’s now in the millions of dollars.
Lawyers for Rock have repeatedly demanded that Nas honor the alleged deal, to no avail.
Rock has a writing credit on the tune — the only single on the 1994 LP to have gone gold — produced it and even provided vocals.
Now Rock’s legal team is preparing to file a lawsuit this month.
Rock told the NY Post, “Nas and his people have stonewalled me since 1994; My New Year’s resolution is to be compensated for my hard work on ‘Illmatic.'”
The track is the song most sampled by hip-hop artists from Nas’ catalog, according to insiders. It has been sampled by Jay-Z, Eminem, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, and the late Mac Miller.
The song was also used in the film “Antwoine Fisher,” directed by and starring Denzel Washington.
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