Nas has been turned into a customizable action figure in honor of Hip Hop’s upcoming 50th birthday.
The toy designer, Steven Cartoccio, said he was “honored” to collaborate with the King’s Disease legend while unveiling the figurine on social media on Monday (November 28).
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“Nas. Truly honored to collaborate with the hip hop legend I regard as the greatest of all time,” Cartoccio wrote on Instagram. “Preorders open Thursday 12/1 at 11 am est on shop.massappeal.com Much love to @nas and everyone at @massappeal + @hiphop50 for making it happen.”
The figurine features a removable head piece and comes with different accessories that nod to some of Nas’ iconic album covers, including his orange cap from Stillmatic, gold Tutankhamun-inspired burial mask from I Am… and brown hood from Nastradamus.
Cartoccio, a Hip Hop afficionado, has previously created similar action figures of The Notorious B.I.G., Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Redman and MF DOOM, which can be seen on his Instagram page.
As Hip Hop gears up to celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2023, various events have been taking place to pay homage to the genre. In Nas’ hometown of New York, rap legends like Grandmaster Flash, Roxanne Shante and Slick Rick recently gathered at City Hall alongside Mayor Eric Adams to speak about numerous celebrations planned in coordination with Bronx’s Universal Hip Hop Museum, which will finally open its doors in 2024.
“Today, hip hop legends came together at City Hall to announce @uhhmuseum and NYC’s plan to celebrate hip hop’s 50th anniversary in 2023,” Flash wrote on Instagram. “It’s going to be big – I can’t wait to get started.”
The announcement came after Mayor Adams approved $5.5 million in funding for the Bronx museum back in August.
“I’m saying to my brothers and sisters in the industry: We wanna be your partners,” Adams said at a press conference.” You laid the blueprint that we are following. Too many of us have been singing off key. Now we have to have a universal rap that we all have to say together. So this is only the beginning, and I’m proud to be the mayor at this time.”
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As for Nas, he’s fresh off the release of his latest album, King’s Disease 3 with Hit-Boy, which debuted at No. 10 on the Billboard 200 after earning roughly 29,000 album-equivalent units in its first week.
It marked Nas’ 16th top 10 effort on the chart, equalling his former rival JAY-Z’s record.
