Your Old Droog aka Nas or Maybe Not. But Maybe.

By
Manny Faces
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Your Old Droog = Nas?

Call in Mythbusters, there’s a conspiracy theory in hip hop.

Recently, a young Brooklyn MC was brought to my attention by a respected industry professional. “You should check him out,” he implored. “I don’t work with him, but he’s dope,” he promised.

I agreed, and added it to my queue. His name was Your Old Droog. I had just heard/seen some reference to him the day before. In my way of deciding when to cover something I’m hearing about, I sometimes fall back on the old journalist rule, three’s a trend.

Today was the third.

A Facebook group I belong to brought Your Old Droog up, this time, talking about a budding theory that the artist, who only recently emerged on the scene, and doesn’t appear to have any imagery associated with him, might actually be Nas.

The discussion started, and before I could take a moment to listen to his work, another respected industry professional passed around a “pitch corrected” version of You Old Droog’s song “Gunsmoke Cologne.”

This sounded like Nas more than Action Bronson sounds like Ghostface.

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I looked around, and saw that a similar discussion was occurring on RapGenius. Several references were made to the fact that Your Old Droog may have first appeared in Mass Appeal, the magazine that Nas has an ownership stake in.

Yet another industry pro told me that he had met Your Old Droog, and he was NOT Nas.

I laughed and said, “If I were Nas, I’d find a voice double to go around, pretending to be Droog. Like Doom.”

Yet ANOTHER industry pro told me he had been setting up meetings for a project involving Your Old Droog, BUT couldn’t confirm or deny who he actually is.

But, he then went on to tell me that the contact that he was working with, also has a connection to Mass Appeal.

Hmmmmm…

Obviously, at this point I can’t trust anyone. It’s like a movie. Are you lying to me?? Answer me!! WHO SENT YOU?!?!

If it is Nas, I’m a bit disappointed. I would think there would have been better attempts to disguise his voice, more studio tricks than a simple pitch adjustment.

If it isn’t Nas, Your Old Droog certainly sounds/rhymes/references like him. So he’s rather nice, but this controversy, or the fact that he REALLY sounds like Nas, may pose the same kinds of issues that have faced Action Bronson.

More quick random points, as pointed out by the sleuths on Reddit:

  • Droog means friend. You Old Droog = Your Old Friend.
  • Also appeared as Your Imaginary Droog / Your Imaginary Friend.
  • Sascha Jenkins wrote the Mass Appeal write up. They go way back.

In any event, I figured I’d better get this info out before the Hip Hop Men In Black Adjustment Bureau come through and

 

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