Nas pays a visit to Bill Simmons' HBO show Any Given Wednesday and offers a number of interesting takes, including a brief list of the best new voices in rap.

Esco argues that hip-hop is in a better place now than it was even 10 years ago (the year Nas dropped "Hip Hop is Dead"). According to Nas, artists like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole and Drake have pushed the genre into a better place.

The Illmatic rapper also mentions how each of those artists have reached out to him in some form or fashion to pay homage. For example, Drake gave Nas a shout-out in the liner notes of his first album, J. Cole made the track "Let Nas Down," and K. Dot said Nas' name on stage when he won a Grammy. The Queensbridge MC also says that Drizzy, Cole and Cornrow Kenny all inspire him to be better as well, even as he reaches his mid-40s.

Simmons also asks Nas that, if he were to travel back in time to 1995 to stop the beef between Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls, what would he do exactly? Nas replies, "To really tell them about the impact that they were gonna have being dead. That the world  was about to become a hip-hop planet, even more than it was in '95. Now it's global - more than it was then. And they were the leaders, and they were too important to us." When Simmons asks Nas an artist he wishes he could collaborate with, Esco mentions Pac and Biggie yet again.

Simmons and Esco also touch on the Republican nominee for President of the United States. The former ESPN and Grantland writer asks Nas what Trump would be like, had he grown up in Queensbridge, instead of Queens. Nas answers, "I mean, I think he would still be, you know, the asshole that he is."

Kevin Durant and Vince Staples also appear on the show. Simmons, a die-hard Boston fan, tries his hardest to pry some answers (to no avail) out of KD about his near-decision to sign with the Celtics during the NBA off-season. Meanwhile, Staples has his own segment called "Diss Tracks with Vince Staples," in which he clowns certain people, including the NFL commissioner, Roger Goodell.

ICYMI, see how Esco honored Pac on the 20th anniversary of Makaveli's death. You can watch the HBO clips above and below via YouTube.

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