Nas was featured in the latest issue of Ebony magazine for their annual Power 100 list, joining the likes of John Legend, Simone Biles and more in receiving the honor. That Dec./Jan. issue hasn't hit newsstands quite yet, but Ebony offers a preview today, in which Nas speaks on his role in addressing social injustice.

“When I see injustice it hurts, so I speak about it," he says. "It just so happens I might be wearing a Dries Van Noten suit while I’m speaking.

“I like things in the world that are appealing to the eye. So why lie about it?” he continues. “One thing that kills me is these holier than thou, super clean phonies who walk around like they live in heaven and they’re a step above everybody else. No, we’re human beings striving to be the best we can be. We’re striving for greatness all the time.”

Nas has long used the stark reality he and others face as a backdrop for his music, his track with Erykah Badu "This Bitter Land," released this summer advances that notion, Nas rapping, “stop riding me, stop driving us into a suicidal ideology.”

It's not clear whether the quotes previewed are the entirety of what Nas had to say, the rapper going on to defend his taste for finer things. “I like things in the world that are appealing to the eye. So why lie about it?... One thing that kills me is these holier than thou, super clean phonies who walk around like they live in heaven and they’re a step above everybody else. No, we’re human beings striving to be the best we can be. We’re striving for greatness all the time.”

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