Celebrity Name: Nas
New Company: Wasserman Music
Primary Agents: Lee Anderson & Brent Smith
Previous Company: William Morris Endeavor (WME)
- Rapper Nas has signed with Wasserman Music for global representation, while continuing to be managed by Emagen Entertainment and handled by The Lede Company for PR.
- The signing comes as Nas releases Light-Years, a collaborative album with DJ Premier via his Mass Appeal label.
- Nas joins a roster of musical artists signed with Wasserman, including Kendrick Lamar, Kodak Black, Tyler, The Creator, KATSEYE, Pharrell Williams, and Kehlani.
- Recent brand partnerships include a collaborative sneaker with ASICS inspired by his seminal 1994 album, Illmatic.
Rapper Nas has signed with Wasserman Music for global representation. He will continue to be managed by Emagen Entertainment and handled by The Lede Company for PR. The partnership positions the hip-hop icon for expanded touring, brand partnerships, and international opportunities while preserving the core team behind his recent creative run.
The signing comes as Nas released Light-Years, a collaborative album with legendary producer DJ Premier via his Mass Appeal label in December 2025. The project serves as the seventh and final entry in the label’s Legend Has It… series, marking a full-circle moment between Nas, whose 1994 debut Illmatic is widely considered one of hip-hop’s greatest albums, and Premier, whose production work with Gang Starr helped define the golden era of East Coast hip-hop.
In 2025 alone, Nas appeared on records with Slick Rick, Clipse, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, and Mobb Deep, threading his voice through projects from multiple generations of hip-hop. Recent brand partnerships include a collaborative sneaker with ASICS inspired by Illmatic, as revealed by the brand’s Instagram account @asics_sportstyle.
Beyond music, Nas has established himself as a savvy investor and entrepreneur. His QueensBridge Venture Partners holds stakes in major tech companies, including Coinbase, Ring, Dropbox, Lyft, and Genius, among others. He’s also a co-owner of Mass Appeal, where he’s been instrumental in expanding the brand into film, TV, and digital content, and holds positions in restaurant chains like Sweet Chick.
Nas joins a Wasserman roster that includes Kendrick Lamar, Lil Durk, Kodak Black, Tyler, The Creator, Alex Warren, KATSEYE, Leon Thomas, Wyclef Jean, Raphael Saadiq, and Kehlani.
The agency has been expanding its presence in hip-hop, making Nas’s signing a strategic addition as the genre continues to dominate popular music and culture.
The takeaways:
Nas’s signing with Wasserman signals how legacy hip-hop artists are professionalizing their business operations to maximize opportunities in an evolving entertainment landscape. With hip-hop now the dominant force in popular music and culture, artists who helped build the genre are positioning themselves to capitalize on their influence through strategic partnerships, brand deals, and entrepreneurial ventures.
The timing is particularly significant as hip-hop transitions from its 50th-anniversary celebrations into a new era. With Hip Hop 50 and Light-Years, Mass Appeal is less just Nas’s label and more a cultural platform, and having Wasserman in the mix could accelerate how those initiatives translate into festivals, series, and brand-backed experiences.
How will Wasserman’s representation expand Nas’s reach into new markets and partnership opportunities? What does Hip Hop 50’s success signal about the commercial potential of hip-hop’s legacy artists and cultural initiatives? Will more veteran artists follow Nas’s lead and restructure their teams around major agencies while keeping their core management and label partners intact?
