Quentin Miller has revealed Nas once praised his talent as a rapper, but claims that their relationship has soured in the wake of King’s Disease III.
In a recent interview, Miller told Vlad TV that due to fans’ assumption that he was a ghostwriter on Nas and Hit-Boy‘s latest project, he feels that he may not get an opportunity to work with the Queensbridge rapper again.
The conversation was sparked by a discussion about the role Quentin Miller played in the beef between Meek Mill and Drake, which DJ Drama addressed over the summer. Nas’ name came up as Miller spoke to the way his career has been impacted by the stigma of ghostwriting in Hip Hop.
“You understand how unfortunate that feels to be…,” he started before trailing off. “Even with the Nas situation. I respect Nas and love Nas like any other rapper in this world. To get an opportunity to work with him and he’s telling me, ‘Yo man, you’re one of the dopest new rappers I’ve heard.’ I’m taking this in. This is a great thing.”
Sadly, Quentin Miller explained, the tables tend to turn once his work with an artist is publicized.
“You get the opportunity to work with somebody and then, people find out,” he added. “Then, they tear him down ’cause he worked with you. Rather than, ‘Look at you… damn, you must be dope.’ That’s what you expect. But it don’t turn out that way. It turn out they get burnt up so then, they’re looking at you crazy and then, they want nothing to do with you at all.”
Shortly after the release of KDIII, Miller cleared the air after comments he had made about writing for Nas went viral for all the wrong reasons. The rapper/songwriter appeared on the New Rory & MAL podcast in September, where he spoke about lending his pen to the legendary MC, among other prominent Hip Hop and R&B artists.
Miller’s comments flew under the radar until a clip of his interview circulated on Twitter in late November, sparking plenty of discussion among rap heads about long-running rumors of Nas using ghostwriters.
After catching wind of the chatter, Quentin Miller — who is credited as a co-writer on Nas’ King’s Disease II track “The Pressure” — jumped on Instagram on November 29 to set the record straight. In an impassioned video, the Atlanta native explained how Hit-Boy, with whom he’s worked closely with for years, connected him with Nas and he simply threw out “some ideas” in the studio, and a few of them stuck.
“I pulled up on Hit-Boy, I’m in the room, I bounce some ideas out, there we go,” he said. “Clear it up. I just bounced some ideas, a couple ideas win. That’s it, that’s all that happened with the Nas shit.”
Miller also defended his decision to speak publicly about the artists he’s worked with, pointing out that it’s common practice for songwriters.
“I also mentioned other artists that I worked with! From G-Eazy to Jeremih to Ty Dolla $ign — I mentioned other artists!” he added. “Writers post their work and talk about their work all the time. You know why? It helps with the business of writing. When people know that you were a part of certain things, it makes people more prone to work with you. It’s kind of part of the job.”
During his conversation with DJ Vlad, Quentin Miller reiterated that, when he speaks about the work he’s done with artists, it’s never done with malicious intent.
“I’m not trying to take the light or the glory from any of these artists that I’m working with,” he concluded. “I’m happy as fuck that they value my ideas. It blows my mind that they value my ideas. ‘Cause I look up to these guys like everybody else. It just ruins it.”
[via]
