Jermain Baxter (born December 5, 1973), known professionally as Nature, is an American rapper, best known for his association with fellow New York City rapper

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

and having replaced

Cormega Corey McKay, better known by his stage name Cormega, is an American rapper. Early life Cormega was born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens. He was childhood friends with Nas, Havoc and Capone, who all went on to become successful rappers. A ...

in the original QB group the Firm."Queensbridge's Nature Has Musical Knowledge 'For All Seasons'", '' New York Beacon'', November 15, 2000

Career

Baxter grew up in Queensbridge,

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, and went to school with Nas.Dillon, Charlotte " Nature Biography,

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

, retrieved 2010-02-11 Nas introduced Nature to the public in 1997, as a member of his supergroup The Firm, whose members also included AZ and Foxy Brown.Wilson, Elliott (1999)
Nature: Organic MC
, ''

Vibe Vibe, alternatively '' vibes,'' is short for ''vibration''. A "vibe" is an emotional reaction to the aura or energy felt to belong to a person, place or thing. Vibe may also refer to: People * DJ Vibe (born 1968), Portuguese DJ * Lasse Vibe (b ...

'', June 1999, retrieved 2010-02-11 Nature was brought in to replace rapper

, who had a contractual dispute with Nas' manager Steve Stoute and a subsequent fallout with Nas. The Firm's only album, '' Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album'', topped the ''Billboard'' 200 album chart.''The Album''
, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'', retrieved 2010-02-11 The album featured production from music production team

Trackmasters The Trackmasters, also known as Poke & Tone, is an American hip hop production outfit composed of Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier born January 21, 1970; Brooklyn, New York ) and Tone (Samuel Barnes born January 20, 1969; Brooklyn, New York). Active fro ...

. The Firm disbanded in 1997 to pursue various solo projects. In 1998, Nature was featured on Noreaga's single " Banned from T.V.", alongside

Big Pun Christopher Lee Rios (November 10, 1971 – February 7, 2000), better known by his stage name Big Pun (short for Big Punisher), was an American rapper. Emerging from the underground hip hop scene in the Bronx, he came to prominence upon discover ...

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), known Mononym, mononymously as Cam'ron, is an American rapper. Beginning his career in the early 1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed with Lance Rivera, Lance "Un" Rivera's Lance Rivera, Untertainment, a ...

Jadakiss Jason Terrance Phillips (born May 27, 1975), better known by his stage name Jadakiss (, ), is an American rapper who began his career in the 1990s and formed the hip hop trio the Lox alongside Styles P and Sheek Louch in 1994. The group signed w ...

and

Styles P David R. Styles (born November 28, 1974), better known by his stage name Styles P (also known Mononymous person, mononymously as Styles), is an American rapper, best known as a member of East Coast hip hop group the Lox. Formed with fellow rappe ...

. After The Firm's dissolution, Nature was signed to Trackmasters' namesake record label. At the end of the year, Nature appeared on

DJ Clue? Ernesto Shaw (born January 8, 1975), better known as DJ Clue (often stylized as DJ Clue?), is an American disc jockey (DJ), record producer, radio personality and record executive. Early life DJ Clue was born in Queens, New York City to Pana ...

's December 1998 debut album, '' The Professional'', on the song ''Exclusive-New Shit''. After several delays, Nature's debut album ''For All Seasons'', was released in 2000 by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

and Trackmasters Records and featured a guest appearance from Nas.Conaway, Matt " ''For All Seasons'' Review,

, retrieved 2010-02-11 It reached number 50 on the Billboard 200. Nature also contributed an original freestyle that appeared on the fictional

Game A game is a structured type of play usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or video games) or art ...

FM radio station for

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

' 2001 video game ''

Grand Theft Auto III ''Grand Theft Auto III'' is a 2001 action-adventure game developed by DMA Design and published by Rockstar Games. It was the first 3D game in the ''Grand Theft Auto'' series. Set in Liberty City, loosely based on New York City, the story follo ...

''. He followed his debut in 2002 with ''Wild Gremlinz'', released on independent Sequence Records, which reached number 150 on the Billboard 200 but reached number 9 on the Independent Albums chart. Three of his tracks were included on the soundtrack of the film

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a 1991 American two-part Play (theatre), play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The two parts of the play, ''Millennium Approaches'' and ''Perestroika'', may be presented separate ...

in 2003. A third album, ''Pain Killer'', was released in 2008 with production largely handled by Scram Jones, Dub Sonata & Mes. Nature released a series of EP's titled Seasons Changed in 2013-2014 under DCM.

Discography

Studio albums

*'' For All Seasons'' (2000) *'' Wild Gremlinz'' (2002) *''Pain Killer'' (2008) *''Target Practice'' (2016)

Collaborative albums

*'' The Firm: The Album'' (with The Firm) (1997)

Compilation albums

*''Seasons Changed'' (2015) *''Queens Classics'' (2016) *''Queens Classics 2'' (2017)

Mixtapes

*''The Nature Files: The Best of Nature Vol.1'' (2007) *''The Lost Tapes Volume 1'' (2008) *''The Ashtray Effect'' (2013) *''The Ashtray Effect Vol.2'' (2015) *''The Ashtray Effect Vol.3'' (2015)

Extended plays

*''Seasons Changed: Spring Edition'' (2013) *''Seasons Changed: Summer Edition'' (2013) *''Seasons Changed: Fall Edition'' (2013) *''Seasons Changed: Winter Edition'' (2014)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nature 1973 births African-American male rappers 21st-century American male rappers Living people People from Long Island City, Queens Rappers from Queens, New York 21st-century American rappers The Firm (hip-hop group) members East Coast hip-hop musicians 21st-century American male musicians 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians