(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Nas has compared the way he produces music to fashion designer's Tom Ford work ethic.

The rapper, whose real name is Nasir Jones, explained that he likes to use the style of bygone eras and rework it so it becomes music of the future.

The American star's new single Nasty is paying tribute to New York in the late 80s and early 90s and raps with an intensity that is reminiscent of his early days in the music industry.

"It's like Tom Ford, the designer, who is one of my favourite designers. I read somewhere he's inspired by the '60s and '70s and that's why his line looks like the future now. Because he came from a great time in fashion and he turned it into his interpretation and it gives you the future," he told MTV News. "I came up in a great era, so I'm always gonna live with that and that's always gonna live inside of me."

Nas also said that he wanted to return to the basics of hip-hop on his latest album, which currently bears the working title Life Is Good.

When asked if the hunger' that was so audible in his earlier music went away as he became successful and experimented with different styles, the rapper explained he simply pushed it to the back of his mind for a while.

"Nah, I just tucked it. I tucked it because I wanted to do other things, experiment with other sh*t and didn't want to do the same sh*t over and over," he said. "Hip-hop got so big that it's important to open it back up, that real sh*t. No dis [disrespect] to what nobody else is doing, but it's important to open this real sh*t back up." (C) Cover Media