Ill Will Records
Ill Will Records is an American vanity record label founded by Nasir "Nas" Jones and Steve Stoute. The label was named after Willie "Ill Will" Graham, Nas' childhood neighbor and best friend, who was shot dead on May 23, 1992, when both were teenagers. Nas co-founded the label in 1999 before the release of his fourth album, Nastradamus, with the help of his then-manager, Steve Stoute.
Ill Will Records
- Founded
- 1999
- Founder
- Nas
- Headquarters
- New York City
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Ill Will Records is an American vanity record label founded by Nasir "Nas" Jones and Steve Stoute. The label was named after Willie "Ill Will" Graham, Nas' childhood neighbor and best friend, who was shot dead on May 23, 1992, when both were teenagers. Nas co-founded the label in 1999 before the release of his fourth album, Nastradamus, with the help of his then-manager, Steve Stoute.
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Ill Will Records was founded in 1999, with headquarters in New York City. Its output covers hip-hop.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 27 September 2026
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In this article
Overview
Overview
After signing to Def Jam in 2005, Nas relaunched the label under the name The Jones Experience, as an imprint of Def Jam Recordings. In 2014, Nas co-founded Mass Appeal Records with Peter Bittenbender of the company Decon. The label is the music division of the Mass Appeal Media Group with distribution handled by The Orchard.
Key facts
Key facts
• Parent — * Sony Music • Universal Music Group • Founded — 1999 • Founder — Nas, Steve Stoute • Status — Inactive • Distributor — * Columbia • Def Jam • Genre — Hip hop • Country — United States • Location — New York City, New York, United States of America
Former artists
Former artists
• Nas • Bravehearts • Nature • Dirty Mouf • Tre Williams • Nashawn
Former producers
Former producers
• Trackmasters • L.E.S. • Salaam Remi • Arkatech Beatz
Institutional history
Dated record
Institutional history
The full dated record · 2 entries
1999
Ill Will Records established.
1999
Ill Will Records is recorded from 1999.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
- United States
Named but not plotted · 1
Ill Will Records is associated with United States.
Country
Discography
• Year — Information • 1999 — Nas - Nastradamus *Released: November 23, 1999 *Chart positions: #7 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: Platinum *U.S. sales: 1,262,000+ *Singles: "Nastradamus", "You Owe Me" • 2000 — Nas and Various Other Artists - Nas & Ill Will Records Presents QB's Finest *Released: November 21, 2000 *Chart positions: #53 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: *U.S. sales: *Singles: "Da Bridge 2001", "Oochie Wally" • 2001 — Nas - Stillmatic *Released: December 18, 2001 *Chart positions: #5 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: Platinum *U.S. sales: 2,179,000+ *Singles: "Rule", "Got Ur Self A...", "One Mic • 2002 — Nas - From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes *Released: July 2, 2002 *Chart positions: #123 U.S Billboard 200 • Nas - The Lost Tapes *Released: September 24, 2002 *U.S. sales: 361,000 *Chart positions: #10 U.S Billboard 200 • Nas - God's Son *Released: December 13, 2002 *Chart positions: #7 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: Platinum *U.S. sales: 1,362,000+ *Singles: "I Can", "Made You Look", "Get Down • 2003 — Bravehearts - Bravehearted *Released: December 23, 2003 *Chart positions: #75 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: *U.S. sales: *Singles: "Quick to Back Down", "B Train", "Bravehearted", "I Wanna", "Buss My Gun", "Cash Flow", "Sensations", "I Will", "Situations" • 2004 — Nas - Street's Disciple *Released: November 30, 2004 *Chart positions: #5 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: Platinum *U.S. sales: 724,000+ *Singles: "Thief's Theme", "Bridging the Gap", "Just a Moment • 2006 — Nas - Hip Hop Is Dead *Released: December 19, 2006 *Chart Positions: #1 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: Gold *U.S. sales: 785,000 *Singles: "Hip Hop Is Dead", Can't Forget About You • 2006 — Tre Williams - Street Gospel (The Old Test Of Men) *Released: January 11, 2006 *Singles: What You Gon Do, Luv U Better • 2006 — Nashawn - Napalm *Released: July 4th, 2006 • 2008 — Bravehearts - Bravehearted 2 *Released: April 22, 2008 • 2008 — Nas - Untitled *Released: July 15, 2008 *Chart positions: #1 U.S Billboard 200 *RIAA Certification: Gold *U.S. sales: 500,000 *Singles: "Hero", Make the World Go Round"
Primary material
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authority record
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q627446: Ill Will Records
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reference work
- “Ill Will Records”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 16 August 2026.
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