Footage of Nas auditioning for the part of Rico in Paid In Full has surfaced online. The character Rico was based on real life Harlem drug dealer Alpo Martinez and was eventually given to Cam'ron. Damon Dash and Jay-Z are credited as executive producers for Paid In Full, and Nas' audition occured in 2001, not long before Jay-Z and Nas' infamous beef. Paid In Full is based on the real life rise of Harlem drug dealers Rich Porter, Azie Faison, and Alpo Martinez. The Harlem trio has been name dropped in several rap songs and remain giants in Harlem streetlore. Porter and Martinez were murdered in 1991 and 2021 respectively. Paid in Full starred Cam’ron, Wood Harris, and Mekhi Phifer.

Last year, Dame Dash announced to AllHipHop that he’s getting ready to start filming Paid In Full 2. According to the ex Roc-A-Fella Records partner, the film will be shot in Newark, New Jersey, and will dig deeper into New York’s street culture in the late 80s to early 90s. 

“It’s what happens after[they] put all that work on the street, and somebody had to get that money back,” Dash said. “There’s a lot of perspectives that people don’t know. We chose three, really one. Now I’m showing all perspectives so you’ll see a perspective from the stickup kids at the time, and a perspective of the younger dudes. You’ll see perspectives from [street legends] Kevin Childs, Jay Black, everybody, Lou Simms. It’s going to be off the hook. Trust me. A lot of other little stories will be told.”

Check out Nas' audition clip above.