September 30th, 2015, Nas was rewarded with the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from Harvard University. Nas later expressed the importance of the medal and how thankful he was to have earned it: "These are the things the kids need to see. The real things," he said. "This is a light I want on me. I hope that I can be a great role model for those kids…you can be more than the typical image of rap."
Nas wrote on Instagram: “Historic night for the rap game. At the Hutchins Center Honors for the W. E. B. Du Bois Medal ceremony. This is a first for the Rap Game to receive this award but, definitely not the last. Thank you."