Jermain Baxter (born December 5, 1972), better known as Nature, is an American rapper, best known for his association with fellow Queensbridge-born rapper Nas and having replaced Cormega in the original QB group the Firm.

Career

Baxter grew up in Queensbridge, New York, and went to school with Nas. Nas introduced Nature to the public in 1997, as a member of his supergroup The Firm, whose members also included AZ and Foxy Brown. Nature was brought in to replace rapper Cormega, who had a contractual dispute with Nas' manager Steve Stoute. The Firm's first and only album, Nas, Foxy Brown, AZ, and Nature Present The Firm: The Album, went platinum, and topped the Billboard 200 album chart.

The group disbanded in 1997 to pursue various solo projects. In 1998, Nature was featured on Noreaga's single "Banned from T.V.", alongside Big Pun, Cam'ron, Jadakiss and Styles P. After several delays, Nature's debut album For All Seasons, was released in 2000 by Columbia Records and featured a guest appearance from Nas. It reached number 50 on the Billboard 200. He followed this 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 in 2003. A third album, Pain Killer, was released in 2008. Nature released a series of EP's titled Seasons Changed in 2013-2014 under DCM.

Discography

Albums

For All Seasons (2000), Columbia - US number 50 Wild Gremlinz (2002), Sequence - US number 150 Pain Killer (2008) Target Practice (2016)

Compilation Albums

Seasons Changed (2015)

EPs

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

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)

Collaboration Albums

The Firm: The Album (1997) (with The Firm) References ^ "Queensbridge's Nature Has Musical Knowledge 'For All Seasons'", New York Beacon, November 15, 2000 ^ a b c d Dillon, Charlotte "Nature Biography", Allmusic, retrieved 2010-02-11 ^ a b Wilson, Elliott (1999) "Nature: Organic MC", Vibe, June 1999, retrieved 2010-02-11 ^ "The Album, Billboard, retrieved 2010-02-11 ^ Conaway, Matt "For All Seasons Review", Allmusic, retrieved 2010-02-11 ^ "For All Seasons", Billboard, retrieved 2010-02-11 ^ "Wild Gremlinz", Billboard, retrieved 2010-02-11 Authority control WorldCat Identities VIAF: 80090032 ISNI: 0000 0000 5789 2039 GND: 135296013 BNF: cb14023101g (data) MusicBrainz: 7bfe58bb-c4f5-4139-996b-82f9c375640a