| Bridging the Gap | |
| Cover: | Nas Bridge.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Nas featuring Olu Dara |
| Album: | Street's Disciple and |
| Released: | October 5, 2004 |
| Genre: | Jazz rap |
| Length: | 3:56 |
| Label: | Ill Will Records Columbia Records |
| Producer: | Salaam Remi |
| Prev Title: | Thief's Theme |
| Prev Year: | 2004 |
| Next Title: | Just a Moment |
| Next Year: | 2005 |
"Bridging the Gap" is a single from Nas' Street's Disciple, and features his father, Olu Dara. The second single from Street's Disciple, it samples music from Muddy Waters' "Mannish Boy" composition. Olu Dara provides the hook of the song by talking about his path and how Nas was born.
Nas and Olu Dara performed the song many times before the release of Street's Disciple, generating buzz as the release of the album drew near. The song is referenced in the title track of The Game's song "The Documentary", when he says, "Now I understand why Nas did a song with his pops". The song peaked at #94 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The song was featured in the film A Prophet, directed by Jacques Audiard. It plays over the closing credits of the 2018 action-horror film Overlord.
The music video was directed by Diane Martel and shows Nas and Olu Dara on a stage with women dancing in the background. It also shows a few shots that are supposed to be Nas in school. At the end of the video, Dara stands still next to Nas and says with a smile, "Rest in peace, Ray Charles," as a sign of respect. (Charles had died in the summer of 2004.) The video had high rotation on MTV and BET.