Before forming Natas, group leader Esham had already established himself as a solo artist, debuting at the end of the '80s with Boomin' Words From Hell, followed by a few EPs. At this time, Esham was a student at Osborne High School in Detroit, where he eventually crossed paths with Mastamind in the tenth grade. After listening to a three-song demo tape given to him by Mastamind, Esham decided to form a group with the promising rapper and TNT, a longtime friend. The three got together and decided to spell Satan backwards and call themselves Natas as a symbol of their anarchic, evil disposition at the time, being mere teenagers. In 1992, Esham released Natas' debut album, Life After Death, on his Reel Life Productions label. Two years later he released a similar follow-up album, Blaz4me, an album nearly as twisted and disturbing as its predecessor. Then came the dark Doubelievengod album in 1995, which found the trio moving forward artistically as well as ideologically.
When Natas released Multikillionaire: The Devil's Contract in 1997, it became clear that the group had reached a turning point. Along with Esham's accompanying Bruce Wayne: Gotham City 1987 album from the same year, Multikillionaire broadened Natas' scope, aiming for conceptualism while abandoning the exploitative elements of previous works. Natas resurfaced in 1999 with WWW.Com (Wicket World Wide), claiming that their name was an acronym for "nation ahead of time and space" rather than Satan spelled backwards in hopes of changing their image. The album improved upon Mulitkillionaire's flaws and represented a more mature representation of the group's ambitions. Featuring live instruments where Esham used to place samples, the album's production was considerably innovative for its time, marrying a rock attitude with a rap aesthetic and garnering considerable acclaim from the underground. Following this release, both Esham and Mastamind took time off to work on solo albums in the wake of the album's success and the Detroit rap scene's sudden evolution to a substantial hotspot for up-and-coming talent. ~ Jason Birchmeier, Rovi