Cover art for 'Magic 2' by Nas and Hit-Boy, Mass Appeal.
Nas & Hit-Boy Continue Their Run With ‘Magic 2’
Nas and Hit-Boy have released their fifth collaborative project, Magic 2, which features 50 Cent and 21 Savage.
Nas and Hit-Boy are back with the sequel to their 2021 project, Magic 2. On Friday (July 21), the hip-hop duo dropped their new effort, Magic 2, with features from 50 Cent (“Office Hours”) and 21 Savage (“One Mic, One Gun”). The latter track was released as a single earlier this year after 21 Savage apologized for questioning Nas’ relevancy on Twitter Spaces.
50 Cent, who had a rift with Nas in the 2000s, teased his Magic 2 appearance to Billboard in February. This week, he confirmed the news on Instagram, writing that the Queensbridge rapper “felt like it was time so it’s done.”
The 11-track album references Emmy-nominated actor Bokeem Woodbine and former NBA star-turned-business mogul Earvin “Magic” Johnson. On the spoken-word penultimate track “Pistols On Your Album Cover,” Nas recounts a fond memory of the late Tupac Shakur, sharing how he introduced the rapper and actor to Hennessy. Elsewhere on the track, Nas gives a salute to Shakur’s stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, who died earlier this month.
“I remember I put 2Pac onto that Henny,” he says on the track. “Howard University… Howard Homecoming, D.C…. He was like, ‘What’s this?!’… He drank that shit, though… Word… Crazy. Super hard.”
Nas - Pistols On Your Album Cover (Official Audio)youtu.be
This fall, Nas and Wu-Tang Clan (with De La Soul as opening act on select dates), will embark on the North American leg of the second installment of their N.Y. State of Mind Tour. Prior to releasing Magic 2, in June, Hit-Boy dropped the album Surf or Drown Vol. 2 with his formerly incarcerated father, Big Hit.
Stream Magic 2 below.
