Free Patreon Preview! (Featuring Nas x Hit-Boy)

In 2020, Queensbridge alderman Nasir "Nas" Jones recorded and released King's Disease, his twelfth solo album and first collaboration with producer-slash-rapper Hit-Boy. Coming off of the dual disappointments Nasir (his 2018 "album"fully produced by Kanye West) and The Lost Tapes 2 (his 2019 collection of leftover tracks originally intended for other projects probably), King's Disease was met with the most acclaim in the rapper's career, at least when looking at the last decade or so, and won over a lot of hip hop heads who gravitated toward Hit-Boy's nuanced take on boom bap and Nas's own energy, which somehow made him sound like he was actually excited to spit bars for the first time since 2012's Life Is Good.

King's Disease also happened to win the man his very first Grammy award ever (after a slew of nominations, none of which were for songs or projects that you'd think were honor-worthy), so, unsurprisingly, this year brought us King's Disease II, a documentation of Nasir Jones, Hit-Boy, and their shared return to the well. Maintaining the throughline of jazzy boom bap-lite, heavy on shit-talk and proselytizing, King's Disease II also mixed in several ounces of nostalgia, matching the first volume's reunion of The Firm with numerous references to his past and one guest star (of many) that seems to have been selected solely to remind the listener of the man's first radio hit, although the end result here turns those expectations right on their ear.

I felt kind of bad for pushing the King's Disease II write-up directly to the Patreon, so for a limited time I'm opening it up to absolutely everyone. You can access it by clicking here. However, when I say "limited" I'm not fucking around, so what I would kindly ask is that you two consider a subscription to the Patreon site if you haven't already signed up: for just $3 (USD) per month, you'll receive exclusive, immediate access to over one hundred posts that simply won't ever make it here, and there are far less restrictions on subject matter over behind the paywall.

Enjoy, kiddos!

-Max