King’s Disease 2

50 Cent Says Eminem’s ‘EPMD 2’ Verse Inspired Him To Record Again

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It has been a while since 50 Cent dropped a musical project, as he’s been primarily focused on producing and promoting his various television series with Starz, which include a new Power spin-off and the period drama BMF, as well as fending off lawsuits for ripping off his competition in the beverage industry. However, a new rap release inspired him to start writing music again recently, as he told People in a recent video interview.

The release in question was King’s Disease 2, the latest release from 50’s fellow Queens native Nas — specifically the song “EPMD 2,” which featured 50’s friend and mentor Eminem. Eminem’s verse, which set Rap Twitter on fire the night of its release, prompted 50 to want to write again. “When Em does something that stands out to me, it’s special,” he said. “He just had a performance on Nas’ album, and it made me want to record again because of my connection to it. He sounded so good that I was like, ‘I gotta write something.’”

He also addressed his long absence from the forefront of the rap game, saying, “I feel like I’m still in it. Even if I don’t share it with the general public, it forced me back into writing, going to the studio and recording something.” Perhaps once BMF — which also features Eminem appearing as FBI informant White Boy Rick — is finished airing, 50 will be ready to once again share his new music with the general public.

Watch 50 Cent’s full interview with People above.

Nas Said Lauryn Hill Laughed When She Heard Fans’ Surprised Reaction To Her ‘King’s Disease II’ Verse

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Nas has been on a hot streak of late, with last year’s comeback collaboration with Hit Boy, King’s Disease and the very quick sequel, King’s Disease II that dropped earlier this month. Part of the excitement around part two of this release was the guest features he was able to score, because he’s hip-hop royalty, and fans damn near lost their minds over his collaboration with Eminem on “EPMD 2” — the first time these two legendary MCs have been on record together.

But another high-profile feature, from the semi-retired legend Lauryn Hill, had fans equally impressed that Nas could draw a verse from her. Speaking with Ebro Darden for Apple Music’s show Rap Life, Nas explained his relationship with the reclusive star. “I hit her up, ‘Yo, this is crazy. People are asking me like, how did I get you on a record,’” Nas said. “She’s laughing like, ‘What do you mean? We just had a tour like, a few years ago.,’” he told Ebro. “She’s like, ‘All my life is right now is concerned with my freedom.’ That’s a different individual. That’s her first line. She’s not out here playing games, man. Thank you, Ms. Hill.”

Check out their conversation below.

Meanwhile, Nas is already teasing King’s Disease 3, and praising his producer Hit Boy as a “Quincy Jones”-style figure.

Nas And Eminem’s ‘EPMD 2′ Is The Rappers’ First Collaboration In Their Careers

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More than 25 years after releasing his classic debut album, Illmatic, Nas finally earned his first Grammy award with a win in the Best Rap Album category at the 2021 award show. The honor was given to his twelfth album, King’s Disease in what ended a streak of 13 consecutive nominations without a win at the Grammys. Less than a year after he released that project, Nas is looking to extend the momentum towards his thirteenth album, King Disease II, which has officially arrived and is once again supported by executive production from Hit-Boy.

An immediate eye-catcher from King’s Disease is “EPMD 2” as it features Nas and Eminem rapping together for the first time in the over 20 years they’ve stood out as hip-hop notables. The track also comes with a feature from rap duo EPMD, who let their bars fly for the track’s first verse. Nas steps to the mic for the second, leaving Eminem to close things out with a lengthy collection of bars that ends with him positioning himself with a number of successful rappers like Jay-Z, Kanye West, Drake, and many more.

While this marks the first time Nas and Eminem have rapped together on the same track, the latter produced and co-wrote Nas’ 2002 track, “The Cross.” As for the remainder of King Disease II, the album presents 15 songs and additional guest appearances from A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, YG, Lauryn Hill, Charlie Wilson, Blxst, and Hit-Boy.

You can listen to “EPMD 2” in the video above.

King Disease II is out now via Mass Appeal. Get it here.

A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

Nas’ ‘King’s Disease 2’ Tracklist Includes Features From Eminem And Lauryn Hill

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Last year, Hit-Boy helped Nas overcome his recent album slump, executive producing the Queens legend’s latest full-length, King’s Disease. The results spoke for themselves; not only was the album credited with breaking rap fans’ prevailing “Nas has a tin ear for beats” narrative, but it was also one of the most critically acclaimed rap projects of the year.

It looks like the two principals were pretty impressed with each other, as they recently announced a follow-up titled King’s Disease II to be released on the same projected date as Kanye West’s Donda. Either that, or it’ll be a Lost Tapes-type release collecting some of the cutting room clippings from the original sessions and stitching them together — which has worked for Nas before on Lost Tapes. Today, they shared the tracklist, revealing collaborations with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Blxst, Eminem, EPMD, Lauryn Hill, and YG.

King’s Disease II will thus mark the second collaboration between Nas and Em and Nas and Lauryn. While Eminem produced Nas’s 2002 God’s Son song “The Cross,” Nas and Ms. Hill collaborated on Nas’ biggest hit to date, 1996’s “If I Ruled The World” from It Was Written. You can see the full tracklist courtesy of Nas’ Instagram below.

Nas Announced ‘King’s Disease II’ Will Be Out August 6th, The Same Anticipated Date As Kanye’s ‘Donda’

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Nas announced the follow-up to his last album, King’s Disease will be dropping in just a few days. The New York rapper let fans know that the second part of his Hit Boy-produced project would be dropping on August 6th, and astute fans of hip-hop will notice that’s the rumored date for Kanye to complete his new album, Donda, which may or may not be a hint of competitive energy in the air… or maybe synergy?

While Kanye is camped out in a stadium in Atlanta, nailing down the details of his latest work, an old diss tracks where Nas may or may not be dissing Tupac has surfaced. It’s unclear if that song is going to be a part of King’s Disease II, but considering the first installment won Nas a Grammy and functioned as a comeback album of sorts for the legendary MC, this follow up might be an equally impactful album.

Some may argue that Nas’ real comeback began with the Kanye-produced Nasir, which dropped during Ye’s rushed run of releases from 2018, and Nas later admitted was a bit rushed. Check out the album artwork for the project below, and look for it out on Mass Appeal Records on August 6th.