Remaining relevant in an industry that follows quick trends and caters to the youth is a challenging demand that most artists fail to meet, not Nasir Jones, however. After the success of King’s Disease, his Grammy-Award-winning collaborative album with super producer Hit-Boy, the two reunited on King’s Disease II and finished strong, with stellar reviews and an impressive debut on Billboard. Debuting at #3, King’s Disease II is Nas’ highest performing album since his 2012 post-divorce Life is Good.
Comprised of album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA), Billboard reports that Nas earned 56,000 equivalent album units in its first week, outperforming the original King’s Disease. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 35,000, equaling 47.44 million on-demand streams of the set’s songs.
Earlier this week, the two celebrated the release of the album and thanked fans on social media, solidifying this time period as “Escobar Season”. The album includes features from some of hip-hop’s most revered lyricists from EPMD, Eminem, and the legendary Ms. Lauryn Hill. The Queensbridge native also made sure to include new artists A Boogie wit da Hoodie and YG as well, giving the album a cohesive contemporary sound that still captures the essence of Nas’ top strength–storytelling. On King’s Disease II the rapper/serial entrepreneur also challenges himself by switching up his flow, giving fans a far more faster Migos-like cadence than we are used to.
Hit-Boy and Nas have for sure proven to be a solid producer/artist pair. Will King’s Disease II land the two another Grammy nod or win?
Stream King’s Disease II here.
[Via]