Nas says that hip-hop has become his “therapist.” The legendary New York rapper discussed his career, working with Hit-Boy on King’s Disease III, and more during a new interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Saturday. Nas explained that, at some points during the recording process, Hit-Boy would ask him to re-use flows from his older songs.
“Sometimes I’d be like, ‘But I did that, I did that already.’ And he’d say, ‘I know you, you’re going to go into a new cadence on it. Can you, please, just do this flow right here? I promise you’,” Nas told WSJ. Of King’s Disease III, he added that he was pessimistic he’d ever make the record. “In my head, I said, ‘There’s never going to be a KD3,” Nas confessed. “Why did I say this? I’m tired.’”
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Nas released the first iteration of King’s Disease back in 2020. The album went on to win “Best Rap Album” at the Grammys. The follow-up, King’s Disease II, was nominated in the “Best Rap Album” category but lost out to Tyler, The Creator’s Call Me If You Get Lost. Nas dropped King’s Disease III back in November.
Further in the interview, the soon-to-be 50-year-old reflected on his relationship with hip-hop. “It’s become my therapist, my friend,” Nas said. “It’s not always the happiest place, sometimes I want to do other things. But I feel compelled to be there. In this day and time, it’s all about the studio.” The Wall Street Journal piece comes days after Nas teamed up with Tobe Nwigwe and Jacob Banks for the new single, “On My Soul,” off of the soundtrack for Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts. The full film, along with the soundtrack, will be releasing on June 9.
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