Only DJ Khaled could bring together JAY-Z and Nas.
The hip-hop legends reunited for their first collaboration in over a decade on Khaled’s new album Khaled Khaled. Following the album’s release on Friday, Khaled posted rare footage from a video call between JAY and Nas.
In the clip, Nas is with Khaled in the studio while speaking with JAY-Z on FaceTime. Nas shared his reaction upon hearing JAY’s verse, on which he raps, “Circular ice on Japanese whiskey, on my mezzanine …. Everybody’s gettin’ bands, we just dance to different drums.”
“Oh no no no!” said Nas while joking that he had to rewrite his verse upon hearing Hov. “I’m just here tweaking lines and shit. I’m in here like rewriting four bars.”
As JAY-Z smiled and laughed, Nas went on to praise Beyoncé, whose vocals are credited as The Hive. “And the queen at the end, bro, those harmonies. That gave my chills, bro.”
“This is one. This is definitely one for the books,” added Nas, while JAY concurred. “Now that feel good. It feels great.”
Getting the rap titans on the same track—and in the Hype Williams-directed video—was a dream come true for Khaled. “JAY and NAS on one record has been a lifelong dream! And I’m so glad it happened the way it did! TRUE brotherhood! Amazing energy! And love! God was in the booth, on set, and all over this ALBUM!” he said.
In the end, Khaled said that neither JAY nor Nas rewrote their lyrics. “By the way no lines were changed it was PERFECT and BEAUTIFUL.”
Khaled Khaled, which also features appearances from Cardi B, Drake, H.E.R., Migos, and Justin Bieber, is expected to debut at No. 1 on next week’s charts with 80-100,000 equivalent album units.