Hit-Boy says his celebrated creative partnership with Nas may have reached its final chapter, revealing that he does not expect the two to work together again.
The Grammy-winning producer made the comments during a conversation with Elliott Wilson and DJ Vlad, reflecting on the three-year period that produced some of Nas’ most acclaimed late-career music.
“We did a lot of great work, but I don’t see us working again,” Hit-Boy said.
He did not provide a detailed explanation for the apparent split. When pressed about why another collaboration seems unlikely, however, Hit-Boy suggested there is considerably more happening behind the scenes.
“There’s a lot of reasons, you know what I mean?”
He then made it clear that he was not interested in going deeper into those reasons.
“But it’s something I don’t really wanna dig too deep in ’cause it’s pretty deep.”
That leaves the exact circumstances behind the apparent separation unclear. Hit-Boy did not use the conversation to publicly attack Nas, instead choosing to keep the details of whatever happened between them private.
Whatever the reason, their collaborative run left behind a substantial catalog.
Hit-Boy and Nas worked together across six albums, spanning the King’s Disease and Magic series. Their partnership began with 2020’s “King’s Disease,” launching one of the most productive stretches of Nas’ later career.
They followed with “King’s Disease II” and “King’s Disease III,” before continuing the partnership through the Magic trilogy.
The collaboration also produced a major milestone for Nas when “King’s Disease” earned him his first Grammy Award.
Hit-Boy remains proud of what they accomplished, even while suggesting the partnership is over.
“Respect to what we did get accomplished in three years,” he said.
That three-year run produced music that paired Hit-Boy’s contemporary production with Nas’ established lyricism, creating a series of projects that became an important part of the rapper’s later catalog.
For now, Hit-Boy is keeping the reasons for the apparent rupture behind closed doors. But his message about the future is considerably less ambiguous: another Nas and Hit-Boy album does not appear to be on his radar.
After six albums, the producer may be ready to let the music speak for itself.
