Nas & Hit-Boy Announce Surprise Collaborative Album ‘Magic 3’ is Dropping Thursday

It’s the end of the road for Nas and Hit-Boy. On Tuesday (September 12) the rapper-producer duo announced their surprise sixth album Magic 3, which will release on Thursday (September 14), the day after Nas’ 50th birthday.

The third and final Magic installment began in December 2021, the inaugural project featuring A$AP Rocky and DJ Premier on lead single “Wave Gods.” The series continued with Magic 2, released in July, with a long-awaited collaboration between Escobar and 50 Cent on “Office Hours.”

Nas feat. 50 Cent - Office Hours (Official Audio)www.youtube.com

Overall, Nas and Hit-Boy have released five albums together, including the three installments of their King’s Disease series. The inaugural King’s Disease earned Nas his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album in 2021. Prior to Nas and Hit-Boy’s run, the 49-year-old last released solo album Nasir in 2018.

In an August interview with Complex, Hit-Boy expressed that he’ll continue to work with the Queensbridge rapper as long as he wants.

“I’m right with him, I’m going. I'm in that mode. Not even to prove some s***, but it's just like I got so much more to offer the game,” he said. “And it’s just allowed me to be the real producer I want to be. Some people just want to come get beats, but Nas is like, “I’m going to rock with you on your beats, whatever post-production you want to do. Wherever you want to take it creatively.” That it is the ultimate freedom, that's something that producers dream of. So to have somebody on that level to be open to this s*** allows me to be a better producer, keep growing, and keep challenging myself.”