God's Son searches the Harlem crowd for a rapper he hasn't promised to do an album with.
Besides Dr. Dre's Detox, there's nothing more elusive in the world of hip-hop than the collaboration album. Rappers (not named Plies) have a hard enough time putting out one album, yet they keep promising to collaborate with other high-profile MCs on duet albums. 99% of the time, it ain't happenin'.
But what about a reggae artist? It was reported today that Nas is going to record an album with Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley about "the 'hood and Africa." Whether or not this is a good idea is beside the point, because the album probably won't come out. In fact, this isn't the first time Nas has promised to collaborate with another artist for a full-length LP. Check out our history of Nas' ill-fated collaboration albums...
COLLABORATOR: AZ
• POTENTIAL ALBUM TITLE: Life's Still A Bitch (We Didn't Die!)
• CHANCE OF ACTUAL RELEASE: 0%
Ever since AZ wrecked shop as the sole guest rapper on Nas' Illmatic, there's been talk of a collaborative project between the two. As the years went on, however, it seems AZ was the only one trying to make this happen,voicing his desire to work with the Nasty one anywhere he could: radio interviews, magazine interviews, live shows. Dude, maybe he's just not that into you.
CLICK NEXT TO SEE NAS's ALBUMS WITH JAY-Z, RAKIM, DJ PREMIER AND MORE!
COLLABORATOR: JAY Z
• POTENTIAL ALBUM TITLE: Bromance: Frenimies 4 Life
• CHANCE OF ACTUAL RELEASE: 20%
When Nasir swallowed his pride and signed with Def Jam in '06, everyone thought the former rivals would hop in a booth together and bless us with a collaborative album. But when no one but Funk Flex cared about the under-whelming "Black Republicans" track from Nas' Hip Hop is Dead album, talks simmered down, only to re-ignite last year when Jay hinted at the two recording an album for his new record label.
COLLABORATOR: RAKIM
• POTENTIAL ALBUM TITLE: Stuntin' Like My Daddy
• CHANCE OF ACTUAL RELEASE: 0%
Nas hearts Rakim. So much so that he recorded an "unauthorized autobiography" of the legendary Queens rapper on his Streets Disciple album. During a joint interview, The God proposed the idea of a collabo album to the God's Son. They exchanged numbers and vowed to get together (pause) after they wrapped up their projects, saying it was a long time coming (pause). We guess the effort will take even longer to come (pause), as we haven't heard anything about it since then.
COLLABORATOR: DR. DRE
• POTENTIAL ALBUM TITLE: The Firm 2: Another Fiasco
• CHANCE OF ACTUAL RELEASE: 0%
A few weeks ago, Nas told Billboard that not only is he going to appear on the fabled Detox album, but that he still wants to record a full LP with the Doc. Clearly they've both forgotten the epic fail that was The Firm.
COLLABORATOR: DJ PREMIER
• POTENTIAL ALBUM TITLE: Alzheimer's State Of Mind
• CHANCE OF ACTUAL RELEASE: 0%
Feeling elated that his Untitled album was actually gonna hit the shelves, Nas got on his Kevin Garnett, "Anything is possible!" steez and told MTV that he wanted to link with DJ Premier for an entire disc, a possiblity that has long been discussed. Talk about Street Dreams. Although we would love Nas to let a real producer guide his next project, he probably has a better chance of going to a party and seeing someone who hasn't left a condom in his baby seat.
COLLABORATORS: ICE CUBE x SCARFACE
• POTENTIAL ALBUM TITLE: Grumpy Old Men
• CHANCE OF ACTUAL RELEASE: 0%
Even with all his Hollywood money, Ice Cube still lives this hip hop shit. That's probably he was the only one who was excited at the prospect of doing an album with Nas and Scarface. Truth be told, this album would be dope.
Da PartyStarter February 11th, 2009 at 03:25 PM
Rakim ain't from Queens.....
prophecy_projectz February 11th, 2009 at 03:34 PM
wow...dude who wrote this really fucking hates Nas lol. Lotta that shit was just malicious lol. In fairness to God's Son, unlike the Marley collabo none of the other projects were actually confirmed to happen. In fact most times it was a case of "Yeah if there was a chance, maybe" So this article kinda fails
J. Caesar February 11th, 2009 at 03:51 PM
smfh at this article, and i agree this article fails.."black republicans' underwhelming wtf are you smoking????
LMNT February 11th, 2009 at 05:36 PM
i dream of that nas collabo album, been dreaming about it since 95. while this isnt exactly the same thing, in many ways its better. How about Nas, with Jay Z, Ghostface, Biggie, Raekwon, Sam Jackson and others on some crime cinema shit? Check out City of God's Son. www.CityofGodSon.com you'll thank me later
BrooklynNY February 11th, 2009 at 06:16 PM
If you got hate, let it out (white power)!!!! -CLayton Bigsby This article is garbage. Go back to the drawing board and try again. Maybe you should read what you write after you write it.
Steely D February 11th, 2009 at 07:20 PM
LOL @ grumpy old men, because that's what i thought. despite it's possible dopeness, no one's going to buy it.
R February 12th, 2009 at 05:35 AM
productions from Dr Dre (Firm ERA) ain't Dr Dre CHRONIC 2001 AND MORE type of beats !!!! SO A WHOLE LP WITH ONLY NAS AND DR DRE WOULD BE CLASSIC !!! FOR REAL AND FOR SURE HOPE A FUCKING ALBUM WITH DR DRE HOPE A FUCKING ALBUM WITH PREEMO FOR 2011 !!! THIS YEAR 2009 WE NEED HIS PROJECT WITH DAMIEN MARLEY and PLUS A LOST TAPES TWO (unreleased classics !!) then 2010 his album with kelis !!! and his solo album (his tenth !!!!!!). cuz jay-z has a 10years contract with Live Nation so a lot of records and albums ! NAS NEEDS TO REMEMBER THAT AND HIS CAREER !
R February 12th, 2009 at 05:39 AM
DAT WOULD BE CLASSIC SO YEARS FOR THE NEXT YEAR I HOPE CUZ WE NEEDS A CLASSIC ISH ! like Scarface, Jayz and Beanie Sigel that would be also ish !! WE NEED ALSO DA SCARFACE & BUN B album !!! SO SCARFACE AINT DEAD ! NAH TOP TEN GREATEST OF ALL TIME
Keyboard K February 12th, 2009 at 03:38 PM
Scarface mentioned the collab album in last month's XXL and said he wanted to do it. Independently, pressing up limited copies and selling them for $150 a pop. Nas is the only one who hasn't said anything about it Research fail.
willie February 12th, 2009 at 05:04 PM
How about Jay and Nas "Success" or the "I do it for hip hop" on Luda's new album with jay and nas? do some research. ok? thanks.