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Lauryn Hill is back with a new verse that’s featured on Nas’ latest album King’s Disease 2 and it’s everything you would expect from the Queen. The bars appear on a new track titled “Nobody” where the icon keeps it all the way real about the state of hip-hop.
In one line she raps:
“All my time has been focused on my freedom now / Why would I join ’em when I know that I can beat ’em now? / They put their words on me, and they can eat ’em now. / That’s probably why they keep on tellin’ me I’m needed now.”
The former Fugees crew member also pokes fun about being notoriously late to all of her concerts:
“My awareness like Keanu in ‘The Matrix’ / I’m saving souls and y’all complaining about my lateness,” she rhymes.
The new project is the follow-up to Nas’ Grammy Award-winning album King’s Disease that dropped back in 2020. The critically acclaimed project won Best Rap Album at the Grammy’s this year and landed the Illmatic rapper his first award.
Fans on social media are going crazy over Lauryn’s fiery verse too. One Twitter user wrote, “Lauryn hill went crazy on nat nas feature,” while another person chimed in, “Lauryn Hill filled up all the years of us not hearing her rap with that one Nas feature!”
In January, Hill appeared on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums Podcast where she revealed why she didn’t follow up her classic album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill with a new project.
“The wild thing is no one from my label has ever called me and asked how can we help you make another album, EVER…EVER. Did I say ever? Ever!” the 46-year-old artist explained.
“With The Miseducation, there was no precedent. I was, for the most part, free to explore, experiment, and express. After The Miseducation, there were scores of tentacled obstructionists, politics, repressing agendas, unrealistic expectations, and saboteurs EVERYWHERE. People had included me in their own narratives of their successes as it pertained to my album, and if this contradicted my experience, I was considered an enemy.”
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill served as the first official solo debut album for the singer on August 25, 1998. Hill instantly hit the Billboard 200 chart upon its release selling nearly 422,624 copies in its first week- a historic record for first-week sales by a female artist. The album boasted classics like “Doo Wop (That Thing)“, “Ex-Factor“, and “Everything Is Everything.”
“I’ve always been pretty critical of myself artistically, so of course there are things I hear that could have been done differently but the LOVE in the album, the passion, it’s intention is to me, undeniable,” Lauryn recalled of the project. “I think my intention was simply to make something that made my foremothers and forefathers in music and social and political struggle know that someone received what they’d sacrificed to give us, and to let my peers know that we could walk in that truth, proudly and confidently. At that time, I felt like it was a duty or responsibility to do so. … I challenged the norm and introduced a new standard. I believe The Miseducation did that and I believe I still do this—defy convention when the convention is questionable.”
Lauryn Hill has made it clear why she’s still the greatest MC of all time! What do you think of her new verse?
