I think Hit Boy and Nas hit their stride both sonically and lyrically with KD2 and thats why it sounds the way it does. Its just a theory but if you read any Nas interviews the past lets say 12 or so years he’ll always talk about how the work he’s done with certain producers (namely Premo, Will I Am, and No I.D.) he always says that the songs they did were great but towards the end of recording for a project he hit a certain grove with them and made crazy songs that didn’t end up making the album and they would need to be saved for later. With Hit-Boy, they actually went back and DID it. And AGAIN with Magic. They’ve hit an undeniable groove.
That makes a lot of sense. I was listening to the album again tonight and the fact that their chemistry got so much better over the course of a year is incredible. They were able to develop their relationship over time and now, it's like they're capable of anything. And it was completely unexpected. I don't think anyone would have been upset if they stopped at King's Disease. That album felt like a really special moment when it came out, especially since it gave Nas his first Grammy. But then they decided to take it further with a sequel, that actually improved upon the first one (almost impossible in hip hop). And then they dropped another album out of nowhere that gave hardcore 90s fans what they wanted, and did it as an example of just how strong their relationship had developed.
It reminds me of what Rodney Jerkins said when he was talking about working with Michael Jackson on Invincible. He said working with Michael was like college because of everything he learned from him. He didn't work with any other artist for over a year because Michael paid him a lot of money to produce for him exclusively. When they first started working together, Rodney was making songs that sounded like old-school Michael. Only one of those songs made the album ("You Rock My World") because Michael wanted more. He wanted something edgier and experimental. By the time Rodney was done producing for Michael, he was making songs like "Unbreakable" and "Privacy" and "Threatened," because he had developed a much stronger relationship with Michael and knew exactly what he wanted. They also became close friends because of Invincible. I feel like Nas and Hit-Boy went through the same thing. They feel like an actual duo, not just a rapper and a producer.
Such a dope album
