Hit-Boy enjoyed another monster year in 2021, releasing not one but two albums with Nas — the Grammy-nominated King’s Disease II and the surprise Magic — while producing for Big Sean, Roddy Ricch, Don Toliver, Cordae, Maxo Kream, Russ and more.
The HS87 hitmaker isn’t putting his feet up in 2022, though. Hit-Boy is already hard at work on a full-length album with another veteran rapper, The Game — and the project has just received a major boost from one of Hip Hop’s biggest names.
Over the weekend, Kanye West swung by Hit-Boy and The Game’s studio to sample what the West Coast duo are working on. Footage from Ye’s visit showed him bopping his head as the music blasted out of the speakers.
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“I’M JUST GONNA SAY THIS … BE READY!” photographer Kevin Wong wrote on Instagram on Saturday (January 8). “Man what I heard tonight. Went CRAZYYY! @losangelesconfidential x @kanyewest x @hitboy.”
L.A. Leakers‘ Justin Credible added to the hype by writing, “Kanye’s energy’s is explosive … The Game’s creativity & raps are at the highest level. Whole project produced by @hitboy. You already know what he on w/ the beats.”
Kanye wasn’t just there to listen, though. Another clip from the studio session featured a brief snippet of Mr. West rapping over a track from The Game and Hit-Boy’s upcoming album. The song contains a sample of Eazy-E’s 1988 solo hit “Eazy-Duz-It.”
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Further details surrounding the album remain scarce, although The Game recently announced it’s 50 percent finished — just two days into recording.
Kanye West and The Game formed a formidable partnership in the the 2000s, teaming up on “Dreams” and “Crack Music” — from 2005’s The Documentary and Late Registration, respectively — as well as “Wouldn’t Get Far” and the Common-featuring “Angel,” which Kanye produced.
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The pair’s last collaboration arrived in 2015 in the form of “Mula,” from The Game’s The Documentary 2. However, a leaked song snippet from 2019 heard the Compton rapper making X-rated claims about Kanye’s then-wife, Kim Kardashian.
“I held Kim Kardashian by her throat, n-gga/I made her swallow my kids until she choked, n-gga/I should apologize ’cause Ye my folks, n-gga,” he rapped.
Meanwhile, Kanye West and Hit-Boy share an interesting history. Hit-Boy signed to Ye’s G.O.O.D. Music in 2011 and produced the Watch The Throne smash “N-ggas In Paris,” as well as the Cruel Summer hits “Clique” and “Cold.” However, Kanye soon cut ties with Hit-Boy over his working relationship with Beyoncé.
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Hit-Boy aired out his issues with Kanye on Twitter in 2020 before seemingly taking shots at his former label boss while celebrating the release of King’s Disease II last summer.
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“It’s not a hundred n-ggas producing the beat. It’s not a hundred n-ggas writing the rhymes,” he said at the album release party. “It’s just me and Nas in the studio… We not on fuckin’ Twitter botherin’ y’all. We not on IG Live putting a weird-ass stream up.”
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Hit-Boy and Kanye West have since made up and were seen hanging out together alongside Big Sean in November (shortly before Kanye sparked beef with Sean, another of his former G.O.O.D. Music signees, during his Drink Champs interview).
Was just wit this man, he ain’t say none of that!!! And this was after the interview! I’m dying laughing at you @kanyewest ? pic.twitter.com/xUJNlolKf0
— Sean Don (@BigSean) November 5, 2021
The Game — who previously announced that 2019’s Born 2 Rap would be his final album — is just the latest rapper to receive the Hit-Boy album treatment.
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The Grammy-winning producer has also crafted full-length projects for Big Sean (Detroit 2) and Benny The Butcher (Burden of Proof) in recent years as he further cements his pedigree as more than just a hitmaker.
Hit-Boy has plenty more in the pipeline for 2022, including “half an album” with Snoop Dogg, an “album’s worth of music” with Roddy Ricch and Don Toliver, as well as a potential collaboration with Playboi Carti.
