2Pac‘s still-unsolved murder is approaching its 27th anniversary, but like many fans who resonated with his music, the late rap icon remains on Nas’ mind.
The Queensbridge lyricist released his new album Magic 2 on Friday (July 21), and in the final moments of the Hit-Boy produced project, he shares a fond memory of Tupac Shakur.
During the spoken word outro of “Pistols On Your Album Cover” — a nod to Boogie Down Productions’ militant artwork — Nas recalls introducing ‘Pac to the intoxicating allure of Hennessy.
“I remember I put 2Pac onto that Henny,” he says. “Howard University… Howard Homecoming, D.C…. He was like, ‘What’s this?!’… He drank that shit, though… Word… Crazy. Super hard.”
The All Eyez On Me rapper would go on to rap about the French cognac brand several times, most notably on his 1996 hit “How Do U Want It” and posthumous 2004 song “Hennessy” which featured Obie Trice.
Elsewhere on “Pistols On Your Album Cover,” Nas salutes 2Pac’s late stepfather, Mutulu Shakur, who passed away aged 72 earlier this month.
“Money’s lovely but I could care less who has more than me/ I’m just happy Mutulu Shakur got free/ May he rest in peace, he was a warrior all of his days,” he raps.
This is far from the first time Esco has reflected on his somewhat turbulent relationship with ‘Pac during his recent career resurgence.
On “Death Row East,” from his 2021 album King’s Disease II, Nas recalled his brother Jungle confronting 2Pac about a perceived diss and flying out to Las Vegas to meet ‘Pac in hopes of squashing the infamous East Coast vs. West Coast beef.
Sadly, the peace talks never materialized as 2Pac passed away on September 13, 1996, six days after being shot in a drive-by in Sin City. However, the pair were able to resolve their own issues at the MTV Video Music Awards that June.
“Before Makaveli the Don left/ Booked a flight, flying out West/ We was tryna squash the whole shit in Vegas/ No media to eat it up and leak it in the papers,” Nas rapped on the song.
He then explained: “I flew to Vegas to shoot the ‘Street Dreams’ video and link with 2Pac. Tried to squash the East Coast/West Coast beef. We didn’t talk, but he was still alive in the hospital. And it rained that day in Vegas. Rest In Power.”
The pair’s feud began earlier that year after 2Pac thought Nas dissed him on his It Was Written track “The Message,” on which he rapped: “Fake thug, no love, you get the slug, CB4 Gusto.”
Stream Nas’ Magic 2, which features guest appearances from 50 Cent and 21 Savage, in full below:
“It’s Thenny thun !” That story ? That wasn’t Nas ! PS: Tupac lights went out baaad🤭
Shut yo dumbass up! I took your name, come get it back 🤭
it’s me, I’m a bitch ass
Wow. Now youre replying to yourself bc you aren’t getting attention. Lmao, female tendencies for real. Please off yourself. You and all of your fake identities wont be missed.
So thank Nas for adding Hennessy into 2pac’s low levels of vocab.
They didn’t have a turbulent relationship. Just back then, misunderstandings were easier to have if you didn’t have mutual friends. Nas was always the outsider to the NY in crowd even though he was the best rapper out of all of them. Don’t forget him and Biggie weren’t exactly close, and Biggie dissed him on Life After Death. Some of that shit was that Queens/Brooklyn rivalry, but low key, Biggie was an arrogant mofo and didn’t like to fuck with people he knew were his equal or better than him. It’s why he was cool with Jay-Z. He knew dude could never fuck with him in any realm on the mike. I always saw Nas and Pac being cut from the same cloth but just never ran in the same circles to realize as much. Pac was more natrually articulate and better at the showmanship of rap, but Nas is the best rapper I’ve ever heard, and they both were street poets who could rap. Why those two will always be my 1A and 1AA.
💯 bruh I got Pac, Nas, Jay as my top 3. Well said. Big knew Nas could hang with him. You broke it down right
Tupac wasn’t quite as good as Jay z or biggie but he’s miles ahead of Nas. Nas isn’t even the best rapper with the title Nas (Lil Nas X is lame but better than Nas)
Stfu 🤫 🤐
I remember hearing this story on maths show. Nas boy was telling it
Pac and Nas are bums. Drake sh!ts all over their catalogs. Drake is repping that Thug Life baby
You are a clown, u wastrel.
U call two of the greatest, Bums. U retarded bwoy.
Nobody bumps dinosaurs like tupac or Nas in the hood. The real OG’s know Drizzy’s bout that ThugLife baby. He’s as hard as they come , boy. You best recognize
pretty sure pac heard and knew what hennessey was before meeting nas but whatever most people growing up in the hood saw it at the store in middleschool
Every Nas drop I scroll the whole thinking waiting to see “ft Joey” still waiting