Nas found another way to celebrate Jay-Z's milestone Yankee Stadium concerts before making a surprise appearance alongside his former rival-turned-collaborator.
Ahead of Jay-Z's three-night run commemorating the 30th and 25th anniversaries of Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint, respectively, TIDAL unveiled a new playlist curated by the Queens rap legend titled "Curated By God's Son: Hov."
Released on July 9, the 31-track collection highlights many of Nas' favorite records from Jay-Z's catalog, spanning multiple eras of Hov's career while underscoring the mutual respect the two icons have built since ending one of hip-hop's most famous rivalries.
TIDAL introduced the playlist as a celebration of Jay-Z's landmark Yankee Stadium shows, describing it as one GOAT recognizing another.
The playlist heavily features songs from Reasonable Doubt and The Blueprint series, while also pulling selections from albums including In My Lifetime, Vol. 1, American Gangster and 4:44. Among the tracks Nas selected are "Can't Knock the Hustle," "D'Evils," "Brooklyn's Finest" and "Dead Presidents II," the latter famously sampling Nas' vocals from "The World Is Yours" and playing a pivotal role in the pair's historic feud.
Nas also highlighted several of Jay-Z's standout guest appearances, including Cam'ron's "Welcome to New York City," Memphis Bleek's "Dear Summer," and Pusha T's "Drug Dealers Anonymous."
Naturally, the playlist includes "Black Republican," the pair's first official collaboration following the end of their highly publicized beef.
According to TIDAL Editor-in-Chief Tony Gervino, the playlist was designed as both a congratulatory gesture and a continuation of a tradition between the two rap legends.
"A few years ago Jay recognized Nas's diabolical pen with an exclusive TIDAL playlist," Gervino said. "On the eve of Hov's legendary run of Yankee Stadium shows, the king of Queens returns the favor in what we consider to be the ultimate game-recognizes-game moment."
The release also mirrors Jay-Z's own 2021 playlist, Curated By The God Hov: Nas, in which he selected 24 of his favorite songs from Nas' catalog, with a heavy emphasis on Illmatic and It Was Written. The timing of Nas' playlist made his appearance at Yankee Stadium even more meaningful.
On the opening night of Jay-Z's concert series celebrating Reasonable Doubt, Nas emerged as one of the evening's biggest surprise guests. The two shared the stage years after settling the rivalry that once defined early-2000s hip-hop, further cementing their transformation from competitors into collaborators.
