Eminem and Nas Nearly Worked Together on a “Daughters” Remix
“Every record I do is not a battle.”
Can you picture two of the best in hip-hop competing against each other on a single track? It turns out that before Eminem gave the idea away, this nearly became a reality on one of Nas’ tracks.
In our 2012 interview, the Queensbridge native acknowledged the lost chance, but he provided some additional details about their exchange. In a recent interview with Light-Years collaborator DJ Premier on The Joe Budden Podcast, Nas disclosed that Eminem politely turned down his offer to participate in the remix of his Life is Good song, “Daughters.”
“I sent Eminem this song, ‘Daughters,’ and at the time, he had spent so much time talking about daughters,” he recounted. “Thank you, but I’m not going to,” he said. Since it’s a delicate subject for all of the music I release, I’m not writing any more songs that are specifically about daughters at this time. Because most people want to do songs where they’re competing against me on a record, he said, I believe the message was, “Thank you.” Receiving a record that said, “You’re not coming for me,” was a welcome change.
Nas also contacted Jay-Z about a feature while working on Life Is Good, but scheduling difficulties prevented it from happening. This would have been the first time that Eminem and Nas worked together, but they did appear on the same song, “EPMD 2,” on Nas and Hit-Boy’s King’s Disease II.
On December 12, Nas and DJ Premier’s eagerly anticipated joint album, Light-Years, was finally released. The Steve Miller Band and, of course, The Firm’s very own AZ are among the artists who make cameos on the fifteen-track album.
The remainder of Nas and DJ Premier’s interview with Joe Budden can be seen above. They discuss parenting, the differences between hip-hop from the past and present, and other topics in the interview.
