Hit-Boy has clapped back at a journalist who slandered the super producer and Nas’ brand new Magic 2 collab album.
Max Bell, who has bylines in L.A. Times, The Ringer and Spin, sniped Nas for his beat selection and referred to Hit-Boy as one of this era’s “least inspired producers” over the weekend after the Grammy-winning combination’s fifth joint project arrived.
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“Only Nas — who hasn’t picked an album’s worth of great beats since ‘94 — would make five albums full of loading screen beats from one of this era’s least inspired producers,” Bell wrote.
Bell’s dig quickly caught the attention of Nas fans as they bombarded his replies. Fellow journalist Al Shipley joked, “Goddamn you jumped from the top rope with this one!”
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The diss eventually found its way to Hit-Boy who fired back at Bell by calling him both a “failed journalist” and a “failed musician.”
Find the testy exchange below:
While there’s a lot of love continuing to pour in, Nas even acknowledged the hate he’s received with his recent projects while targeting his detractors on Magic 2‘s “Abracadabra.”
“I feel a lot of hate since I’ve been creating with Hit/I’m feelin’ a lot of the hate since I’ve been creatin’ with Hit,” Nas raps.
After the album’s arrival, Nas took to Twitter to put the moment in perspective and called 2023 the “best year” of his life.
“I’m happy to be around making new music because I love it,” he said. “Having the best year of my life. I caught the Holy Spirit and I’m grateful to be giving it all to the world. Magic 2.”
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Magic 2 — which was released on Friday (July 21) — is the fifth collaborative project between Nas and Hit-Boy since 2020. The first, King’s Disease — which was released in August 2020 — bagged Nas his first-ever Grammy win for Best Rap Album.
The dynamic duo then returned a year later to release King’s Disease II in August 2021, with Magic arriving just a few months later in December 2021. King’s Disease III was released the following year in November 2022.
