Nas and 21 Savage announced a surprise song release on Nov. 29, showcasing an announcement on  Twitter and Instagram for the project that came out later the same day. The collaboration between the two rappers showcases a bigger issue of ruined relationships in the hip-hop industry.

This came just a few weeks after 21 called Nas irrelevant in a discussion on the Clubhouse app.

21 Savage can be heard in the discussion saying, “He’s not relevant, he just has a loyal ass fanbase…and he still make good-ass music.” 

He would later attempt to retract his statement in a tweet insinuating that he was misquoted and people were taking his statement out of context.

21 tweeted, “I would never disrespect nas or any legend who paved the way for me y’all be tryna take stuff and run with it.”

During his announcement of the song on his Instagram, Nas posted a caption stating, “Excited to collaborate with my young brother and I hope more artist use turbulent moments and turn them into a time to make new art. That’s what it’s about.”

On his opening verse on the song, 21 Savage raps, “When you turn to legend, no such thing as relevance.” 

Instead of firing back at 21’s comments or making the situation worse, Nas decided to meet with him and turned the experience into art. With this collaboration, Nas has set up an option for other artists to be able to follow in the future when they get into these types of situations. Instead of ruining a relationship or bringing in more negative energy into the world, artists can now use Nas and 21 Savage as an example of how to handle these tough situations and introduce more art into the music landscape.

Nas is notorious for having the ability to squash beef with other rappers including 2Pac and Jay-Z. In Jay-Z’s case, the feud between him and Nas seemingly came out of nowhere with the two releasing diss tracks aimed at each other in the late 1990s. They would eventually reconcile and perform on stage together in 2005 during Jay-Z’s “I Declare War” tour.

It took a lot for the two rappers to finally bury the hatchet, as Jay-Z ignited their beef by sampling Nas on his song “Dead Presidents II” and publicly attacking him on the song “Takeover” off his 2001 album “The Blueprint.” On “Takeover,” Jay-Z directly spoke to Nas, telling him that his music was garbage and that he needed to switch up his flow. In the end, the two were able to settle their differences and Nas even stated on his song “Thun” off his new album “Kings Disease III” that the two joke about their disses on one another in text messages.

Other rappers unfortunately have not had the same forgiveness that Nas possesses. A prime example of a beef that will likely never be squashed is the feud between Pusha T and Drake, which has gone on for years and got so out of hand that Pusha revealed to the entire world on his diss track “The Story of Adidon” that Drake had a secret son. 

Famously, when the rap group Migos broke up early in 2022, member Offset split from the group in what another member Quavo would later call a family issue. The group will never be able to reconcile again as member Takeoff was shot and killed by a stray bullet at a Houston bowling alley in November. Seeing how much the passing of Takeoff has emotionally damaged both Quavo and Offset, it’s impossible to predict how the two will move on with their music careers and their lives in general.

Many potential collaborations and new creations of art have been lost due to issues that can easily be solved. Nas and 21 Savage coming together to create music and resolve their conflict is a testament to how other rappers can settle their disputes before the damage is irreversible.