Maps of Music

King's Disease (2020)

Where the lyrics of King's Disease take you, and where it was really made.

Nas's twelfth album came out just months after its lead single, and its first Grammy came from it, a first in his career.

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King's Disease: twelfth studio album by American rapper Nas
Released August 21, 2020 through Mass Appeal Records
Succeeds Nasir, released two years earlier
Guest appearances from Charlie Wilson, Hit-Boy, Big Sean, Don Toliver, Lil Durk, Anderson .Paak, Brucie B, the Firm, Fivio Foreign and ASAP Ferg
Won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards, Nas's first Grammy
Sequel King's Disease II released August 6, 2021

After Nasir, Nas said he would work on an unfinished album produced by Swizz Beatz and RZA
Both had contributed to his 2019 compilation The Lost Tapes 2
On August 10, 2020, Nas announced via Instagram a different album produced and executive produced by Hit-Boy
That album became King's Disease
Lead and only single "Ultra Black", featuring Hit-Boy, released August 14, 2020

Artwork by Harmonia Rosales
Cover shows an empty throne surrounded by red angels in the style of church painting

Born Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones on September 14, 1973 in Brooklyn, New York City; raised in the Queensbridge Houses, Queens.
Son of jazz and blues musician Olu Dara; began as "Nasty Nas" in 1989 and recorded demos under Large Professor.
Made his recording debut on Main Source's 1991 song "Live at the Barbeque"; signed with Columbia Records in 1992.

Debut album Illmatic (April 19, 1994) is regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums; selected for the Library of Congress National Recording Registry.
It Was Written (1996) debuted atop the Billboard 200; single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" featuring Lauryn Hill brought mainstream success.
Feud with Jay-Z (2001–2005) via the diss track "Ether"; Stillmatic and God's Son helped restore his critical standing.
Released Hip Hop Is Dead (2006) and Distant Relatives (2010) with Damian Marley, whose royalties went to African charities.
King's Disease (2020) won his first Grammy for Best Rap Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
Released King's Disease II, Magic, King's Disease III, Magic 2 and Magic 3, all produced by Hit-Boy.
Announced Light-Years with DJ Premier, a 2025 collaborative album.

Andy Kellman of AllMusic: improvement over the rapper's recent work, "the MC's best work since 2008"
Robin Murray of Clash: finds Nas "grappling with a raft of contradictions"
Okla Jones of Consequence of Sound: praised cohesion and production, "one of the better rap albums of the year"
Riley Wallace of HipHopDX: creative process "more organized and thought out"
Will Lavin of NME: praised lyricism, calls it an "acutely perceptive and culturally relevant body of work"
Pete Tosiello of Pitchfork: "marks a retreat into a nostalgia-act comfort zone"
Ryan Feyre of RapReviews.com: criticized the gap between the presentation and the lyrics
Danny Schwartz of Rolling Stone: called it a "slick Illmatic redux" but criticized the rapper's abuse allegations and politics on women
Metacritic average score 72 from nine reviews

Reviews were generally positive; critics viewed it as a return to form after Nasir's muted reception
German laut.de: three out of five stars, Nas "presents himself very solidly throughout, without really impressing"

US Billboard 200 debut at number five, 47,000 album-equivalent units, 18,000 pure album sales
Fourteenth top-ten album in the United States for Nas
"Spicy" reached number 96 on the Hot 100 and number 36 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
"Replace Me" reached number 49 on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Won Best Rap Album at the 63rd Grammy Awards

The title song chart run was modest, but "Spicy" reached the Hot 100 as the album's only bonus track.
"Blue Benz" contains a monologue by Louie Rankin from the 1998 film Belly.
"Replace Me" interpolates "Trip" by Ella Mai.
"Til the War Is Won" samples "Agape" by Nicholas Britell from the 2018 film If Beale Street Could Talk.
Full Circle features Nas's group the Firm, and additional vocals by Robin Thicke with uncredited vocals by Dr. Dre.
Music videos were made for "Spicy", "27 Summers" and "Replace Me".