Magic ³

Magic 3 closed Nas and Hit-Boy’s six-album run together and arrived on Nas’s fiftieth birthday. Its fifteen tracks leave most of the space to Nas, with Lil Wayne making the lone featured appearance on “Never Die.”

Hit-Boy moves between soulful loops and harder drums while Nas shifts from recollection to competitive verses. The length gives the pair room to revisit several sides of the partnership without turning the record into a guest showcase.