Erykah Badu and Nas are making music history. The two hip hop and soul-influenced entertainers are teaming up for the first time for an emotional ballad called “The Bitter Land.”
The song is the first song released off Nas’ executive-produced indie film, The Land, which also happens to star Erykah Badu. The near four-minute track opens with Badu solemnly singing the words “this bitter land” as violin strings lament Erykah’s emotional words. She goes on to sing in a legato cadence saying, “One with my soul/The fruit it bears/Leaves me so cold.”
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As the neo-soul singer’s voice rifts with pain, Nas meets her vocals and says, “Running on the concrete, passed the train tracks/The devil is behind me and the ghetto’s where you’ll find me.”
According to The YBF, The Land, which also stars The Wire‘s Michael K. Williams and rapper Machine Gun Kelly, is “directed by Steve Caple Jr, tells the story of four teenage boys who devote their summer to escaping the mean streets of Cleveland, Ohio to pursue a dream life of professional skateboarding. Unfortunately, they get caught up in a drug operation.”
The Land will open in select theaters tomorrow, July 29.
Listen to Erykah Badu and Nas’ emotional single below.
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