Nas Takes Fans Behind The Scenes In New “Sitting With My Thoughts” Music Video

Nas has always been an introspective storyteller and yet, he still wants to give fans an inside look at his life. This time around, the Queens, N.Y. native is taking them behind the scenes of his 2023 NY State Of Mind World Tour in his new “Sitting With My Thoughts” music video.

The visual opens with Wu-Tang Clan‘s own Method Man—who toured with the Queensbridge rapper last year—giving Nas praise for his long career and first Grammy win. The music video then transitions into Esco getting his hair cut 30 minutes before his show at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Arena.

As the visual moves through scenes of him sitting in an empty arena, sitting in a green room, or hanging with his crew, he raps along to the nearly three-minute track. Former NBA player Metta World Peace even makes a cameo.

“I once too was a young boy wildin’ on tour/ Runnin’ with some of the wildest youngins out in New York/ Met some more in Baton Rouge, used to wow how they talked/ Nineteen, my girl was pregnant, had to sit with my thoughts/ Sit with my thoughts/ I had to sit with my thoughts,” Nas rapped. He also shouts out Nipsey Hussle, presuming that the late rapper would’ve loved to see him working with Hit-Boy these last few years and that he might have tried to turn him into a Crip.

“Sitting With My Thoughts” appeared on the Grammy winner’s September 2023 album Magic 3. He handled the majority of the 15-track effort aside from tapping Lil Wayne for a feature on “Never Die.” He previously released music videos for “I Love This Feeling” and “Fever.”

Magic 3 marked Nas and Hit-Boy’s sixth collaborative album, following its predecessor, Magic 2, which came out in July 2023. They first linked up on 2020’s Kings Disease, which earned Nas his first Grammy victory at the 2021 award show. They kept their foot on the gas with King’s Disease II in August 2021 before launching the Magic series three months later.

Nas has been busy outside of music, too. Last month, Deadline reported that he is working on a series based around on Maurice Ashley, the first-ever Black International Grandmaster in chess with the help of Power producer Mark Canton. The series will have eight episodes.

Ashley grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. prior to becoming a Grandmaster in 1999. He created the Harlem Chess Center and has coached national champions in chess, namely Harlem’s Raging Rooks and Dark Knights. He is also a published author; he released Chess For Success in 2005 and plans to release Move By Move and The Life Changing Magic Of Chess soon. In 2016, he was honored with an induction into the United States Chess Hall Of Fame.

“I’m grateful to be part of bringing Maurice Ashley’s incredible life to the screen,” Nas said. “His story is one of greatness and his perseverance will continue to inspire the next generation of thinkers. Canton felt the same, saying “We cannot be more excited to move forward on this one.”