Eminem respectfully passed on the chance to appear on Nas’ 2012 song “Daughters,” and for good reason.
Joined by his Light-Years producer DJ Premier, Nas was a guest on the latest episode of The Joe Budden Podcast, where he recounted approaching Eminem to collaborate on “Daughters.” The song, which tackled the rapper’s relationship with his then-teenage daughter, Destiny Jones, appeared on Nas’ tenth studio album Life Is Good.
“Every record I do is not a battle,” Nas said around the 52-minute mark of the video below. “I remember I had sent this song ‘Daughters’ to Eminem and at the time he had spent so much time speaking on daughters … he was like, ‘Thank you, but I’m not going to.'”
“‘I’m not doing any more songs directly about daughters at the moment because that’s a sensitive issue with all the music I put out,” Nas added about Em’s response. “I think the message was like, ‘Thank you, ’cause most people want to do songs where they’re battling me on a record. It was refreshing to get a record where you’re not coming for me.'”
Em, who’s no stranger to scathing diss records, has released several tracks over the years about his biological daughter, Hailie Jade, including his emotional 2004 single “Mockingbird.” More recently, the fifteen-time Grammy winner dropped two more songs about his family, “Temporary” featuring Skyler Grey and “Somebody Save Me,” featuring Jelly Roll, both of which are on his latest album, The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce).
In a 2012 interview with Vibe, Nas clarified that he wanted Em to hop on the remix to “Daughters” and also missed the chance to collaborate with Jay-Z on Life Is Good because their “schedules were so crazy.”
