Nas Revives 1993 Freestyle For "Life Is Like a Dice Game"

Nas has dropped a completed version of the long-unfinished track “Life Is Like a Dice Game,” featuring Cordae and Freddie Gibbs. Originating as a 1993 freestyle, the new Hit-Boy-produced song lands as the latest RapCaviar x Spotify Singles record as part of the Illmatic sessions.

The final verse of the freestyle is ironically prophetic — “When I finish the shit it’s going to be a hit” — however, Nas never actually finished the track following the initial freestyle. Fast forward almost 30 years, the Grammy-winning rapper has bred new life to his archival verses, opening the single with its original hook: “I wake up every morning thinkin’ what we gonna do today, it’s gotta be a better way/ To maintain, it’s the price of fame, life is like a dice game.”

“Spotify pulled out a leak from the ’90s that I did eons ago, and asked if I could resurrect it,” Nas said in a press release. “I can’t remember where I recorded it, or who produced it—maybe Easy Moe Bee, he was killin’ the game at the time! Carl Chery from Spotify suggested we connect with Freddie and Cordae to bring the song new life and I loved it.”

“True Nas fans are familiar with the ‘Life Is Like a Dice Game’ leak,” Carl Chery, Spotify’s Head of Urban, added. “I thought finishing the song would be a fresh spin on our Spotify Singles program. The original dates back to the ’90s but the concept feels more relevant than ever today, which makes it the perfect time to put it out.”

Timed in tandem with the resurrected track, Nas is also celebrating the 25th anniversary of It Was Written on Friday, July 2, with a reissued version of the record.

Listen to Nas’ “Life Is Like a Dice Game,” featuring Cordae and Freddie Gibbs, below.

In another music release, Mac Miller posthumously features on dvsn and Ty Dolla $ign’s latest track “I Believed It.”