Nas is one of our culture’s most celebrated artists, so getting a co-sign from the man who made Illmatic is bound to feel gratifying. Joey Bada$$ is the latest emcee to get a shoutout from the Queens emcee, on Monday (February 28), the Brooklyn-bred rapper shared a series of Instagram photos that included a photo of himself standing next to Nas.

He wrote in the caption, “[Goat] I ain’t work this hard to be around people I don’t like [goat.].”

Joey Bada$$ took to  Twitter to elaborate,  revealing Nas had heard some of his new music. According to 27-year-old, Nas had some high praise for what he heard in the studio.

“Played Nas some of the album, and he said he was inspired,” he wrote. “He also loved the next song I’m dropping for y’all, he called it ‘the perfect single.’ Meant a lot hearing that from the [goat]. New raps on the way.”

Bada$$ has not released a studio album since his 2017 critically acclaimed project,  ALL-AMERIKKAN BADASS, which has fans eager to hear what’s in the vault for the beloved Brooklyn emcee. 

“Shit, the album dropping this year for sure,” Bada$$ said. “I ain’t going to say exactly when, though, because there’s certain rappers who be on my heels, so Ima just… it’s coming, though.”

ALL-AMERIKKKAN BADASS debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, chart moving over 51,000 total album-equivalent units in its opening week, with roughly 28,000 of those copies being pure album sales.