Nas and Amy Winehouse’s ‘Cherry Wine’ Surfaces

Queens, N.Y. rapper Nas is gearing up to release his tenth studio album, ‘Life Is Good,’ on July 17. The latest song to surface online is the aptly titled ‘Cherry Wine,’ which features previously unreleased vocals from the late Amy Winehouse.

As Spin reports, ‘Cherry Wine’ is a bit more toned down than some of the other tracks that have already come off of ‘Life Is Good.’ Producer Salaam Remi, who has worked with both Nas and Amy Winehouse for years, pieces together a serene beat for the artists to work with. ‘Cherry Wine’ is one of Nas’ best tracks featuring female vocals since his 1996 breakthrough single, ‘If I Ruled the World,’ featuring Lauryn Hill.

The roots of ‘Cherry Wine’ can be found in recording sessions from 2008 between Nas and Winehouse. Their previous collaboration, ‘Like Smoke,’ was featured on the singer’s posthumous release, ‘Lioness: Hidden Treasures,’ which was released last year. Listen to a rip of ‘Cherry Wine’ from the Radio 1 premiere below, which brings back fond memories of taping songs off the radio when we were younger.

Nas describes the work he and Winehouse did as catching lightning in a bottle. “Yeah, Salaam worked on her last album, and they were working,” he told NME. “We don’t even have an explanation for how it happened. It was just magic. It just happened. It was supposed to happen. She made it happen.”

Listen to Nas and Amy Winehouse, ‘Cherry Wine’