Nasty Nas is a rebel to convention. Since investing a stake in Mass Appeal (the magazine), the Queens icon has been making some really interesting, Hip-Hop culturally-minded moves.

Deeply involved in Mass Appeal Records, Nas reportedly hand-picked signings of Fashawn, Bishop Nehru, and Boldy James…three artists that have been making strong, consistent, and reverberating noise, still in need of mainstream recognition from an artist/source of Nas’ stature.

Within that hubbub, Mass Appeal, just this month, released RTJ2 from Run The Jewels (Killer Mike and El-P). The group and the label gave the LP away for free, less worried about money as much as reaching Heads. Less than a week in, it feels like the mission is being accomplished. In celebration of the retail week for RTJ2, Nas showed up to support Mike Bigga and El-Producto, two of his peers (Company Flow’s first single released the same 1994 that Illmatic dropped).

Although he makes it clear that it’s about his “brothers,” Nas opted to preview the New York crowd something that he’s working on. Going back to 2006’s Donuts album by J Dilla (released just as the Detroit icon left us all mourning), Nas loved “Gobstopper,” and played with the Jay Dee beat, just as the producer had wished for when he released the Stones Throw LP that became a label top-seller due to acclaim and recognition of Dilla’s life, work, and impact.

Nas previews the song, called “The Season.” The musical marriage sounds organic (not arranged) as Nasir works a smooth, conversational flow over the masterful loop. Listen closely, although the audio quality is not the best, as Nas works in mentioning Dilla into the song, along with what appears to be a case of why he’s keeping it real, while Jay Electronica opts not to write, and Jay Z is vacationing. It doesn’t appear to be a shot at the homies, but rather a strong case for why Nas might be in his “second childhood,” in terms of loving Hip-Hop, and making the out-the-box moves that his diehard Heads crave.

UPDATE: Hours after Heads heard Nas trying his introspective vocals out on a J Dilla beat, it appears to be something enduring. “The Season” is now available in CDQ audio. As mentioned, take a really close listen to what the MC is saying:

Over the years, Nas has worked with Large Professor, DJ Premier, Pete Rock, Dr. Dre, Havoc, MF DOOM, Alchemist, Just Blaze, Scott Storch, Timbaland, The Beastie Boys, and countless others. With J Dilla now on the list (in a posthumous way, of course), who would you like to hear the man formerly known as Esco work with?

Related: Pete Rock Salutes Nas & The Album He Worked On With Time Is Illmatic (Mixtape)