“Better late than never.”

Apparently, those were the words of Nas on the recent announcement of the “Life is Good/Black Rage” tour, which will feature himself and the one and only Ms. Lauryn Hill. Upon first knowledge, this seemed like it would be a great pairing for some really great Hip Hop live shows. Think about it: Nas and Lauryn Hill have known each other for years, and have been collaborating at a minimum since the days of “If I Ruled The World”, the classic 1996 collaboration between the two music icons. And considering all of the amazing music that the two have produced since that time, it’s about time this tour has come about.

But then again, I also started thinking about the drama that has surrounded both Nasty Nas and Ms. Hill, especially in recent years. Both have had to face down Uncle Sam on charges of tax evasion this year alone, Nas went through a very public divorce from Kelis, beef with some of the biggest names in Hip Hop and lots of controversy surrounding the title of his previous album. On the other hand, Lauryn has had to deal with a public feud with former partner in rhyme Wyclef Jean, the break up of her relationship with Rohan Marley, and the public and fans growing increasingly frustrated with her musically erratic live shows and on-again, off-again promises for new music. And with all of that in the bag, it’s only natural that fans of both Nas and Hill could be skeptical of this tour and all that it can offer.

But hey, it should really just be about the music. So hopefully we as fans can look past all of the drama that two of our music heroes have faced to get to the music we know they can still give to us. Here’s hoping that’s the case.