Rakim, Kurupt and Masta Killa share single 'Goin Down' from their album The Godbody

Rakim, Kurupt and Masta Killa are releasing a joint album called The Godbody, out September 18, and announced it alongside its lead single, "Goin Down," featuring Kokane. All three rappers appear on the track together, a boom-bap cut built on a vocal sample with Kokane supplying the hook.

The pairing has a real starting point. Rakim opened his 2024 comeback album, G.O.D.'s Network (Reb7rth), his first album in 15 years, with "Be Ill," a track that brought Kurupt and Masta Killa on for the first time. The chemistry stuck, and following last year's solo record The Rebirth, the three veterans built a full album around it instead of leaving it as a one-off feature. The rollout also lands 40 years after Eric B. and Rakim's debut single, "Eric B. Is President," first introduced Rakim to the world.

The lineup is the draw. Rakim is one of hip-hop's most influential MCs, Masta Killa came up inside the Wu-Tang Clan, and Kurupt built his name in West Coast rap with Tha Dogg Pound, so a record putting all three on the same songs pulls from eras and coasts that rarely share a tracklist. Not every song features all three: Rakim appears on five of the album's 16 tracks, while Kurupt and Masta Killa carry most of the rest together, joined by guests including Snoop Dogg, Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, KRS-One, Kool G Rap and Kurupt's Dogg Pound partner Daz Dillinger. Jay-Z and Eminem turn up on a spoken interlude rather than a verse.

Eminem's appearance lands in an odd year for Kurupt off the mic, too. He recently revealed in a story about his time in rehab that Eminem had quietly paid for his treatment. Masta Killa, for his part, gets his own solo turn on "Nights Over Brooklyn," one of the few tracks here without either of his co-headliners.

The Godbody is available for pre-order now ahead of its September 18 release, and joins the rest of this week's new music on the release calendar.