Jay Z and Eminem are listed as featured guests on an untitled song from Rakim’s forthcoming collaborative album, a track marked on a leaked track list shared Sunday that would put the pair on the same recording for the first time in 25 years.
The listing — shown as the sixth track on the album — arrived via an Instagram post from Matthew “M80” Markoff, who called the project “AOTY 2026 - PUT SOME COT DAMN RESPEK ON MY NAME.” Markoff identified the entry as an interlude and said the appearance will be an official release, adding that “Em and Jay do not have verses on the interlude” and that the piece will find Hov and Em paying homage to Rakim’s legacy.
The scale of the release gives the listing weight. The Jay Z–Eminem pairing would mark the two stars’ first shared credit since 2001, when they collaborated on “Renegade.” The album itself pairs Rakim with Kurupt and Masta Killa and is targeted for release on Aug. 28, with guest spots also expected from Snoop Dogg, KRS-One, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Buckshot and Daz Dillinger. Markoff said the entire album and its components were recorded in the past two years and that the album carries a posthumous executive production credit for Oliver “Power” Grant of Wu-Tang Clan.
Those details frame why the listing is notable now: a cross-generational rollout of heavyweight names timed for late August could reshape summer release calendars and the way legacy acts curate multi-artist projects. Markoff’s caption and handwritten note beside the sixth track supplied the specific claim that has generated the buzz: that Jay Z and Eminem appear together on an interlude rather than trading full verses.
The claim carries an immediate contradiction. A representative for Eminem told a reporter, "There has not been any outreach made to Eminem’s team regarding the Rakim/Kurupt/Masta Killa project." That statement sits at odds with Markoff’s assertion that the appearance is official and that Eminem and Jay Z recorded an interlude paying respect to Rakim. A representative for Jay Z did not immediately return a request for comment.
That gap matters to readers asking the practical question: are Jay Z and Eminem actually on the same track? The public evidence today is the track list itself and Markoff’s descriptions; the only direct representative comment in the record denies contact with Eminem’s camp. The listing could reflect a planned or promised contribution, an archival sample or a credit submitted ahead of final clearance — Markoff’s post does not detail how the two names appear sonically on the interlude beyond saying there are no verses.
For listeners and industry watchers, the concrete timelines are straightforward. The album with Rakim, Kurupt and Masta Killa is targeted for Aug. 28. The specific placement on the album is the sixth track. Markoff said the sessions that produced the album parts were completed over the past two years, and the project includes appearances from multiple classic-era voices alongside a production credit tied to Wu-Tang’s Oliver “Power” Grant.
What to watch next: the release itself on Aug. 28 and the credits that accompany it. If Jay Z and Eminem are listed in the album credits or audible on the released interlude, the listing will move from claim to confirmation; if neither credit nor audio materialize, the public discrepancy between Markoff’s post and Eminem’s representative will likely prompt further explanation or correction. At this moment, the track list lays out an intention — and the only definitive resolution will arrive when the album and its liner credits are published on Aug. 28.
