Limp Bizkit released the single “N 2 Gether Now” on November 9, 1999. Featuring Method Man and produced by DJ Premier, it was the third single from the band’s second studio album, Significant Other. The song had already appeared on the album that June, giving the group a dedicated hip-hop collaboration within its broader mix of rap and heavy rock.
Fred Durst was already a Method Man fan when the opportunity to record together came up. In a 2013 interview with XXL, he remembered the rapper coming to the studio in Los Angeles, where DJ Lethal had a beat ready. Durst and Method Man began recording together. According to Durst, the approach to Premier came afterward: they sent him the track and asked him to work on its production.
Getting Premier involved took some persuasion. In a 2008 interview with Abcdr du Son, the producer recalled concerns about Durst’s rapping and what the collaboration might mean for his own reputation. His manager encouraged him to meet Durst, with Method Man’s involvement providing another reason to consider it. When Durst visited D&D Studios, he acknowledged his limitations and talked about studying Premier’s music. His knowledge extended to the producer’s underground Tape Kingz mixtapes. That familiarity surprised Premier and helped persuade him to take the job.
The work preserved a contribution that could easily get lost behind the guest credits. Premier explained that Lethal’s original instrumental already contained the sample. He reshaped that material, introduced his own drums and added scratches. He also worked on Durst’s vocal takes, trying to get the strongest performance from him. The finished recording grew through those revisions, with Lethal’s starting point remaining part of the track.
Durst had also thought about how Premier would use his voice beyond the verses. Revisiting the session in a 2021 episode of his So Wassup? series, covered by Theprp.com, Premier described receiving a dubplate containing Durst’s shouted phrases. It gave him material to sample and scratch into the record. The episode included playback of the early demo, allowing listeners to hear the version that preceded his changes.
The partnership with Method Man carried into Durst’s idea for the music video. In that 2013 interview, Durst described drawing on the ambushes between Inspector Clouseau and his butler in the Pink Panther films, alongside the old Batman television series. He pictured himself and Method Man repeatedly going after each other as part of a familiar routine. Their recorded exchanges had given him a comic relationship to build around on screen.
“N 2 Gether Now” subsequently appeared on the How High soundtrack in 2001, taking the collaboration into another release after the Significant Other campaign.
