All-time rap greats Nas and DJ Premier have been working together for more than three decades. Premier produced three of the 10 tracks on Nas’ almighty 1994 debut Illmatic, and the two have made a lot of head-knockers together since then. (Biggie Smalls also allegedly dissed Nas over a Premier beat on his 1997 song “Kick In The Door.”) For an extremely long time, Nas and Premier have been teasing a full-length collaboration. In 2006. the two of them even appeared together on the cover of the long-defunct magazine Scratch. But the album never materialized.
On the 30th anniversary of Illmatic last year, Nas once again promised a full-length collaboration and shared the single “Define My Name.” A year after that, Nas’ Mass Appeal label announced Legend Has It…, a series of new albums from rap legends, many of which are posthumous. Today, that series reaches its conclusion as Light-Years, the long-promised Nas/Preemo record, finally makes its way into the world.
And it’s good! Or it’s pretty good, anyway. It’s always great to hear Nas’ nimble, gravelly voice over Premier’s crisp, precise instrumentals. The collaboration would’ve definitely been better if it happened in 1996, but that’s true of just about everything. Today, we have to repeatedly hear Nas call himself “cryptocurrency Scarface,” which wasn’t cool when he first said it four years ago. Also, “NY State Of Mind Pt. 3” samples Billy Joel’s “New York State Of Mind,” as well as their original collab “NY State Of Mind,” and it’s a little too cute. But if you can get past some of the sillier choices, it’s lovely to hear these two veterans back together. Also, the only guest on the album is AZ, who was the only guest on Illmatic. I love that. Stream Light-Years below.
Light-Years is out now on Mass Appeal. DJ Premier teamed up with Roc Marciano for the collaborative album Armani Section earlier this year.
