Albums Nas & DJ Premier - Light-Years (Discussion Thread)

[((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL]

This right here.

People online are weird though. They act like Premier is forcing Nas to rap over sh*t. Every beat on this project was made with Nas right there and directing. This is what he wanted to rap over, to go with the concepts and ideas.

Preem's job is to give Nas production that works with his ideas. But these posers self-appoint themselves as critics, but with no knowledge. It's corny AF.

Idk. Premo is pretty notorious for being stingy with the beats. Rappers have said when they ask him for beats he'll send them 1 or 2 and that's it. He doesn't really allow artists to rummage through his entire catalog like that. He chooses what he likes for them and gives them a very limited selection. But to be honest I don't think his entire stash would sound much better than what we heard here. Dude is just too stuck in the past. I think this is why it's important to always keep young ears around you. Premo getting his sounds from 50 year old cac musicians. They got zero funk to em.

 

[ShaDynasty]

Premier is a different producer than the 90s Premier for how his beats sound these days, but I like most of this. Its different but still dope. NYSOM is a highlight, not sure why people don't like that. But if you don't like the modern version of Premier the production is probably not for you.

I did a bunch of Nas & Wu remixes recently, and while picking songs to mix, I notice the newer Nas songs hold up really well no matter what beat he raps on, hes one of the best ever. A lot of older rappers struggle to make new songs that connect.



Nas is obviously still energized to put full effort into Hip Hop, so I hope he keeps going with different producers for full albums. I feel like KD3 and Magic are better than Light Years but this albums going to age well in Nas discography when alls said and done.

 

[bigde09]

You honestly think NAS of all people, one of the pickiest MCs ever, just took WHATEVER Premier threw him? They said they came up with the stuff together.

isn’t this what the Coli said when Nasir dropped tho? That he just took whatever Kanye had for him? Or is that different?

 

[HNIC973]

My nikka



It's not fair lmao

You have to be the GOAT producer to make nikkaz like Big Shug listenable

 

[Supa]

Truth.

When they previewed the album for us, the word was "We're doing this for Hip Hop and taking it back to the essence". People keep mentioning "Nas Is Like", but that sound isn't what they wanted for this project. At all.

They said this is for the "Sidekick with Dapper Dan interior days". Thing is, a lot of the casuals don’t even know what means or they missed that era, so they're not going to understand what Nas is saying. But songs like 'Pause Tapes", "Madman" and others are literally made with that in mind. This one is for the REAL heads. Bro curated this for a very particular listener.

That's kind of a bizarre strategy if that's what they wanted.

You say "Nas and Premier" that's going to come with a certain expectation sonically. To go away from that is going to result in what we see now which is a split response.

There's no need to overthink things and go for a specific niche. Just pick a dope beat and rap over it. It's really that simple unless you're making a concept album which this isn't.

I don't get where the disconnect comes from with artists and the listener. There's no way anyone should've heard NYSOM3 and not said it needs to be redone or that sample doesn't fit the standard they set for the previous 2. Get a piano loop and some horns and try again. How do you use the same scratches from 2nd Childhood on 3rd Childhood? I'm going to chalk that up to father time because nothing else makes sense.

I don't even dislike the album. I'd cut 4 songs and do some things to tighten up the rest. There should've been more ears in the creation of this. Same way with Illmatic the producers had to go back and redo things when they heard someone else's beats. A Q Tip or Large Pro being around could've helped just in saying no when things weren't working.

Bottom line is strike while the iron is hot and don't wait 20 years to make good on a project. I can't think of any great artists who were better in their 50's than 20's.

 

[Mac Ten]

I’ve been playing the Nas and AZ cut all day




Him and AZ never had a bad track together .



Those two never disappoint

 

[TripleAgent]

I can't stand scary negros like this.

Either say it with your full chest or stfup

He will. I'm positive there will be a whole show on it.

 

[Knucklehead]

I'm about to trap you in a corner

What's better, this or Nastradamus

Which do you think is better?

 

[Awesome Wells]

Always said my least favorite part of online hip hop discussion is the rush to judge albums for what they not instead of what they are. Everyone had their fan fiction version of what this was supposed to sound like and it was never gonna be that. Nas entire career since Illmatic he mostly refused to go the expected route. It's why so many of his projects end up polarizing.

But what work for Nas ain't what work for most rappers. The thought of most modern rappers in this lane trying to rap over Shine Together and sound cool is comedy. But Nas was floating on it, song work even if the instrumental ain't a prototypical banger. I don't love every track or think it's an instant classic, but it's a dope project and mostly accomplished what it was aiming for. Lyrically, conceptually, content wise it's on point and most the beats fit the aim of the songs. Whether everyone gonna like it or accept it for what it is, that's another conversation.

Truth.

People have made up versions of albums they wish for, and then say they're "disappointed" when they don’t get what they personally want, lol. Nas and Preem said what they wanted this project to be, and they accomplished that. I'm loving the album because I can see what they said they were aiming to do and appreciate the execution too. This sh*t is dope AF.

Whole album BANGS! And you're right, you can hear how much thought went into the beats matching the concepts. People don’t pull that off a lot, these days. They really knocked this out perfectly, to me.

 

[TripleAgent]

isn’t this what the Coli said when Nasir dropped tho? That he just took whatever Kanye had for him? Or is that different?

Hell if I know, IDFW Kanye West on any level.

 

[HNIC973]

Hit Boy should have been the executive producer and oversaw this album. I didn’t say produce, but executive produce.

Primo failed the hip hop world with this effort

He can go to hell

cmon man unnecessary we done lost to many legends for that rhetoric

 

[H. Selassie]

I'm about to trap you in a corner

What's better, this or Nastradamus

Cmon bruh…why you gotta do me like that? I’ll have to give it one more spin and maybe revisit Nastradamus a touch to make a full assessment but I CAN say with certainty that this song is 1000% better than anything on Light-Years:

 

[ArchStanton]

I didn't say they weren't and I knew oaktown was mentioned on the song

I just think it was dope that 5 Philly female MCs got a s/o

That was meant for the person you replied to on your post. For some reason I thought all the posts would come through.

 

[Izanami]

Premo didn’t live up to expectations on this. This was supposed to be arguably one of the best produced album of the year and it’s sadly not. I’m left wanting better from Prem. Particularly the first half of the album a lot of the beats just don’t match the prowess of Nas rap performance. Great album all around but I could see the production taking away from the replay value.

 

[TEKBEATZ]

I Remixed Bouquet

should I post?