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

[FunkDoc1112]

I said more than once I respect anyone opinion that actually listened in good faith. And that it's gonna have limited appeal. And within the target audience opinions gonna vary too.

Same time I seen dudes on here say things like Nas need to lock in with Nicholas Craven or Raekwon should be working with Daringer a million times. These suggestions more about an aesthetic than production that actually fits their style. And not saying that's what every modern album or track in this lane sound like. But here's two examples from this year. The last WSG album got a lot of love on here. But I can't listen to him rap for a full project and I don't need to hear Nas or Raekwon on that type production. That Alchemist-Larry June-2 Chainz album got crazy love on here but was just alright to me and I got no motivation to go back to it. I ain't saying anyone wrong for liking those and not this. What I'm saying is a lot of that audience can overlook a lot on the rap performance side long as they get a certain type of instrumental. But won't overlook what they consider boring or minimalist production regardless the strength of the rap performance.

nikka its music, I'd argue the production is most essential to staying power. Not saying that lyrics dont matter, but...nobodys gonna care how good the cut of meat is if it aint seasoned and cooked right I can think of only a handful of rap albums with iffy production that people regard as classic.

 

[L $ C]

Listened to magic after this album. Not sure if there’s one beat on this album as good as anything on magic lol outside of writers. It’s just difficult the massive step down. Hell if u wna talk prem. There isn’t even anything as good as Wave Gods on here outside of writers

 

[Big Dick]

@Ziggiy is the only poster who I think likes Nas more than me, my standom runs deep and goes back to the SoHH days and the Jigga wars. Matter fact I still don't fukk with Hov my beef is everlasting, he's top 25 to me maybe.

I also love Billy Joel, his music reminds me of my pops.

And Preem is my #4 favorite producer.

And I love this album, like LOVE it.

And I think the beat that Nas raps over is super dope.

With all that said, whenever this song hits the chorus it just completely kills the momentum for me - like...I think it's dope how it transitions back to the beat. But going from Nas spitting into the chorus is just a giant vinyl scratch moment for me and it bugs me each, and every, motherfukking time lol.

Exactly how I feel about that song

 

[Big Dick]

This is and a lot of other things I've read in this thread are cope.

When you talk about the underground it's people like Conway, Benny, Rome, Ransom, Mach, etc. Most of them are lyrical and far from being vibe rappers. Most of their songs have drums.

Freddie's subject matter can be repetitive and maybe he's more flow focused but he can rap.

Larry is mainly a vibe artist but I don't think there's a big cross over between his fan base and Nas' to where that's a reason people wouldn't feel Light Years.

Y'all gotta stop fishing for reasons for why people aren't enjoying what you like and creating strawman arguments. I said the album was 4 mics so I'm not someone who disliked it but I 100% can understand why someone wouldn't. If they don't like the beats so be it. It's clearly not Premier's best work but y'all gotta turn it into someone else. Most of the rappers I named all got better, more Premier sounding beats then what Nas chose.

He was replying to me not creating a straw man argument. And I was just saying it’s funny how people will act like Alfredo 2 is a classic but then have a ton of issues with this project. You could say that the beats on Alfredo 2 were better but but both projects were just as cohesive imo and Nas was way more impressive lyrically.

That’s not me tryna cope with people not liking this because honestly I thought most people did like this but just me reflecting on the different standards for certain artists. Freddy spits above average run of the mill gangster rap and it gets bandied about as a potential album of the year. Nas kills it over a full length cohesive project produced by a legend and people have a million nitpicks why it ain’t hitting hard as it should be.

 

[perfectblack999]

@Ziggiy is the only poster who I think likes Nas more than me, my standom runs deep and goes back to the SoHH days and the Jigga wars. Matter fact I still don't fukk with Hov my beef is everlasting, he's top 25 to me maybe.

I also love Billy Joel, his music reminds me of my pops.

And Preem is my #4 favorite producer.

And I love this album, like LOVE it.

And I think the beat that Nas raps over is super dope.

With all that said, whenever this song hits the chorus it just completely kills the momentum for me - like...I think it's dope how it transitions back to the beat. But going from Nas spitting into the chorus is just a giant vinyl scratch moment for me and it bugs me each, and every, motherfukking time lol.

Right, it would have been decent if the hook was executed differently. As is, it sounds crazy.

My younger brother who also has Nas as his favorite said “oh no” when he first heard it

It felt like we were being trolled

 

[Nostalgic]

Yep. My signed joint came in yesterday and i thought about posting it lol

I want to open it so bad but I’m gonna keep it in the plastic for now

Yeah, I got the day ones edition imma keep it in the plastic.

 

[Ziggiy]

He was replying to me not creating a straw man argument. And I was just saying it’s funny how people will act like Alfredo 2 is a classic but then have a ton of issues with this project. You could say that the beats on Alfredo 2 were better but but both projects were just as cohesive imo and Nas was way more impressive lyrically.

That’s not me tryna cope with people not liking this because honestly I thought most people did like this but just me reflecting on the different standards for certain artists. Freddy spits above average run of the mill gangster rap and it gets bandied about as a potential album of the year. Nas kills it over a full length cohesive project produced by a legend and people have a million nitpicks why it ain’t hitting hard as it should be.

Nas made Illmatic.

Freddie Gibbs will never make anything CLOSE to that. Hell he’ll never make anything close to I Am. Thats Nas’s gift and his curse. He came out the gate with an all time classic guest verse. Then he came out with an all time classic debut album, what most people consider THE album that represents the best of what Hip Hop stands for. He gets judged by that every single time, to the point where if the music isn’t evocative of Illmatic it doesn’t get judged on its own terms. Its why so many of his albums become appreciated in hindsight. It Was Written is the perfect example, got shytted on by backpackers and certain critics for not being a dusty boom bap album with Nas rapping about pissing in project hallways. Rolling Stone gave it two stars and Elliot Wilson trashed it. Twenty years later Rolling Stone re-rated it four stars (the same score they gave Illmatic) and included it on their list of 500 Greatest Rap Albums, and Elliot Wilson admitted to Nas face that he was wrong about it. Nowadays its universally accepted that IWW is a classic, and Nas didn’t have to force it on the world the way Jay-Z did with Reasonable Doubt.

In time, the Hit-Boy era and albums like Light-Years will be appreciated for the quality of what they are. Independent of all the initial expectations, hoopla, and bullshyt. Quality can be overlooked and under-appreciated, but it CAN’T be denied.

And thats why Nas is the GOAT. Because he’s undeniable.

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

the funniest shyt I've seen this week is the same youtubers talking about how bad the album is got their copies in the mail and are now making videos about the vinyl and being misunderstood. It's even funnier reading their followers' comments about , "I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. It's a classic". The album hasn't even been out 2 weeks and now it's gone from the worst album they've ever heard to a classic literally overnight. Youtube is a wonderful thing .People will do and say anything for some clicks.

 

[Mortal1]

Album grew on me after a couple of listens. I wasn’t feeling The production on the first five songs. Nas is really sharp on this tape.

 

[Jay J]

To me it is even worse than Nastradamus.

just like matrix 4 they shouldnt have done "ny state of mind pt 3".

production wise album is a dissapointment.

 

[skillz2]

Seems this one will polarise the masses for years to come. To me it's just a good album nothing more nothing less.

 

[criminology]

the funniest shyt I've seen this week is the same youtubers talking about how bad the album is got their copies in the mail and are now making videos about the vinyl and being misunderstood. It's even funnier reading their followers' comments about , "I didn't like it at first, but it grew on me. It's a classic". The album hasn't even been out 2 weeks and now it's gone from the worst album they've ever heard to a classic literally overnight. Youtube is a wonderful thing .People will do and say anything for some clicks.

The internet is allergic to nuance. Everything is either perfect or trash. And people have started to mirror the internet instead of the internet mirroring people.

This album is like almost every other Nas album and most albums. It’s got some great songs, some good songs and some misses. And that’s fine but people just can’t say that anymore.

People are so imbalanced and desperate for validation. It seems like they don’t know how to just enjoy what they like and keep it moving. I have fond memories of albums that had like 3 good songs lol.

 

[Prolific_1011]

God forbid a Nas/Hip Hop fan loves this album, because then you'll have some dudes looking at you funny.

Meanwhile, industry heads like Rob Markman say Chance the Rapper and Wale dropped top 5 albums of the year. What a joke. Like @Mike Wins said, it seems Hip Hop is at a place where it elite rhymes over good beats is not valued as much as trash rappers over elite production.

See most projects with Alchemist and mediocre rappers. WSG is another example of this. Dudes actually sit and tolerate this dude solely because the beats are dope.

Jigga stans consider 4:44 a stone-cold classic. Lol

Light-Years is 6 mics, if that's the case.

 

[Alexander Wiggin]

 

[TEKBEATZ]

Check this Nas Remix by me