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

[spliz]

Honestly I've never seen this dude say anything negative about a Nas project so this is surprising. He always comes off as a hype man in the vids I've seen. He's 100% right about people trying to blame Nas for this, or claiming Nas was telling Premo to make "minimal" beats lol. Again, show me the classic boom bap records that had a live band playing samples or basslines. Where's the early 90s KRS album with Welcome To The Underground. Where's the 80s Rakim album with that lol. Dudes acting like Premo didn't have bangers until Nas Is Like. Stop it.

Did Premo get told to limit the samples? Maybe, but the Mass Appeal records have been full of samples. And obviously there are samples on Light Years. But there's also multiple tracks with a band that sound just as slow and un-funky as those records with Royce and Adrian Younge. That bass on 3rd Childhood...

Nah it’s not even about his love for Nas. It’s been clear for years Nas his is fav rapper. I remember son before his platform got as big as it is and all his content was essentially about Nas. And about how unfair the industry has been to Nas. It’s just that he comes off kinda know it all sometimes and he’s been kinda shytting on Premo for over a year now. I KNEW he wasn’t gonna like this album. He been dissecting everything Premo been part of this year. I HIGHLY disagreed with his take on the Roc Marci project. And yes. I actually agree with what he was saying about Nas having to choose from a batch of mediocre shyt and how this project is not his fault. I 100% agree with that.

 

[spliz]

Nas picked some wack beats. He's resorted to name dropping and telling "remember that?" stories. Wikipedia raps

Shut up.

 

[re'up]

When @Supa says that Nas' writing isn't as detailed or esoteric as it used to be or when @FunkDoc1112 talks about the flaws in engineering, I can understand those criticisms. Doesn't mean I agree, but at least they're able to articulate why they don't like certain things about the album.

But when people on Twitter say that Premier is Hakeem on the Raptors, or people here say that Nasir/Nastradamus/whatever are better albums and Premier should go to hell, or the production is as bad as Tha Carter VI, that's where I either zone out or draw the line. Even if the consensus is negative, some people can't even express what they dislike without hyperbole. There is nothing, literally nothing, on this album that comes close to the monstrosity that's "Peanuts 2 N Elephant." That's Rugrats background music, come on now. @Zero knows what I'm talking about.

I'm not denying people dislike the album because clearly, they do. Seems to be the general opinion. But the question will always be: Do you dislike an album because it's genuinely bad, or do you dislike it because it's not what you personally wanted it to be? I know the answer is somewhere in the middle, especially since we're talking about one of the most anticipated rap albums in history.

I do think he does something where the verses don't quite fit the subject the way they used too. They are less focused. More loose. What were the verses on Third Childhood about? Nothing stood out on first listen. Random bars about life in NYC. Some good bars for sure, but it doesn't fit the song title. The old me, the Nas fan from 15 years ago or so, would expect an intricate breakdown of caricatures from modern society. I don't really expect that anymore, but there's still some disappointment when he kinda phones it in. Even the song titles seem strange to me, the last few releases. They are stripped of something.

And not like the 2004 days either. Back then, I would see a song title like War, and think it would be some fire, aggressive track, and then Nas starts rapping about his winter coat. But, I love that song now. He's older, he's lost some steps.

 

[L. Deezy]

I knew this nikka was gonna be tight. Imma keep it a stack tho I don’t like a lot of his opinions on shyt. He come off as a know it all sometimes. Also. He was never gonna like it. He been low key shytting on Premo for like a year straight. lol.

He a bytch... and I'm sure he is a Coli member.

 

[spliz]

fukk this nikka he said NYSOM 2 sounded off. nikka need to let the crack go.

 

[L. Deezy]

I hope we get videos for Writers, Bouquet, and Sons.

Wouldn’t mind one for Git Ready either

Bouquet would be epic...

 

[re'up]

I even ran back Locomotive this morning. Back in 2012 it wasn't that fire to me. And I loved Life Is Good. Listening now, this is kinda what I would have thought more of this would sound like.

 

[GollyImGully]

man lets get that Nas X AZ album next

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Exactly, to me this better than the Com/Pete album, De La was better too. Com/Pete is the let down album IMO, best tracks were the singles. Opinions I guess.

facts!

 

[Piff Perkins]

I do think he does something where the verses don't quite fit the subject the way they used too. They are less focused. More loose. What were the verses on Third Childhood about? Nothing stood out on first listen. Random bars about life in NYC. Some good bars for sure, but it doesn't fit the song title. The old me, the Nas fan from 15 years ago or so, would expect an intricate breakdown of caricatures from modern society. I don't really expect that anymore, but there's still some disappointment when he kinda phones it in. Even the song titles seem strange to me, the last few releases. They are stripped of something.

And not like the 2004 days either. Back then, I would see a song title like War, and think it would be some fire, aggressive track, and then Nas starts rapping about his winter coat. But, I love that song now. He's older, he's lost some steps.

"My man Dion (No ID) said Nas overthinks the songs he writing."

I think about that bar a lot and you can definitely hear it. On Writers there's a part where he shouts out the Made You Look crew and then says btw I named a song after them in 02. Ok? I think it may be the product of not writing, and heavily punching in while rapping. You can hear that all over this record due to the mix/engineering. Speaking of which I don't think Eddie Sancho is anywhere on this album. Parks did a track and there are some other engineers on there too. And guess who Parks' boss is: Premo's manager, Ian. Oh and who is getting the exclusive interview. Joe Budden.

Not to go off on a tangent (ironic lol) but it def feels like we just witnessed a manager heavily influence a project, keep costs down, and funnel as much business to his other clients as possible to get paid on the front and back end.

 

[Canon]

I better not catch one of you slipping in that 21 savage thread

 

[JoelB]

Exactly, to me this better than the Com/Pete album, De La was better too. Com/Pete is the let down album IMO, best tracks were the singles. Opinions I guess.

Pete carried Common like Nas carried Premo

 

[re'up]

"My man Dion (No ID) said Nas overthinks the songs he writing."

I think about that bar a lot and you can definitely hear it. On Writers there's a part where he shouts out the Made You Look crew and then says btw I named a song after them in 02. Ok? I think it may be the product of not writing, and heavily punching in while rapping. You can hear that all over this record due to the mix/engineering. Speaking of which I don't think Eddie Sancho is anywhere on this album. Parks did a track and there are some other engineers on there too. And guess who Parks' boss is: Premo's manager, Ian. Oh and who is getting the exclusive interview. Joe Budden.

Not to go off on a tangent (ironic lol) but it def feels like we just witnessed a manager heavily influence a project, keep costs down, and funnel as much business to his other clients as possible to get paid on the front and back end.

I appreciate the insider notes. I used to walk to school in 1998 listening to Nas, but I am pretty checked out of modern rap music. Been posting on here for like 25 years, and these exchanges make me remember the old times, where it was a lot of discussion, and less bullshyt. We were younger, but mostly it seemed like we were MORE mature back then. I'd have these detailed discussions about the intricacies of Beanie Sigel or Nas, and now it's just a lot of weirdo Stan shyt. Like Taylor Swiftification of the rap game.

But yeah, to me, all these newer Nas releases sound cheap. They sound flatter than Life is Good. I don't even mean that disrespectfully. They don't have the scale and elegance of the old stuff. The production seems mild, edgless. I ran NY State of Mind Part II last night, there's such a elegance to that track. His flow and bars are vivid and coherent, gritty street shyt, against a light piano backdrop. The talent has aged for sure, but it's like the are getting the B movie treatment. it feels less like the A level art.

His flow seems pretty mild too. Can you tell me an exact example of the punch in? The technical shyt was never my area. I still don't get the Mega criticism.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

I do think he does something where the verses don't quite fit the subject the way they used too. They are less focused. More loose. What were the verses on Third Childhood about? Nothing stood out on first listen. Random bars about life in NYC. Some good bars for sure, but it doesn't fit the song title. The old me, the Nas fan from 15 years ago or so, would expect an intricate breakdown of caricatures from modern society. I don't really expect that anymore, but there's still some disappointment when he kinda phones it in. Even the song titles seem strange to me, the last few releases. They are stripped of something.

And not like the 2004 days either. Back then, I would see a song title like War, and think it would be some fire, aggressive track, and then Nas starts rapping about his winter coat. But, I love that song now. He's older, he's lost some steps.

I would say Nas is still really good at staying on topic and hasn't lost the ability to be detailed. He's still capable of saying things I don't hear other rappers say. But I would say Life is Good is one of Nas' most important albums because it marks the end of an era. That album is a genuine classic to me, and if you listen to it, he's rapping. It's one of his best performances lyrically, and he's getting into those weird spaces like only he can ("A Queens Story," "Reach Out," "World's an Addiction," "Stay," "The Black Bond," "Roses"). But I'll admit his lyricism changed after that, mostly because of life circumstances.

Working with Hit-Boy is what led to him not overthinking the lyrics as much as he used to. I've said this ten million times, but when he was on The Breakfast Club, he said that Hit-Boy raised his confidence in the studio. That sounds like a bar, say that. The mic's right there, say that. Nas learned he didn't have to approach every song intricately, so if you listen to KD1 and KD2, there's a lot more direct lyricism than before. By the time you get to Magic, he's getting back into that weirder space, but it's paired with the lessons he learned from Hit-Boy.

Again, it's not like he can't do what he used to do anymore. His songwriting hasn't lost a step ("Writers," "Sons," "Junkie,") and he can turn back the clock when it's possible (his Big L verse). I just think where he's at in life has gradually changed his writing style. He probably won't call himself the hood interpreter of Ivan Van Sertima, or talk about women that used to love eating his shyt, but he's still cunning as the twelve sons of Jacob and can personify himself as the concept of beef. It's more of his approach along with age.

 

[Stick Up Kid]

That Nas and az track dudes hating on this song too? Lol

if Jay Z made this exact album, they would've held a parade for him