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

[TripleAgent]

I wouldn't use that word. I don't want to say strong armed either but it can't be a coincidence that this project has been steered to multiple people or avenues that benefit the manager. Then you listen to the beats and can clearly hear samples being replayed or original shyt from a band; the bassist is obvious but there's also a guitarist, and I think some of the drums are live too. Why is the Steve Miller band listed as a feature? Was that negotiated to get lower publishing? How many samples are truly on this album?

My point is that it's clear Mass Appeal had no issue spending money on the Legend Has It album samples. So why is there so much live playing on this one album? I think Premo and Ian wanted to maximize their pay and didn't want a bunch of samples killing the publishing on their end.

Go look at Eddie Sancho's IG story right now btw.

Looking at the IG, no idea what you're talking about

 

[Illmagic]

Maybe the 2nd listen will click but on first listen this is pretty mid. . Nas is still sharp but not sharp enough to overcome mediocre production. I had a feeling this would happen. Love Premo but after hearing Nas over Hit Boy this is a massive step down.
Not a beat on here messing with this.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

NYSOM3 has no real melody progression Brodie. That beat does. It’s just a better beat. Could’ve used that instead imo.

I don’t disagree. I just think they are thematically similar.

I agree that it wouldn’t be the best beat on this album tho.

Yeah there’s some really good beats.

I think the weakest are the first 4 and “welcolm to the underground” is so egregiously bad the “bad beats” allegation is hard to shake.

 

[spliz]

which ones

I think Sons is the better beat, MadMan and Junkie as well.

 

[Ziggiy]

 

[Woodrow]

Apparently some of you are under the impression Nas was/is trying to impress you.
Mr Jones is clearly doing HIM. Doing the Art how he finds compelling. It's on YOU to jump on board or Jump off. Either way he’s good with your decision. Hence, He's not out here trying to overly sell you to support him. It's called a Comfort Zone.


So please, stop with the "he needs to work with such n such producer" posts. You're using Fan Logic and clearly not reading the Tea Leaves.

Nas n Premier made the album THEY wanted to make

You can always play the old shyt

bro... how you tell him his opinion is misinformed (HIS opinion, mind you). tell him what he needs to stop speaking on.... while defiantly speaking on what nas' is saying like he's texting you his responses?



if you gonna name your album light years, then you gotta take what comes with it. good and bad. and if nas dont care, then why does breh's opinion matter to you?

 

[spliz]

Maybe the 2nd listen will click but on first listen this is pretty mid. . Nas is still sharp but not sharp enough to overcome mediocre production. I had a feeling this would happen. Love Premo but after hearing Nas over Hit Boy this is a massive step down.
Not a beat on here messing with this.

This shyt literally gave me chills when I heard it. Don’t got nothin like this either.

 

[Canon]

This shyt sounds like every other beat on here. Nobody is ever happy

Right like it’s typical premo stuff lol

 

[spliz]

This album is mixed too low.

 

[dizzy4111]

Ya'll gotta stop replying to that clown man. Supposedly he's digested the album, doesn't like it, but is still in here running the post count up so he can rely on "but they're replying to me" as justification

Takes a very unhappy person to have a post history like him. Best just to realize that and keep it moving.

 

[The Truest]

naS stans furious across my timeline. Said naS and Premier dropped straight trash

 

[Piff Perkins]

I ain’t gonna lie. That’s fukked up if Premo did that.

I could be wrong, I'm not saying I'm 100% sure. I just think it's interesting.

Also...why is Marco Polo all over the album. I'm gonna assume Premo doesn't need help with scratching right. So...is this album full of Polo's drum kits? Which would be another way to avoid samples, alongside the obvious live drums on certain tracks (Welcome To The Underground). I don't know if Ian manages Polo

BTW speaking of the live shyt. Ian has promoted Bass & Bars (Brady Watt) multiple times on his IG. He's the white guy who does bass covers of rap songs, often gets rappers to do live performances with him. Is Ian his manager? Is he the bassist on this album? Not to discriminate...obviously there are funky white bassists out there (Pino Palladino for instance) but having some corny white guy playing grooveless basslines on an anticipated rap album instead of just getting an actual musician sounds like something a manager would do. To get his people paid on every end of the process.

 

[JayBaldacci]

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.

Nastradamus has the "Nas"talgia factor... Ironically this album is being treated how IWW was after Illmatic by strict fans. This album is better than Nasir/Nastradamus easily.

 

[Piff Perkins]

Looking at the IG, no idea what you're talking about

The IG story about choosing your circle carefully.

 

[Illmagic]

This shyt literally gave me chills when I heard it. Don’t got nothin like this either.

The Truth was nuts. Magic 1 is flawless start to finish