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

[Ziggiy]

People would have been going crazy if this beat was on Light Years.

Beat is absolutely incredible.


But its obviously not the sound Nas wanted for this particular album.

 

[Why-Fi]

I like pause tapes, that's about it

these sound like jeru beats

 

[Alexander Wiggin]

https://x.com/SlimGoodie10STP/status/1999689155346072032

Them Titties

damn, I get why she's called 3D, her curves almost jumped out of my screen to my face

ill rap too, Nas is really the man

 

[thelonious21]

Grew on me. B+

 

[Piff Perkins]

Nas is a 52 year old veteran whose literally running his OWN record label. You think Premo and Ian masterminded some nefarious musical money saving scheme under his nose? Premo, whose literally been BEGGING to make this album for 20 years?

Ya’ll coming up with Oceans 11 script theories because ya’ll not feeling the album is insanity lmao. You’re entitled to not like it, hell you’re entitled to hate it, but you can’t give Nas a pass and hate on Premo. This is the album THEY wanted to make and Nas liked the beats and spit to them. Just like he picked the beats for the Hit-Boy albums. He’s literally the BOSS. None of this goes down without his say so.

It's a conspiracy, I admit it. And I didn't say I believe it 100%. But it's just too much weird shyt about this. You don't think it's odd that this just happened to get as many of Ian's people paid as possible? While apparently exiling Premo's long time engineer...a guy who has engineered MULTIPLE Nas records (and the new Mobb album)? Just to get fukking Parks and some other guys paid? Nah...

 

[Sonic Boom of the South]

shyt disgust me how grown ass men take it personally when someone don't like an album they like.

Dudes be legit throwing a tantrum like a bytch on her cycle.
Like yo ass worked on the album too.

 

[spliz]

shyt disgust me how grown ass mean take it personally when someone don't like an album they like.

Dudes be legit throwing a tantrum like a bytch on her cycle.
Like yo ass worked on the album too.

 

[staticshock]

Ass

 

[thelonious21]

The beat on Bouquet is

 

[Lonj]

I just think for better or for worse Light Years is the album Nas and Preme wanted. After hearing that Westside Gunn song and the De La joints, Preme while he's not prime Preme is still capable of putting out absolute bangers. In other words the washed narrative is overblown (not to mention he probably has a gang of older beats in the vault).

The great thing about Nas and Hitboy is there wasn't all this baggage, there was no expectations, so they were just in there making music. With Light Years I think Nas and Premier felt they had to do a thing and maybe it worked out maybe it didn't but the sound is deliberate imo. All the other speculation is unsubstantial.

 

[Regular_P]

Started this beat years back and circled back to it recently, The influence is pretty obvious though it has more of a somber tone
(HQ edit when I get a better acapella)


If NYSOM 3 has grown on you fantastic
If not ch-check out my melody



or fukk it play both

@Icewatermetallik @ReWiNd @Regular_P

This is better than the original beat.

 

[dizzy4111]

Saying this is the 3rd best album in the Mass Appeal series isn't even a knock lmao

Mobb and De La were both 5 mic records to me, 4.5 at WORST

 

[re'up]

I think about this line all the time. Posters are right when they say post LiG, Nas isn’t as detailed or vivid. It gels like he stopped “overthinking” concepts and just got to rhyming. A lot of songs don’t have a cohesive vision verse to verse like they used to.

Also, this may be reaching, but I felt like Nas used to read a lot of put those readings into his bars. I feel like I don’t hear that nearly as much anymore.

I’m sure poster are gonna dislike this take, but it’s just my thoughts and speculation. All of this said, he still currently raps better than 95% of rappers out there so it’s fine with me.

That's a good way to phrase what I was trying to hit on. The writing on Life Is Good is super sharp. His bars aren't bad, but they are looser, more random. You can't say that Third Childhood verses couldn't be from any other spot on the album.

 

[ajnapoleon]

Hope this becomes a wave


But…


To be real only a handful of those nas gave a shout out to


Can do this

 

[Slim Charles]

I just think for better or for worse Light Years is the album Nas and Preme wanted. After hearing that Westside Gunn song and the De La joints, Preme while he's not prime Preme is still capable of putting out absolute bangers. In other words the washed narrative is overblown (not to mention he probably has a gang of older beats in the vault).

The great thing about Nas and Hitboy is there wasn't all this baggage, there was no expectations, so they were just in there making music. With Light Years I think Nas and Premier felt they had to do a thing and maybe it worked out maybe it didn't but the sound is deliberate imo. All the other speculation is unsubstantial.

This album very much reminds me of Nas’ Street’s Disciple to Hip Hop is Dead era in the sense it’s more conceptual and more Nas doing what he wants to do artistically. Almost feels like a sequel to HHID in a way. Maybe not in terms of the sound but the subject matters, the concepts and the production not being what’s on trend.

And that 2005 to 2008 era is probably Nas’ most polarising in terms of people’s view of his music. So in some ways it’s not a surprise this is getting a similar reaction as it doesn’t cater to a wider audience like Stillmatic say did or the Hit Boy stuff did. This isn’t a criticism as I salute Nas for doing what he wants to do as an artist but it has parallels to the reactions of Untitled or Street’s Disciple