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

[beenz]

I went to be super early tonight and I'm up mad early

 

[up in here]

Running it back. Y'all tripping.

This shyt is

 

[beenz]

After this Amazon show I cannot WAIT for Nas to go on tour in 2026.

The Light Years tracks go HARD live

what in the entire fukk???? this isn't live for me and I CANNOT FF thru the

 

[((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL]

I feel like this is aimed at me.

I mean look, you don't have to be a producer or a certain level of producer to know if you like something or not, we all got ears, and we all have brains that make words, and this is far from the first album that might be considered divisive, weirdly mixed, etc. If some people ain't fukking with it, then it is what it is, all this gatekeeping shyt is unnecessary. And I've been more complimentary of this album than most, I just see the flaws holding it back and can point them out immediately going off of Premo's and others' previous output

According to Nas stans every album he drops is a 10/10. It's ok to admit something is 6 or a 7. Calling every Nas album a masterpiece only makes you guys look foolish. At best this is a 3.5 mic album to me. Maybe 3. There's like 3-4 very good beats on here. With the rest ranging from terrible to average. Nas is still very sharp with the flow but he's also repeating a lot of the same shyt he's said on his past 5 albums. So that also takes some points off. Once you start calling yourself the crypto currency Scarface it's probably time to fallback for a while and challenge yourself to write something with a little more substance. Nas has also been writing for so long it's probably not easy to come up with new ideas. So I get it. But a spade is still a spade.

Nas is similar to guys like common and ghostface now. All these guys are in my personal top 5 but they're also not elite with the pen anymore and I can admit that. Just like rza is my GOAT producer and I can admit he's absolutely garbage now. All these guys found their comfort zone and they're sticking to it. Every song is just a complete rehash of something they already made or something they already said. But they're all in their 50's now. They don't need to be elite anymore. Them still being very good and making decent albums is the best you could hope for at this stage of their careers. But I'm also not going to grade them on a curve because of who they are. Cause that would only degrade the artform. There's a standard of hip hop greatness and that bar shouldn't ever be lowered. Not even for the legends.

 

[ADP]

According to Nas stans every album he drops is a 10/10. It's ok to admit something is 6 or a 7. Calling every Nas album a masterpiece only makes you guys look foolish. At best this is a 3.5 mic album to me. Maybe 3. There's like 3-4 very good beats on here. With the rest ranging from terrible to average. Nas is still very sharp with the flow but he's also repeating a lot of the same shyt he's said on his past 5 albums. So that also takes some points off. Once you start calling yourself the crypto currency Scarface it's probably time to fallback for a while and challenge yourself to write something with a little more substance. Nas has also been writing for so long it's probably not easy to come up with new ideas. So I get it. But a spade is still a spade.

Nas is similar to guys like common and ghostface now. All these guys are in my personal top 5 but they're also not elite with the pen anymore and I can admit that. Just like rza is my GOAT producer and I can admit he's absolutely garbage now. All these guys found their comfort zone and they're sticking to it. Every song is just a complete rehash of something they already made or something they already said. But they're all in their 50's now. They don't need to be elite anymore. Them still being very good and making decent albums is the best you could hope for at this stage of their careers. But I'm also not going to grade them on a curve because of who they are. Cause that would only degrade the artform. There's a standard of hip hop greatness and that bar shouldn't ever be lowered. Not even for the legends.

Who would in your opinion be elite with the pen right now ?

Give me 3 mcs that are better than NaS that put out an album this year or last...

 

[L $ C]

I like NYSOM3. shyt jammin. This album got joints banging

 

[L $ C]

Writers is incredible

 

[L $ C]

Yeah albums growing on me. This might be great not good

 

[L $ C]

This album is basically a love letter to hip hop

 

[((ReFleXioN)) EteRNaL]

Who would in your opinion be elite with the pen right now ?

Give me 3 mcs that are better than NaS that put out an album this year or last...

Kendrick. easily. I mean when's the last time you heard Nas spit anything close to recincarnated?.....Kendrick still thinks outside of the box and challenges himself. And it's also not even just about "bars". The fact that Kendrick can write in so many different styles to any style of song is what puts him in a league of his own with the pen right now. Kendrick is better than Nas in every category.

I would say pusha and malice as well. Their writing is much more creative at this point. The way they put words together and paint images. It's just much more interesting to listen to than Nas. Nas used to be the best at painting an image and doing it in a unique way that kept you locked in. Now his style of writing is very predictable and repetitive. He can occasionally snap and remind you of his old self but for the most part he's kind of just going through the motions. Still better than 90% of the game. And still probably great. But he's not elite. It's not just about "lyrics". It's about song writing. And nas's songwriting isn't half what it used to be. It's basically the same verse on every song now but just slightly different wording.

 

[KingsOfKings]

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

Who would in your opinion be elite with the pen right now ?

Give me 3 mcs that are better than NaS that put out an album this year or last...

Kendrick Lamar is one

Double-park it all at Tam's, Mr. Get-Off-On-Your-Mans
If he hatin', disrespect, you better follow up with hands
Losses to the neck, but now I'm trophied up, I'm sayin', like
Bing-bop-boom-boom-boom-bop-bam
The type of shyt I'm on, you wouldn't understand
The type of skits I'm on, you wouldn't understand
Big-dog business, I would not hold your hand

Nas wishes he could write something that good.

 

[Tommy Gibbs]

Kendrick. easily. I mean when's the last time you heard Nas spit anything close to recincarnated?.....Kendrick still thinks outside of the box and challenges himself. And it's also not even just about "bars". The fact that Kendrick can write in so many different styles to any style of song is what puts him in a league of his own with the pen right now. Kendrick is better than Nas in every category.

I would say pusha and malice as well. Their writing is much more creative at this point. The way they put words together and paint images. It's just much more interesting to listen to than Nas. Nas used to be the best at painting an image and doing it in a unique way that kept you locked in. Now his style of writing is very predictable and repetitive. He can occasionally snap and remind you of his old self but for the most part he's kind of just going through the motions. Still better than 90% of the game. And still probably great. But he's not elite. It's not just about "lyrics". It's about song writing. And nas's songwriting isn't half what it used to be. It's basically the same verse on every song now but just slightly different wording.

Double-park it all at Tam's, Mr. Get-Off-On-Your-Mans
If he hatin', disrespect, you better follow up with hands
Losses to the neck, but now I'm trophied up, I'm sayin', like
Bing-bop-boom-boom-boom-bop-bam
The type of shyt I'm on, you wouldn't understand
The type of skits I'm on, you wouldn't understand
Big-dog business, I would not hold your hand

seriously though, you really didn't listen to the album did you? Because "junkie" is thinking outside of the box. Do you understand the concept of that song and what it was about? Do you understand what "nasty esco nas" and "3rd childhood" was about? Or do you think he was just calling out words that rhyme?

 

[Illmagic]

Kendrick. easily. I mean when's the last time you heard Nas spit anything close to recincarnated?.....Kendrick still thinks outside of the box and challenges himself. And it's also not even just about "bars". The fact that Kendrick can write in so many different styles to any style of song is what puts him in a league of his own with the pen right now. Kendrick is better than Nas in every category.

I would say pusha and malice as well. Their writing is much more creative at this point. The way they put words together and paint images. It's just much more interesting to listen to than Nas. Nas used to be the best at painting an image and doing it in a unique way that kept you locked in. Now his style of writing is very predictable and repetitive. He can occasionally snap and remind you of his old self but for the most part he's kind of just going through the motions. Still better than 90% of the game. And still probably great. But he's not elite. It's not just about "lyrics". It's about song writing. And nas's songwriting isn't half what it used to be. It's basically the same verse on every song now but just slightly different wording.

What timeframe are you going by? GNX and this album or further back? Cause KD3 and Magic 1 are better than GNX and Mr Morale by a very wide margin. Magic 3 wasn’t great but it is better as well. Hell Nas is rapping his ass off on this album. It’s the production that let him down

 

[Ellen Degeneres]

Kendrick. easily. I mean when's the last time you heard Nas spit anything close to recincarnated?.....Kendrick still thinks outside of the box and challenges himself. And it's also not even just about "bars". The fact that Kendrick can write in so many different styles to any style of song is what puts him in a league of his own with the pen right now. Kendrick is better than Nas in every category.

I would say pusha and malice as well. Their writing is much more creative at this point. The way they put words together and paint images. It's just much more interesting to listen to than Nas. Nas used to be the best at painting an image and doing it in a unique way that kept you locked in. Now his style of writing is very predictable and repetitive. He can occasionally snap and remind you of his old self but for the most part he's kind of just going through the motions. Still better than 90% of the game. And still probably great. But he's not elite. It's not just about "lyrics". It's about song writing. And nas's songwriting isn't half what it used to be. It's basically the same verse on every song now but just slightly different wording.

Kendrick aint even have his first quotable yet. When did he ever say some shyt like "I saw a dead bird flying through a broken sky"? He's a pretty dope rapper, but at the end of the day he needs to pull every trick in the book to hide the fact that he's lyrically closer to Kanye than he is to Nas. Those concept tracks on GNX were corny.