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

[L. Deezy]

You read that one too

I did.. now what?

anything else?

 

[L. Deezy]

Ayo should I run up on him and snuff him for the culture.

I'm in Ypsi for the holidays @Cladyclad come get these hands

lol.. I mean, at first I thought he was from a real city. run around here yapping... but Ann Arbor Michigan? lol sheesh

 

[DrHackenbush]

Albums not bad after a few spins, seems like the opinion here is 50/50 on it

Only thing iffy is Premier using those Marco Polo samples, not a fan of that. There's access to unlimited music these days, it's easy to find some obscure stuff and pitch it/chop it so there's no danger of the sample being caught

 

[Awesome Wells]

There was a time when it was an honor to have your lines scratched on a record, especially Preme. I remember Prodigy making a big deal that he was the most sampled voice in hiphop history. I miss scratching in general and wish this album had a little more.

I was just about to say!

Prodigy mentioned that the first time he heard his voice scratched was on Jay-Z "D'Evils" and he said it was dope that Premier did that. Premier will find the perfect line every time and make it sound like it was part of the new song, lol. It's crazy.

 

[kes929]

Nas and the second best rapper is light years away man. Nas averaged atleast 60 points a game on this album.

 

[Mike the Executioner]

Word. He spoke on that before when they asked him about Da Youngstas and the line for "Mass Appeal".

He always said that as a deejay he remembers so many lines that they just come to him when he's thinking about scratches. He said sometimes the lines doesn't work and sometimes they work perfectly, lol. He's the best at that too. Dude finds lines that nobody would even think to use.

I'm not a DJ or a producer, but after listening to so much hip hop, I do this in my head sometimes. Like the song "Skandalouz" by 2Pac. I thought about scratching the "I snatched your wife 'cause she a groupie, scandalous" line from Nas' "Loco-Motive." Just going back and scratching "sca-sca-sca-scandalous" over the hook. Or on "Peace of Mine" by Gang Starr. I had this Eminem bar from "Rabbit Run": "You want peace of mind?/Here's a piece of mine."

I'm from Detroit, went to school here (UM) and in Cali (USC). I'm also probably 15 years younger than you. I never said I'm from that era. But I listen to a lot of hip hop, I love 80s/90s rap and bro...this does not sound like that. And when Hit Boy did this shyt (sample packs, drum kits, etc) he got clowned and people were talking about beats not having layers. Well now what.

This is not me dying on a hill for Hit Boy. I'm not gonna sit here and give the "Hit is one of the greatest producers of all time" hype speeches that some people were giving during the run. His best beats are still with Kanye, Drake, and Kendrick. But I didn't see any discussion about sample packs or live drums or that wack bassist until I brought it up. People been in here pretending like this is Step In The Area or something and the unwashed masses don't understand it's not 1994-1999 era(s) Premo. Fam...it's not either.

This actually reminds me a lot of early Premier, before Hard to Earn. I don't think it's by coincidence. The album cover reminded me of Funky Technician. It's been established as a joint album, and MC/DJ tag teams were the wave back then. And some of the production here is simpler than people were expecting. "It's Time" is just a Steve Miller sample and nothing else, but that's the old-school mentality. I could definitely hear Guru rapping on "Shine Together" and "3rd Childhood."

We can talk about how good or bad the album is all day, but I do think it's a little misunderstood. Premier seemed to be thinking less like "Nas is Like" or "2nd Childhood" and more like "Form of Intellect" and "Beyond Comprehension," at least on some tracks.

 

[Awesome Wells]

This actually reminds me a lot of early Premier, before Hard to Earn. I don't think it's by coincidence. The album cover reminded me of Funky Technician. It's been established as a joint album, and MC/DJ tag teams were the wave back then. And some of the production here is simpler than people were expecting. "It's Time" is just a Steve Miller sample and nothing else, but that's the old-school mentality. I could definitely hear Guru rapping on "Shine Together" and "3rd Childhood."

We can talk about how good or bad the album is all day, but I do think it's a little misunderstood. Premier seemed to be thinking less like "Nas is Like" or "2nd Childhood" and more like "Form of Intellect" and "Beyond Comprehension," at least on some tracks.

Facts.

A lot of this sounds like Preem's sh*t from '91. The night we heard the joint, somebody said the approach sounded a lot like "Precisely The Right Rhymes" from Step In The Arena. And we were all like...

That's why I say, if you're a true Gang Starr or Preem fan, you know he hasn't strayed from what he's always done. But a lot of people only know "Nas Is Like", and haven't f*cked with enough of Preem's catalogue.

 

[Jx2]

Facts.

A lot of this sounds like Preem's sh*t from '91. The night we heard the joint, somebody said the approach sounded a lot like "Precisely The Right Rhymes" from Step In The Arena. And we were all like...

That's why I say, if you're a true Gang Starr or Preem fan, you know he hasn't strayed from what he's always done. But a lot of people only know "Nas Is Like", and haven't f*cked with enough of Preem's catalogue.

I said this earlier. This is an early 90's gangstarr with Nas replacing Guru. I love it

 

[Jx2]

I’m pretty sure Wale would prefer people kept criticism only about music lol

da baby is in 2025 gets 10000% more criticism than Nas about music

Nas is in corner by himself. Most of the shyt is because of his own fanbase.

those other rappers are attack by millions of people everyday. Nas don’t have to deal with that. Y’all Stan’s should be happy about that.

You're still in here

 

[L. Deezy]

Facts.

A lot of this sounds like Preem's sh*t from '91. The night we heard the joint, somebody said the approach sounded a lot like "Precisely The Right Rhymes" from Step In The Arena. And we were all like...

That's why I say, if you're a true Gang Starr or Preem fan, you know he hasn't strayed from what he's always done. But a lot of people only know "Nas Is Like", and haven't f*cked with enough of Preem's catalogue.

Bingo..its funny u said this.. I had to check a dude about this album not being Moment of Truth Preme.. This album was to be measured next to Step in the Arena Preme for sure

 

[Awesome Wells]

I said this earlier. This is an early 90's gangstarr with Nas replacing Guru. I love it

Exactly!

He said they were taking it back to that time and era. So for those of us who used to listen to those early Gang Starr albums as a kids, this takes us right back to that sound. He captured that sh*t perfectly on here, for us. I think that's why Nas sounds so fired up and inspired too. He hasn't sounded this much at home in decades.

 

[Cladyclad]

You're still in here

Yep i will leave Sunday

friday will bring more discussion

 

[Awesome Wells]

Bingo..its funny u said this.. I had to check a dude about this album not being Moment of Truth Preme.. This album was to be measured next to Step in the Arena Preme for sure

They expose themselves, bro.

They weren't around for that Step In The Arena era. All they know is Moment of Truth and "Nas is Like". Two joints that came out the same year, lol. When it comes to anything before that, they're clueless.

Whole album is a love letter to Hip Hop and the golden era. Premier could've made 15 different versions of "I Gave You Power" easily. But he went back to his sound from the actual era that the album pays homage to, to go along with the concept. That sh*t is crazy dope. Like he said, "this one is for the heads".

 

[Mike the Executioner]

Facts.

A lot of this sounds like Preem's sh*t from '91. The night we heard the joint, somebody said the approach sounded a lot like "Precisely The Right Rhymes" from Step In The Arena. And we were all like...

That's why I say, if you're a true Gang Starr or Preem fan, you know he hasn't strayed from what he's always done. But a lot of people only know "Nas Is Like", and haven't f*cked with enough of Preem's catalogue.

Yeah, I can definitely see where the disconnect is coming from. For years, when people thought about a Nas/Premier album, they thought about it sounding like "N.Y. State of Mind" or "Come Get Me." Something more bombastic, more musical, in the same vein as those songs. But this is another one of those cases where Nas went left when everyone thought he would go right. A lot of people hate "Welcome to the Underground," but it's just rap rock. "Pause Tapes" is exactly the kind of rap song that you would make back then. BDP had a lot of beats that were minimalist. "Ya Slippin'" is literally just KRS rapping over "Smoke on the Water," but it's still one of the hardest songs on the album. Same as "The Rebel" from In Control, Vol. 1. It's Tragedy rapping over a guitar sample and some drums. It's not like Premier was trying to remake Yeezus. He was just aiming for that late 80s/early 90s sound.

You mentioned earlier that Nas and Premier referred to the album as some "Just-Ice shyt." And then I think about "Self-Destruction" and Just-Ice's verse on it. D-Nice added some other elements to it depending on who was rapping (like using "Funky Drummer" during Chuck D's verse), but the beat itself has a lot of space and is simple enough for anyone to rap over. There's definitely a lot of space on this album.

 

[Ziggiy]

Facts.

A lot of this sounds like Preem's sh*t from '91. The night we heard the joint, somebody said the approach sounded a lot like "Precisely The Right Rhymes" from Step In The Arena. And we were all like...

That's why I say, if you're a true Gang Starr or Preem fan, you know he hasn't strayed from what he's always done. But a lot of people only know "Nas Is Like", and haven't f*cked with enough of Preem's catalogue.

This is EXACTLY what Preme was going for.