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

[ItWasWritten]

This here.

But also, Polo is trying to flex, but the only thing Preem used of his on "Writers", was the bassline, which he chopped. And the keys, which he also chopped, on "My Life Is Real".

The drums on "Writers" are from 45 King. That's the classic "Pete 90" break from back in the day.

What chops on writers? Were you side by side with Preem ?

Dude literally - Said he composed it after he got the drums

You’d have to have the original composition to verify what you just said

 

[Nero Christ]

Difference is Alc has done full albums recently that’s been pure heat. From Roc to Gibbs.

I get the feeling ALC is in full control of putting those albums together and those guys just rhyme over the beats.

Nas seems like he will want more of a hand in the process if he signed off on a collab

 

[ArchStanton]

The sales talk is funny.

Nas and Premo know they aint doing Kendrick numbers in 2025 lol. The same way the other vets do, like Cube last joint they do it for the love, sell merch,.vinyl, and tour. They had their time as "superstars".

At this point hes just being a creative and adding to his legacy.

Im not Nas, Premier, and dont work for mass appeal....therefore i could care less how much it sales. When i was a teenager playing IWW every morning before school, I didnt care then either. Go figure. Im listening to The Cat by Jimmy Smith right now....one of my favorite albums ever...i have no idea what it sold lol.

I just want him to sell enough to where he keeps making music, but I don't know what that number is (if there even is one and there likely isn't) so kind of pointless to speculate. Same goes for other artists I like.

I tend to think Jay-Z hasn't done another album because of sales, which is unfortunate as I would like to hear another album from him. I could be totally wrong.

 

[Mike Wins]

The sales talk is funny.

Nas and Premo know they aint doing Kendrick numbers in 2025 lol. The same way the other vets do, like Cube last joint they do it for the love, sell merch,.vinyl, and tour. They had their time as "superstars".

At this point hes just being a creative and adding to his legacy.

Im not Nas, Premier, and dont work for mass appeal....therefore i could care less how much it sales. When i was a teenager playing IWW every morning before school, I didnt care then either. Go figure. Im listening to The Cat by Jimmy Smith right now....one of my favorite albums ever...i have no idea what it sold lol.

The Coli is obsessed with sales figures though, got to stay on point. Always been comedy that the dudes most obsessed with sales on here have the lowest understanding of how it works. Like sales happen in a vacuum based on quality, nothing to do with labels buying ready made hits for priority artists on 360 deals, spending big on promo then sending em on the road for years to recoup.

All sales figures in 2025 are fake. And this is a 52 year old rapper with a 59 year old producer making an album that sound intentionally dated with no commercial appeal. Minimal promo on an independent label. Imagine being invested in the sales figures

 

[Nostalgic]

I just realized they didn’t put Define My Name on the album

DMN was a loose, it was meant to grab the liseners ears.

 

[I'm Blackman]

I just want him to sell enough to where he keeps making music, but I don't know what that number is (if there even is one and there likely isn't) so kind of pointless to speculate. Same goes for other artists I like.

I tend to think Jay-Z hasn't done another album because of sales, which is unfortunate as I would like to hear another album from him. I could be totally wrong.

I feel u....i want them to have it "pay off" or they won't keep doing it. I think the pay off for them (because they already paid and do other things) is being creative, touring, and merch. Like Killer Mike, Big boi, clipse etc.

I agree with Jay. His rap identity is built around being the "top" guy or in the conversation as a "needle mover" so I dont think we every get another Jay z album. Unfortunately. I would love one.

 

[ArchStanton]

I feel u....i want them to have it "pay off" or they won't keep doing it. I think the pay off for them (because they already paid and do other things) is being creative, touring, and merch. Like Killer Mike, Big boi, clipse etc.

I agree with Jay. His rap identity is built around being the "top" guy or in the conversation as a "needle mover" so I dont think we every get another Jay z album. Unfortunately. I would love one.

I don't want to veer too far off the thread here, but to be clear, I think a new Jay-Z album would have a very strong first week. But compared to his wife and his old albums, it wouldn't be close to that, and that IMO would be the issue.

But I am only speculating.

 

[HNIC973]

The Coli is obsessed with sales figures though, got to stay on point. Always been comedy that the dudes most obsessed with sales on here have the lowest understanding of how it works. Like sales happen in a vacuum based on quality, nothing to do with labels buying ready made hits for priority artists on 360 deals, spending big on promo then sending em on the road for years to recoup.

All sales figures in 2025 are fake. And this is a 52 year old rapper with a 59 year old producer making an album that sound intentionally dated with no commercial appeal. Minimal promo on an independent label. Imagine being invested in the sales figures

Wtf is an actual sale these days anyway streaming some shyt 1200+ times? . I copped on Itunes got my vinyl that's my part. I'll support at a show if there is one

 

[Ziggiy]

That 5k number is a rumor and is likely incomplete. We’ll see. I agree Nas doesn’t care. I’m sure Premo and Ian do…

Its not like Premo was out here working with Travis Scott, Future, and NBA Youngboy. The man is dropping albums with Ransom
and Roc Marciano. Sales numbers, as it relates to streaming, is probably a low priority on his and his teams list.

The money in music is in merch and touring. Light Years seems to be doing VERY well on the Mass Appeal store and Preme & Nas have already confirmed they will tour at some point. THATS going to be lucrative. I can’t wait to cop tickets lol.

 

[I'm Blackman]

I don't want to veer too far off the thread here, but to be clear, I think a new Jay-Z album would have a very strong first week. But compared to his wife and his old albums, it wouldn't be close to that, and that IMO would be the issue.

But I am only speculating.

I agree with everything u wrote.

 

[Budda]

The sales talk is funny.

Nas and Premo know they aint doing Kendrick numbers in 2025 lol. The same way the other vets do, like Cube last joint they do it for the love, sell merch,.vinyl, and tour. They had their time as "superstars".

At this point hes just being a creative and adding to his legacy.

Im not Nas, Premier, and dont work for mass appeal....therefore i could care less how much it sales. When i was a teenager playing IWW every morning before school, I didnt care then either. Go figure. Im listening to The Cat by Jimmy Smith right now....one of my favorite albums ever...i have no idea what it sold lol.

Nas could easily do 60k in this climate if he wanted to, Mass Appeal/Nas just aren’t willing to out the work jn.

Im glad he can put albums out without caring about all that stuff, but it’s theough a lack of trying his sales sre like that, Nas is more relevant in the rap game than Cube in 2025 and Clips just sold 100k first week.

 

[Mike Wins]

Wtf is an actual sale these days anyway streaming some shyt 1200+ times? . I copped on Itunes got my vinyl that's my part. I'll support at a show if there is one

They continually changing the rules. Now they gonna stop counting Youtube numbers. At one point they stopped counting sales from artists websites when that's how independent artists make their money.

This album they sold $150,000 worth of limited edition vinyls before it even dropped. So that's the revenue equivalent of 15,000 regular sales before day one. And they sold out multiple other versions of the vinyl, CDs and tapes already on the website. Probably already recouped on day one but the Coli armchair A&Rs waiting to pounce

 

[Budda]

The Coli is obsessed with sales figures though, got to stay on point. Always been comedy that the dudes most obsessed with sales on here have the lowest understanding of how it works. Like sales happen in a vacuum based on quality, nothing to do with labels buying ready made hits for priority artists on 360 deals, spending big on promo then sending em on the road for years to recoup.

All sales figures in 2025 are fake. And this is a 52 year old rapper with a 59 year old producer making an album that sound intentionally dated with no commercial appeal. Minimal promo on an independent label. Imagine being invested in the sales figures

You are right but as someone who has done marketing for label i can tell you Mass Appeal barely scratch the surface, they don’t put that much effort in, Nas could do 50-60k with a mix of the right marketing and features.

 

[I'm Blackman]

The Coli is obsessed with sales figures though, got to stay on point. Always been comedy that the dudes most obsessed with sales on here have the lowest understanding of how it works. Like sales happen in a vacuum based on quality, nothing to do with labels buying ready made hits for priority artists on 360 deals, spending big on promo then sending em on the road for years to recoup.

All sales figures in 2025 are fake. And this is a 52 year old rapper with a 59 year old producer making an album that sound intentionally dated with no commercial appeal. Minimal promo on an independent label. Imagine being invested in the sales figures

The bolded is so true and funny that the whole conversation is stupid. The whole post ia on point, but the bolded should be so obvious. Nas didnt link up metro booming and do joints with pooh shesty, megan (or whoever popping now im out the loop), create a tiktok moment, and do a thousand interviews. Nas and Preme are not sitting on pins and needles expecting their album paying odes to graffiti writers to do numbers.

To quote Lauren on KD2 "The stupid leaves me breathless"

 

[Budda]

The bolded is so true and funny that the whole conversation is stupid. The whole post ia on point, but the bolded should be so obvious. Nas didnt link up metro booming and do joints with pooh shesty, megan (or whoever popping now im out the loop), create a tiktok moment, and do a thousand interviews. Nas and Preme are not sitting on pins and needles expecting their album paying odes to graffiti writers to do numbers.

To quote Lauren on KD2 "The stupid leaves me breathless"

Whoever is popping now is Kendrick, he sells the most….