Nas & DJ Premier: Light-Years
Nas is, without a doubt, a hip-hop living legend. Thirty years in, he is still lyrically at the top of his game. With DJ Supreme holding down the productions, Nas takes us back to the good ole days of hip-hop: “Welcome to the underground, that basement life / Way underneath the earth, dig up dirt, termites and baby mice, scatterin’ / Below the surface, we deep in the soil, we jackhammerin’.” Those storytelling details epitomize Nas.
If you are interested in how hip-hop was created, check out “Pause Tape.” Nas reminisces: “Grab a piece of vinyl, drop the needle at the top / Listen for a beat to rock, ninety minute tape, I got enough time / Play it one time, four bars / Press record, then press pause, then restart / Record, loop, repeat / Do that ’bout twenty times, yo, I made my first beat.”
Hip-hop was not just about DJing and MCing, graffiti-writing was also essential. Nas rhymes, “See, I’m a writer in rap form / But these are writers that bomb trains and subway platforms / Courageous, bravest, street creators / They synonymous with DJs, rappers, and breakers.” He also gives a shout-out to all the female MCs: “Startеd with Sha-Rock, fifty years later, women is on top / Bahamadia, Missy, Moniе, Lyte, and Queen Latifah / Ms. Lauryn Hill, it’s an honor for me to even meet ya.” He went on, “Roxanne Shanté, we both call QB home / Doechii pushing the culture, I’m inspired by Salt-N-Pepa / Nicki, Foxy, and Kim, and Megan, Cardi, and Left Eye (Plus) / Nothin’ realer than Latto, GloRilla, and Rah Digga / Remy, Rapsody, and Eve, all straight killers.”
Nas even recognizes his Chinese community in NYC: “Stress’ll cut your life short, I’m from egg rolls and duck sauce.” Nas has always been a storyteller and he has figured out a formula to evaluate his storytelling: He uses one producer. Light-Years is a solid collaboration between Nas and Mc. Premier. When Nas rhymes, “The illest style right here, ’til I got white hair / Gettin’ foul-type stares. We ahead, light-years.” You better believe him.