Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love Focus-Group Tested Rap
Rap Dummies on the mean streets of these here internets will tell you that Premier ruined Light-Years (look forward to dozens of fan-mad remixes of this whole tape with scratchy stemmed-out vocals soon I guess), but the cold, hard truth is that it’s Nas who brings proceedings down a notch. Premier has cooked up a varied platter of sounds here, using every trick in his arsenal to ensure this isn’t just 45 minutes of ‘Nas Is Like’ knockoffs. Preem serves-up expert rearrangements of classic breaks, stark minimalist beats and lush loops (with assists from Marco Polo on four tracks), providing Nas with a plethora of backdrops to unleash different flows and topics.
‘My Life Is Real’
This is basically an ad for the other six albums in the Legend Has It… series, which has been impressive in terms of scope if not always landing the shots. The shareholders so hype right now.
‘GiT Ready’
Things start-off strong out the gate with a classic Wilson Picket break, before Nas declares ‘High tech like Navidia/I’m smart, I know a little about a lot’. No big deal…I’m sure he’s not the first dude to mispronounce Nvidia, right? ‘Crypto key came with a password/Then I flipped that key to digital cash – word’. Next up, our host starts listing-off his investment portfolio, which is exactly what we want to hear on a rap album in 2025 apparently.
‘NY State of Mind Pt. 3’
Nas already rapped over ‘Stilletto’ so I guess we’re stuck with the Billy Joel left-overs for the hook. This was completely unnecessary but kind of inevitable. Hey, at least the loop is good.
‘Welcome to the Underground’
Is this a live band? I’d kinda hoped Premier had ditched that creepy bass player guy he was hanging out with on Instagram. Maybe he has a really good car stereo and doesn’t mind carrying Preem’s records?
‘Madman’
Things get back on track for this absolute scorcher, despite Nas claiming ‘Multiple hitmakers on one album/I introduced it, in fact’ even though Run-DMC did the exact same thing in 1993 when they had Pete Rock, EPMD, Q-Tip, Naughty By Nature, the Bomb Squad and Chyskillz from Onyx produce the album? It’s not like nobody heard that album either – it went gold a lot quicker than Illmatic did.
‘Pause Tapes’
Great concept, this is some quality Old Mouf Rap for those of us who grew-up with tape decks and get misty-eyed whenever we see a TDK MA-X cassette.
‘Writers’
This seems like something that an unpaid intern at Mass Appeal suggested to create brand synergy for a future spray paint line (Nasty Nas Nozzles, perhaps?). Call me cynical, but I don’t recall ever hearing Nas give a shit about bombing until now. Is this an attempt to pull at the nostalgia thread of fifty-year-old rap fans? It sounds good but really wears out its welcome when he just starts reading out tags for half of the five-minute run time, by which point I’d rather be listening to ‘Wrong Side of The Tracks’ or ‘Out For Fame’ if I wanted to get a Krylon Rap fix.
‘Sons (Young Kings)’
I guess this is a follow-up to ‘Daughters’, so we’re really going with three sequels here? This has a nice, melancholy quality and Nas is rapping at full tilt.
‘It’s Time’
‘It’s Time’ is incredible, a masterful Steve Miller Band chop with just the right amount of swing, and Nas rises to occasion. It’s only two-and-a-half minutes long but maybe we’ll get an extended version on a 12” next year with an extra verse, like Jay-Z and Premier did for ‘A Million and One Questions’.
‘Nasty Esco Nasir’
Why is he still going on about this alter-ego stuff all these years later? We get it already. Then halfway through he slips back into Insurance Salesman mode and just says, ‘I do branding’. Is this a new genre called LinkedIn Rap? Will there be a QR code on the back of the CD where listeners can subscribe to the Nas Investment Podcast for stock tips and a coupon for a free drink at Resorts World Casino in Queens?
‘My Story Your Story’ (feat. AZ)
This is another winner, the best thing they’ve done together since ‘Serious’ (or was that the last time these two teamed-up on a song?).
‘Bouquet to the Ladies’
Nas activates ‘Performative Male’ mode and shouts-out a list of women rappers for what seems like an eternity. Isn’t this what the liner notes are for? It still comes-off though since his flow is on point and the music is amazing.
‘Junkie’
Another variation of the well-worn ‘I Used to Love HER’ concept, combined with the other rap cliche of rapping about dope being a woman. Luckily it’s very well executed so it works well enough.
‘Shine Together’
This reminds me of a Gang Starr album cut, in the best way possible.
‘3rd Childhood’
I predicted this song as a joke in my last article and here it is. Good track but the title is really stinking up the joint.
At this point we all should expect that Nas albums are equal parts great rapping and even greater amounts of face-palm worthy moments when he goes all Fake Deep on us – it’s become part of the charm at this point. I’ll pick this up when the proper picture cover version hits the shelves on the strength of ‘It’s Time’ and ‘Madman’ – those two songs justify the existence of this whole album – ‘It’s Time’ just might be my favorite rap song of 2025.
And yet, it’s hard to escape the feeling that these two could deliver something really special now that they’ve gotten warmed-up and don’t have the weight of twenty years’ worth of expectations to contend with. Just don’t call it Light-Years 2 for Chrissakes.
Actually, how about making this a trilogy where Q-Tip produces the new Nas LP and then bring in Large Professor to complete the cipher?
Photo: Rachelle Clinton.
Excellent as always, Robbie. Thanks for doing this.
I’ve not heard the album yet – will wait for the vinyl version, tedious old fart that I am – but I wonder if the presence of a track about graf is in some way intended to be a callback to the Wild Style samples on Illmatic? There is a connection there, though it is a bit of a stretch, I realise. (FWIW, my go-to for a tune about this would be Talib and Rakim’s Subway Surfing, though there’s probably a bunch of other things I should mention but have forgotten about.)
Keep up the great work.
Cheers,
AB
Spot on. Was giving this another front to back listen the other day now that some of the unavoidable “This is the best/worst thing ever!” hype has died down and have to say, Premier really lived up to his end of the bargain. The beats are incredibly solid throughout and him still finding ways to breathe new life in to well-worn samples is a nice reminder of what sets him apart. Honestly not sure what the barometer is for people these days (Daily Operation is not walking through that door, people) but I will gladly take this level of production from the man at this point in his career.
Nas is what makes this album inconsistent. As you pointed out, when he’s on, he’s can still deliver the goods but he really needs somebody to check the corniness from time to time. There always seems to be an OOF-worthy line right around the corner. And while some of the subject matter does feel contrived, he at least does a good job with it. On the other hand, he never came across as believable or confident as somebody like Jay or BIG with the Big Willie/Esco shit even back then, so I definitely don’t need him to be trotting that shit out in 2026. The wise veteran role suits him much better.