Latest / Hip-Hop Now Podcast / Nas & Dj Premier "Light Years" Album Review
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Coming up on this week's episode of Hip Hop Now Podcast,
- 0:05Speaker 1: It's the longer waited anticipated album that we thought we
- 0:10Speaker 1: would never get exclusively NAS and DJ Premier. It's my review.
- 0:20Speaker 1: Let's get to it.
- 0:23Speaker 2: Welcome to jip Hop Now Podcast. Did you from the future?
- 0:30Speaker 2: You know what the students your ass out of.
- 0:35Speaker 1: So disrespectful leg like hip hop is say to stay.
- 0:41Speaker 2: Let's get rightful to the business. What if y'all?
- 0:44Speaker 1: I am your hos Vegas and this It's hip Hop
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- 1:20Speaker 1: you everything you need to know about being a member. Okay,
- 1:24Speaker 1: I didn't do that on purpose. I just need to
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- 1:59Speaker 1: this episode, you know, I know you would have to
- 2:03Speaker 1: hear the whole episodes in wort to like it, but
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- 2:08Speaker 1: fact that this is this album's even being reviewed, or
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- 2:34Speaker 1: you can absolutely share it with people you know enjoy
- 2:38Speaker 1: this kind of content. And you know why I know
- 2:42Speaker 1: that I can get to twenty five k at the
- 2:46Speaker 1: end of twenty twenty five, It's because about ninety five
- 2:50Speaker 1: percent of the people who watch my videos are not subscribers.
- 2:56Speaker 1: So if I could get ten percent of you to
- 3:00Speaker 1: do that before the end of the year, twenty five
- 3:04Speaker 1: K is nothing. This is all I'm saying. So without
- 3:09Speaker 1: further ado, let's get right into the business. Hey, look, man,
- 3:18Speaker 1: we've waited a very long time. There's some boomback kids
- 3:21Speaker 1: who have been in hybernation since the thought of a
- 3:27Speaker 1: Nas and premiere album was something that was on everybody's minds.
- 3:31Speaker 1: And for those who don't know, I'll just give you
- 3:33Speaker 1: a quick synopsis of where we were and how we
- 3:37Speaker 1: got here. But first and foremost Illmatic right Illmatic drops
- 3:45Speaker 1: this production from Pete Rock Large Professor, Q Tip, DJ Premier,
- 3:51Speaker 1: of course l Ees and what stuck with most fans
- 3:58Speaker 1: Illmatic being what it is, it is all time classic album.
- 4:01Speaker 1: You can see it right there behind me on vinyl
- 4:06Speaker 1: was the fact that Damn DJ Premier did New York
- 4:10Speaker 1: State a minor Illmatic. It was crazy. DJ Premier did
- 4:14Speaker 1: Memory Lane on Illmatic, it was crazy. DJ Premier did
- 4:20Speaker 1: Represent on Illmatic. That was crazy. And then Nas what
- 4:26Speaker 1: two years later drops his sophomore album It was written
- 4:31Speaker 1: and DJ Premier does one of the standout tracks, if
- 4:36Speaker 1: not the standout track, I Gave You Power, where Nas
- 4:41Speaker 1: is rapping from the perspective of a gun and it's
- 4:44Speaker 1: just like man, DJ Premier and NASA get together is magic,
- 4:49Speaker 1: and then you get songs like NAS's like right, and
- 4:54Speaker 1: you know they've done like close to ten joints.
- 4:57Speaker 2: I think over.
- 4:59Speaker 1: Time and the early years, especially the nineties, mid to
- 5:04Speaker 1: late nineties, Nas in DJ Premier like they couldn't miss,
- 5:09Speaker 1: like for example, New York State of Mind, too crazy,
- 5:13Speaker 1: nice flip on the piano sample NAS with the bars
- 5:17Speaker 1: just crazy.
- 5:19Speaker 2: Right. So there's this.
- 5:23Speaker 1: Magazine cover from I think like the early two thousands.
- 5:27Speaker 2: I think it's Scratch Magazine. I'm not sure. Let me well,
- 5:30Speaker 2: forget not being surelo, let me just look, because I
- 5:33Speaker 2: think I do have it.
- 5:35Speaker 1: Yep, Scratch Magazine two thousand and five, Nas in DJ
- 5:41Speaker 1: Premier on the cover, and at that point everybody's like,
- 5:46Speaker 1: y'all gotta make it happen. We need Back then, in
- 5:50Speaker 1: two thousand and five, twenty years ago, we all were saying, yeah,
- 5:56Speaker 1: gotta at least do a nas in Primo album, like
- 5:59Speaker 1: it has to have and the cover said Exclusive NAS
- 6:02Speaker 1: and DJ Premier. The inside scoop on uniting, Oh wait,
- 6:07Speaker 1: that's something else, but again Exclusive NAS and DJ Premier
- 6:13Speaker 1: felt like we were about to get an album, and
- 6:16Speaker 1: even two thousand and five, Nas is crazy because remember
- 6:19Speaker 1: still Madic already dropped where Premo did Second Childhood, which
- 6:24Speaker 1: was crazy. So it felt like, Yo, every time these
- 6:28Speaker 1: two hook up on a record, it's magic, right, No
- 6:35Speaker 1: pun intended, it's magic. And they've done other records obviously,
- 6:39Speaker 1: but this was the magazine cover that got hip hop
- 6:45Speaker 1: has excited for something that didn't happen. It didn't happen
- 6:51Speaker 1: in twenty fifteen, it didn't happen in twenty ten, it
- 6:55Speaker 1: didn't happen on Life's Life is Good. But then NAS
- 7:00Speaker 1: had to run with hit Boy from twenty twenty.
- 7:03Speaker 2: What was that?
- 7:03Speaker 1: Like six albums in like two and a half years,
- 7:07Speaker 1: and for the most part all dope. DJ Premier was
- 7:13Speaker 1: featured on the album, but he did not make a beat.
- 7:18Speaker 1: But then there was that tease again, like damn Premiere
- 7:22Speaker 1: is in the video he's doing the scratches I believe
- 7:26Speaker 1: on the record the song called Wave Guys, but hip
- 7:30Speaker 1: Boy made the beat and it sounds like something Premier
- 7:33Speaker 1: would make. And then they drop a song called definds
- 7:38Speaker 1: my Name. DJ Premier and Nas dropped a song called
- 7:41Speaker 1: Defines My Name, essentially announcing that they were gonna finally
- 7:48Speaker 1: work on the album together where DJ Premier is the
- 7:51Speaker 1: exclusive producer.
- 7:54Speaker 2: Of the album.
- 7:55Speaker 1: Now granted again twenty years later when we originally wanted this,
- 8:02Speaker 1: where Premier was probably in a different space with its
- 8:05Speaker 1: production and Nas was definitely in a different space with
- 8:08Speaker 1: his pen. So the thing that everybody was hoping for
- 8:14Speaker 1: is like, you know, it's going to be crazy.
- 8:17Speaker 2: How could it not, you know?
- 8:19Speaker 1: And when you look at this being the final album
- 8:24Speaker 1: in the Mass Appeal rollout of seven Legends, seven Icons
- 8:28Speaker 1: Legend Hazard series, and it's ending with and again for
- 8:33Speaker 1: those who don't known, those seven Icons was Slick, Rick,
- 8:39Speaker 1: raykn Ghosts, Mob, Deep, Big L, Daylight, and now nasen
- 8:46Speaker 1: Primo And for the most part, most of those albums,
- 8:51Speaker 1: if not all, are good to great right surprisingly in
- 8:56Speaker 1: a lot of ways.
- 8:58Speaker 2: So if you're going to end it, if you have.
- 9:01Speaker 1: That run and now you're gonna end it off in
- 9:04Speaker 1: twenty twenty five, after twenty years of wanting this particular
- 9:08Speaker 1: link up between these two with Nas and DJ Premier,
- 9:12Speaker 1: the anticipation is through the roof. I thought the anticipation
- 9:15Speaker 1: was high for the clips. Now this is the close
- 9:19Speaker 1: out album. This album along with Conway, the Machine or
- 9:24Speaker 1: two of the albums I was waiting for them to
- 9:27Speaker 1: drop to see if I can consider them for my
- 9:31Speaker 1: best of the year. And we'll talk about that very
- 9:33Speaker 1: soon because that's right around the corner on this channel subscribe, but.
- 9:43Speaker 2: It's here now.
- 9:45Speaker 1: NAS and DJ Premier have dropped their album entitled Light Years. Now,
- 9:53Speaker 1: y'all know how I do when it comes to reviews
- 9:56Speaker 1: of albums. This one is special. That's why it has
- 9:58Speaker 1: a special episode all to itself. And I give an
- 10:02Speaker 1: album three listens, right. The first time is just impressions,
- 10:08Speaker 1: you know, beats, rhymes, whatever's presented, it's just all impressions.
- 10:14Speaker 1: The second time, I'm listening a little bit closely to
- 10:18Speaker 1: the bars, to the beats and how the chemistry is
- 10:23Speaker 1: coming together on the project. And my last listen, on
- 10:28Speaker 1: my third listen is just to confirm my thoughts and
- 10:32Speaker 1: for those who like to just know, like out of
- 10:35Speaker 1: a quick review, sorry you had to wait almost ten minutes,
- 10:38Speaker 1: but so what we're going to take our time with
- 10:40Speaker 1: this one. I would say this is a good album.
- 10:46Speaker 1: It's not crazy. It's not what I thought it would
- 10:50Speaker 1: have been twenty years ago, but that's almost impossible.
- 10:54Speaker 2: So I'm not trying to be that guy.
- 10:57Speaker 1: I think it's just good and I'll tell you why, right,
- 11:02Speaker 1: So let me share my screen real quick, so you know,
- 11:06Speaker 1: those who don't know can get a.
- 11:09Speaker 2: Good look at what we have here.
- 11:13Speaker 1: So here you have it, right, Light Years DJ Premier Nas,
- 11:21Speaker 1: there's a nice description here, really quick, Let's just go
- 11:25Speaker 1: over the first paragraph. Any telling of NAS's story would
- 11:28Speaker 1: be woefully incomplete without mentioning DJ Premier. Back in the day,
- 11:33Speaker 1: the steam gangstar producer Lace the then rising Queensbridge MC
- 11:39Speaker 1: with three Beats that made his game change in nineteen
- 11:43Speaker 1: ninety four debut Ellmatic. That professional connection continued with placements
- 11:48Speaker 1: on albums like I Am and a triumphant Still Madic,
- 11:53Speaker 1: further linking the two artists in the Annals says Annals,
- 11:58Speaker 1: all right, Paul's in hip hop history. As such, the
- 12:03Speaker 1: arrival of Light Years, fully produced by Primo, at the
- 12:08Speaker 1: virtual halfway point of na Sears improbable twenty twenties run,
- 12:14Speaker 1: seems like the fulfillment of rap destiny. I'm just here
- 12:21Speaker 1: to tell you it is not. It is also not
- 12:24Speaker 1: light years ahead of anything. But what I do like
- 12:30Speaker 1: about it that I didn't like in my first listen,
- 12:35Speaker 1: is that it's a certain vibe with this album that's
- 12:40Speaker 1: unlike the hit Boy Run, that's unlike any Gangstar album
- 12:44Speaker 1: or NAS album you've heard before.
- 12:47Speaker 2: Even though there are.
- 12:49Speaker 1: Specific songs that are callbacks, they are even mixes and
- 12:53Speaker 1: cuts that are callbacks to their connection. I don't like
- 12:57Speaker 1: it as much as I thought I was, because it
- 13:01Speaker 1: feels like, well, yeah, we've been listening to those songs
- 13:04Speaker 1: from y'all for like twenty.
- 13:06Speaker 2: Years or more.
- 13:08Speaker 1: You know, we don't need it to be on the
- 13:10Speaker 1: new stuff. But I get why they did it. You know,
- 13:14Speaker 1: some of us just you know, we still bump the
- 13:16Speaker 1: old stuff. So let's start to go track for track,
- 13:21Speaker 1: and I'll just say this just as again to summarize.
- 13:25Speaker 1: I felt like with this album, I was going from
- 13:30Speaker 1: hit miss hit miss hit miss hit miss right on
- 13:33Speaker 1: the first listen, like I don't know about that one,
- 13:36Speaker 1: I don't know about this one.
- 13:38Speaker 2: None of it had to really do with Naza's pen.
- 13:41Speaker 1: In most cases, there were times where I was like,
- 13:45Speaker 1: bit that, like saying baby mice on that on this
- 13:49Speaker 1: album's kind of crazy, Like.
- 13:52Speaker 2: I know, but you know, these guys are older.
- 13:55Speaker 1: You know they say things, you know, it's the same
- 13:58Speaker 1: minor grapes I had were like ghost Face with the
- 14:01Speaker 1: dated references. I'm saying now some people hear dated references
- 14:05Speaker 1: and they get nostalgic, So I get it, but that's nitpicking.
- 14:10Speaker 1: The one thing about this project is what I was
- 14:14Speaker 1: saying before it dropped. That was probably my greatest fear,
- 14:19Speaker 1: and that was DJ Premier sounding like.
- 14:23Speaker 2: He only has one formula. He only has one mode,
- 14:27Speaker 2: and he's going to go there and want and for
- 14:30Speaker 2: anybody who wants to jump in and say yo, but
- 14:33Speaker 2: that's what made him famous. You are not a Gangstar fan.
- 14:36Speaker 2: You can't be. You're not a fan of the group
- 14:39Speaker 2: Home album.
- 14:40Speaker 1: You're not a fan of Jay Ruse music stuff he's
- 14:43Speaker 1: there with Biggie, like kicking the door, stuff he's done
- 14:46Speaker 1: with jay Z. Because those beats never sound the same.
- 14:51Speaker 1: Even the records he's done with NAS, they never sound
- 14:54Speaker 1: the same. It was just that at a certain point
- 14:57Speaker 1: in DJ Premier's career, he began to just sound redundant
- 15:02Speaker 1: in his production choices, the scratches, blah blah blah. I'm
- 15:07Speaker 1: here to say, there's not that much of that on here,
- 15:10Speaker 1: and I applaud him for that. But I still don't
- 15:13Speaker 1: like some of the beats. So let's start at the top.
- 15:16Speaker 1: My life is real.
- 15:18Speaker 2: When I first heard this, I was like, Okay, this
- 15:21Speaker 2: is different Preme. I like it. And then when Nads
- 15:23Speaker 2: started rhyming and you know.
- 15:26Speaker 1: References of the Massive Hill Run, I was like, I
- 15:29Speaker 1: like this joint. I was a little iffy the first
- 15:32Speaker 1: listen because again, my anticipation is fighting with what I'm hearing,
- 15:37Speaker 1: and I'm trying to pull back and say, yo, chill man,
- 15:40Speaker 1: let's just listen to what they got. So eventually when
- 15:44Speaker 1: I heard it, I was like, Nah, that song's kind
- 15:45Speaker 1: of crazy. I ain't gonna front the beat, the way
- 15:48Speaker 1: nas is rapping, I like it. Get Ready, I like
- 15:52Speaker 1: this one off the first listen. Off the first listen,
- 15:55Speaker 1: I was like, I like it. New York State of
- 15:58Speaker 1: Mind Part three. We could have left this one off,
- 16:01Speaker 1: fan it is something. It's something about put it this way.
- 16:07Speaker 1: Shout out to kill because I was on this podcast
- 16:10Speaker 1: couple of hours right before this and he said this,
- 16:16Speaker 1: Even though I disagreed. He said, like, you know, a
- 16:18Speaker 1: lot of times when you hear a part two or
- 16:21Speaker 1: three or whatever, all he could do is compare it
- 16:24Speaker 1: to the best version, but I was saying, well, Part
- 16:27Speaker 1: one and Part two were both crazy in production and lyrically,
- 16:33Speaker 1: so if they decide to do a part three, it
- 16:36Speaker 1: gotta be just as crazy.
- 16:38Speaker 2: It is not.
- 16:40Speaker 1: It is the weakest of the three and the other
- 16:44Speaker 1: two are far more superior in lyrics and raps. And
- 16:49Speaker 1: I think what I don't necessarily care for is the production.
- 16:56Speaker 1: Just there's something about it, like it this is That's
- 17:00Speaker 1: what it is. It's the title. If this was called
- 17:04Speaker 1: something else, I probably like it a little bit more,
- 17:07Speaker 1: But because it's New York State of Mind, Part three,
- 17:09Speaker 1: it just feels a little unnecessary.
- 17:13Speaker 2: So if it wasn't on the album, I wasn't a
- 17:15Speaker 2: bit mad. Welcome to the Underground.
- 17:18Speaker 1: Now, this was a snippet that went around and I
- 17:21Speaker 1: like the beat, but when Nad starts rapping on it
- 17:24Speaker 1: and I think this is the one where he say
- 17:26Speaker 1: baby mice. When I started rapping on it, it just
- 17:31Speaker 1: didn't feel right, if that makes sense, And again that
- 17:36Speaker 1: could be nitpicking, but I just didn't care for it.
- 17:40Speaker 2: Even on the third listen.
- 17:42Speaker 1: It was just like I could see myself skipping those
- 17:45Speaker 1: two records.
- 17:46Speaker 2: Now again, sometimes time heals all wounds. I might like
- 17:52Speaker 2: both of them, you know, I may understand the goal
- 17:56Speaker 2: a little bit more, but from what I can hear
- 17:58Speaker 2: after listening three times, I don't like him. Man. I
- 18:01Speaker 2: don't have to like everything. You don't have to like everything.
- 18:05Speaker 1: Madman was the record that kind of brought me back, like, Okay,
- 18:10Speaker 1: I kind of rock with this joint. I love pause tapes,
- 18:15Speaker 1: not those paws, but pause tapes. Primo says it in
- 18:19Speaker 1: the very beginning what a pause tape is. Now the
- 18:24Speaker 1: beat is a little bit it almost sounds like a
- 18:26Speaker 1: pause tape, and maybe that was on purpose, And I
- 18:30Speaker 1: think I like that about it.
- 18:32Speaker 2: So I like that.
- 18:33Speaker 1: Writers might low key be my favorite NAS rapping about
- 18:39Speaker 1: graffiti artists and naming some from you know, back in
- 18:43Speaker 1: the days and on. This is reminds me of like
- 18:48Speaker 1: godsn Nas where he had like a round book like
- 18:51Speaker 1: it just reminds me of the Nas that he's he's
- 18:55Speaker 1: even better when he has a concept and he goes in.
- 19:00Speaker 1: And I loved the track. I felt like the track
- 19:02Speaker 1: fit the vibe, and that's what I mean it. When
- 19:05Speaker 1: you listen to this album, it feels like there were
- 19:08Speaker 1: a lot of ideas and there was a lot of
- 19:12Speaker 1: like old school nostalgia and a lot of what they
- 19:15Speaker 1: were doing, and that's cool, but I don't like all
- 19:21Speaker 1: of it that's on here. But when I heard Pause
- 19:24Speaker 1: Tapes and Writers, I was like, this is this is.
- 19:28Speaker 2: More in line.
- 19:29Speaker 1: Even though I didn't see these two records, you know,
- 19:34Speaker 1: I'm going to say, coming pause, I like that's here.
- 19:40Speaker 1: I think that I think those records are dope. Sons,
- 19:43Speaker 1: Young King, this is another sequel. When I looked at
- 19:47Speaker 1: the track listing first, I didn't really I didn't even
- 19:50Speaker 1: see that song until it started playing. I was like, oh,
- 19:53Speaker 1: this is a sequel to Daughters, you know, because Nas
- 19:56Speaker 1: has a daughter and he has a son. It's oh,
- 20:01Speaker 1: it's nothing that great. I think Daughters was better. I
- 20:07Speaker 1: have only I only have sons, so I was like, yeah,
- 20:10Speaker 1: let it get it. Na's made one for me. Because
- 20:13Speaker 1: I liked Daughters, I was like, that's dope, but I
- 20:14Speaker 1: don't have daughters. I don't like this one that much.
- 20:18Speaker 1: I don't, but for the positivity in the lyrics, I
- 20:23Speaker 1: think it's a dope record. I think it probably should
- 20:28Speaker 1: have been a little closer to the end. Considering I
- 20:30Speaker 1: feel like the album what I was on a roller
- 20:34Speaker 1: coaster a little.
- 20:34Speaker 2: Bit with the album and what I liked and didn't like.
- 20:38Speaker 1: It's time I like to beat, and that was just
- 20:40Speaker 1: the old school part of me, just like I like
- 20:43Speaker 1: to beat. Okay, So I think that record was dope.
- 20:48Speaker 1: Nasty Esco and Na see it. At first I was listening,
- 20:52Speaker 1: I was like, oh, yeah, this is cool. But then
- 20:54Speaker 1: I wasn't paying attention on the first listen, and then
- 20:58Speaker 1: I caught it somewhere toward the end, and I'm like, oh,
- 21:02Speaker 1: Nasty Nas, Escobar, and Nasia all on the same track,
- 21:08Speaker 1: and it's almost as if he closes them out or
- 21:12Speaker 1: kills Nasty Nas and Escobar for Nazia, and he talks
- 21:16Speaker 1: about who Nasia was versus who Escobar was versus who
- 21:20Speaker 1: Nasty Nas was. And I kind of like it because
- 21:22Speaker 1: when he starts rapping like Nasty Nas, it almost sounds
- 21:26Speaker 1: like illmatic Nas.
- 21:28Speaker 2: All of a sudden.
- 21:30Speaker 1: But I felt look as an Esco fan, I feel
- 21:34Speaker 1: like Esco Nas is the best nas.
- 21:38Speaker 2: Like Lebron in Miami.
- 21:41Speaker 1: I feel like that Lebron and Miami slash Back to
- 21:46Speaker 1: Cleveland is like peak Lebron, right. I feel like Esco
- 21:51Speaker 1: pen wise is peak Nas, and I kind of felt
- 21:56Speaker 1: like Esco was summed up as mafia guy, even though
- 22:02Speaker 1: he kind of was. But when you look at the
- 22:06Speaker 1: records that he released as Esco penwise, it is unmatch.
- 22:11Speaker 1: And I'm even talking about over illmatic. But in general,
- 22:16Speaker 1: I like the song. I know, I think Tracy Lee
- 22:20Speaker 1: on his debut album had a similar record, but I
- 22:23Speaker 1: don't really compare it to considering NAS's career, his status,
- 22:29Speaker 1: the fact that anybody who's a real fan of Nas
- 22:33Speaker 1: from the beginning can identify Nasty Nas versus Esco versus
- 22:38Speaker 1: Nazia or who we have today. So dope record, dope concept.
- 22:44Speaker 1: My story, your story featuring az Preme could have gave
- 22:48Speaker 1: him a better beat. And again some people may say, yo,
- 22:53Speaker 1: I like that beat, though it needs some more on it,
- 22:56Speaker 1: because I like the fact that Nas and as they
- 23:00Speaker 1: they back and forth thing it sounds dope.
- 23:02Speaker 2: But that beat is so It's almost like you.
- 23:07Speaker 1: In the studio and they're getting a cipher together and
- 23:11Speaker 1: they just need a beat that everybody could rap to.
- 23:15Speaker 1: The beat doesn't need to do anything special, just put
- 23:17Speaker 1: on the beat that we all can rap too, and
- 23:19Speaker 1: we just take turns and I just felt like the
- 23:22Speaker 1: beat was taken away from the performance a better beat,
- 23:27Speaker 1: Like I would love for Permit to just remix this
- 23:29Speaker 1: whole damn album, to be honest, because maybe we'll just
- 23:33Speaker 1: get different versions, especially New York State of Mind part three.
- 23:39Speaker 1: I feel like the way Nas is rapping that was
- 23:42Speaker 1: a different beat at one point, and if that beat
- 23:45Speaker 1: is better, man put that on here. But nevertheless, the
- 23:49Speaker 1: joint where Az is hot because of their back and forth,
- 23:52Speaker 1: I just feel like their performances aren't strong enough to
- 23:56Speaker 1: make up for the beat. Even though the he's not whack,
- 24:01Speaker 1: I just feel like it's really it could have been
- 24:06Speaker 1: a little bit better. And again, some people may say,
- 24:09Speaker 1: I mean, come on, give prem a chance.
- 24:12Speaker 2: Prem raised this bar.
- 24:13Speaker 1: I'm sorry he raised the bar for himself and for
- 24:19Speaker 1: anyone to make it seem like you're asking a guy
- 24:24Speaker 1: who played in the league for fifty years to now
- 24:27Speaker 1: do a windmill three sixty dunk. No man just be
- 24:32Speaker 1: inspired in different ways. And again exhibit A Pete Rock
- 24:37Speaker 1: and Cock. Pete Rock was getting busy, so that's what
- 24:40Speaker 1: I'm saying. All right, we almost.
- 24:41Speaker 2: Finished Bouquet to the ladies.
- 24:44Speaker 1: This is sort of like the Sun's record This is
- 24:47Speaker 1: dedicated to the ladies of hip hop. I swear Na's
- 24:51Speaker 1: names every female MC ever known to man. We're not
- 24:55Speaker 1: talking about You're under the underground chicks because.
- 24:58Speaker 2: We don't know them. But I like it. I like
- 25:03Speaker 2: the like the Sun's record. I like the sentiment. It's
- 25:07Speaker 2: a positive record.
- 25:10Speaker 1: It might be the longest record on the album except
- 25:13Speaker 1: for writers, but they both do the same thing where
- 25:17Speaker 1: Na spends a good portion of the record shouting out
- 25:20Speaker 1: people and I.
- 25:22Speaker 2: Thought it was cool. Maybe could have ended that way.
- 25:27Speaker 1: I don't know, but it's gonna get skipped. I'm not
- 25:31Speaker 1: even gonna lie you. It's gonna get skipped. The more
- 25:33Speaker 1: I listen to this, Junkie is dope. But I feel
- 25:38Speaker 1: like in some ways this ground already covered by some
- 25:42Speaker 1: of his lyrics on this album.
- 25:44Speaker 2: He's saying he's a junkie.
- 25:45Speaker 1: For hip hop, and it feels like it's really dope
- 25:49Speaker 1: in the beginning as far as concept and the beat
- 25:52Speaker 1: is cool also, but somewhere in there it kind of
- 25:57Speaker 1: loses me a little bit.
- 25:59Speaker 2: Again. And I don't feel like anything on here is whack.
- 26:04Speaker 2: New York State of Mind Part three might be close.
- 26:07Speaker 1: I just feel like there's a chemistry issue with what
- 26:13Speaker 1: nas is talking about, how he's rhyming and Premiere in
- 26:18Speaker 1: some cases sounding limited. And I know he went on,
- 26:23Speaker 1: you know, he did some interviews and was like yo,
- 26:25Speaker 1: changing up the formula.
- 26:27Speaker 2: But like I said before, like I said before, if
- 26:31Speaker 2: you look at what prem has done in his history anyway,
- 26:37Speaker 2: he was never redundant with the beats.
- 26:40Speaker 1: You didn't know what you were going to get on
- 26:42Speaker 1: a premiere track. It was always different. It's just in
- 26:46Speaker 1: recent years it's changed. And I got another point to
- 26:49Speaker 1: make with that that is recent. Sean Together is a
- 26:55Speaker 1: cool record, but again, it feels like the album.
- 27:00Speaker 2: Was winding down in a way that I'm not gonna lie.
- 27:04Speaker 1: It made me forget about what I had heard and
- 27:06Speaker 1: I was like, damn is this album why? Like I
- 27:09Speaker 1: couldn't remember, But it's okay. Third Childhood another song that's
- 27:17Speaker 1: a sequel?
- 27:18Speaker 2: What is that? Three sequel records on hair? I believe.
- 27:25Speaker 1: I like it, you know why, because he my anticipation
- 27:35Speaker 1: was an extension of Second Childhood. But in Second Childhood,
- 27:40Speaker 1: if you heard that record, it was it was almost
- 27:43Speaker 1: like a disc record to guys who who didn't want
- 27:47Speaker 1: to grow up. You know what, I'm saying, but he
- 27:50Speaker 1: suffered my expectations because Third Childhood is more so like, hey,
- 27:55Speaker 1: look these other genres of music they dressed this way.
- 27:59Speaker 1: Nobody said as anything. You know what I'm saying, Like,
- 28:02Speaker 1: now he said what he say? He said, somebody still
- 28:06Speaker 1: paintstain nails black. And I'm like, wait a minute, he
- 28:09Speaker 1: passed away, does not now does not know that. I
- 28:14Speaker 1: forget who it was, but you know, leave it in
- 28:16Speaker 1: the conversation below. But regardless, I like the fact that
- 28:19Speaker 1: he flipped it so instead of it being like, oh, Hige,
- 28:24Speaker 1: he won't talk.
- 28:25Speaker 2: About Jimmy on this one.
- 28:26Speaker 1: It's like, no, Second childhood fits Jimmy like a glove
- 28:31Speaker 1: talking about jim Jones for those who don't know. But
- 28:34Speaker 1: Third Childhood he's more so talking about himself and some
- 28:38Speaker 1: of the things that he still likes to do that
- 28:43Speaker 1: some people may say.
- 28:44Speaker 2: You know, like oh, you know, the why you and
- 28:47Speaker 2: Jordan's grow up, why you have an army suit on?
- 28:50Speaker 2: Grow up?
- 28:51Speaker 1: And he's saying, you know, he's pointing out the fact
- 28:53Speaker 1: that there are people from other generations older than us
- 28:56Speaker 1: that still do the things, do some things for their youth,
- 29:01Speaker 1: and people think it's cool.
- 29:03Speaker 2: So that was it.
- 29:05Speaker 1: Like, there's fifteen songs in total, forty eight minutes of listening,
- 29:11Speaker 1: one feature in asy and again there might be three
- 29:18Speaker 1: skips on here. Who knows what had happened. Maybe well
- 29:22Speaker 1: I'm not even I'm lying, it might be four. But
- 29:25Speaker 1: they're fifteen tracks. There may be songs that I'm saying
- 29:29Speaker 1: I'll skip that, you know, keep listening, may let it
- 29:33Speaker 1: rock a little bit. But I feel like with this
- 29:37Speaker 1: project what brings it down a notch for me is
- 29:42Speaker 1: the production. It's hit or miss, and one of the
- 29:46Speaker 1: reasons why I feel like it could have been better
- 29:52Speaker 1: because again there's the Flowers dudes. There's a dude who,
- 29:56Speaker 1: like people from the old school, can't do no wrong,
- 30:01Speaker 1: whether it's NAS and Premiere or somebody else. I mean,
- 30:05Speaker 1: listen to that Mob Deep in Daylight album, like those
- 30:11Speaker 1: those don't sound like anything old. They don't in Daylight
- 30:15Speaker 1: came out before NAS. They don't sound old, you know
- 30:19Speaker 1: what I'm saying. But with this, I feel like the
- 30:21Speaker 1: production leaves something to be desired. In most cases, well
- 30:27Speaker 1: not most cases some cases. In most cases it's cool,
- 30:32Speaker 1: but for example, for those who don't know, because everybody
- 30:36Speaker 1: doesn't listen to everything. If you go listen to DJ
- 30:40Speaker 1: Premier and Rock Marciano's Ormani Section or Ransom and DJ
- 30:46Speaker 1: Premier's Amazing Grace Right, both epis dropped this year, but
- 30:53Speaker 1: those songs in particular, I thought those beats were crazy.
- 30:58Speaker 2: At no point here.
- 31:01Speaker 1: Did I feel like I was listening to something that
- 31:04Speaker 1: was crazy. But clearly DJ Premier has the capability to
- 31:11Speaker 1: do that, because I felt that way when I heard
- 31:14Speaker 1: him and Rock Marcis Amarny exchange, I was like, damn
- 31:17Speaker 1: this Premier. And again, sure it kind of does sound
- 31:21Speaker 1: like what you know from Premier, but it's not. He's
- 31:25Speaker 1: approaching it in a different way, and I feel like
- 31:28Speaker 1: my life is real feels like that. When it starts,
- 31:30Speaker 1: it's like, oh, this one kind of crazy Premier, But
- 31:34Speaker 1: then some of the beats don't really even feel like Premier.
- 31:40Speaker 1: So this is not a bad review, but I can
- 31:44Speaker 1: tell you this much, I don't think it will be
- 31:47Speaker 1: in my top five of the year. I think there's
- 31:51Speaker 1: enough here for it to be best of the year.
- 31:53Speaker 1: I think what Nas is doing with some of his
- 31:56Speaker 1: writing on here is dope. Again, making a song for
- 32:01Speaker 1: sons is a dope idea. Making a song for ladies
- 32:04Speaker 1: of hip hop is a dope idea. Having Nasty Nas
- 32:08Speaker 1: and Escobar and NA see it kind of all battle
- 32:12Speaker 1: out and talk shit and the form of a song
- 32:14Speaker 1: is a dope idea. There's enough creativity here from a
- 32:20Speaker 1: pen game situation for me to like the album. But
- 32:25Speaker 1: as far as waiting twenty years for a DJ Premier
- 32:30Speaker 1: and NAS record, and again not expecting them to tap
- 32:35Speaker 1: into what they did in the past, because that was
- 32:38Speaker 1: twenty years ago, it's difficult to even know what you
- 32:43Speaker 1: were thinking, and you know, unless you have it documented
- 32:47Speaker 1: back then. Like so, I didn't have any expectations for
- 32:53Speaker 1: this to be, you know, anything like represent NAS's like
- 32:59Speaker 1: those records were those records. But I feel like from
- 33:02Speaker 1: a production standpoint, it could have been a little bit better.
- 33:08Speaker 1: And that's what That's what I feel. So, what do
- 33:10Speaker 1: you think about the brand new NAS DJ Premier Light
- 33:15Speaker 1: Years album?
- 33:17Speaker 2: Leave your review in the common section below.
- 33:21Speaker 1: Hold up, let's let's just stop sharing real quick, uh,
- 33:26Speaker 1: and let me know what you think about the production.
- 33:29Speaker 1: What do you think about the concepts NAS is rapping?
- 33:33Speaker 1: Remember NAS wrapped on every one of the albums that
- 33:38Speaker 1: came out during this massive appeal rollout of Legend has it.
- 33:44Speaker 2: I have a review of.
- 33:45Speaker 1: That entire rollout happen and really soon, so stay tuned
- 33:50Speaker 1: for that. And where does this album land for you?
- 33:53Speaker 1: When it comes to those rollouts of albums you know?
- 33:56Speaker 1: Do you like it though? Do you feel like how
- 33:59Speaker 1: do you feel Primo Dig versus any of the nons
- 34:04Speaker 1: and hip boy records that we got since twenty twenty.
- 34:08Speaker 1: Leave your comments of the comments section below. Will follow
- 34:10Speaker 1: me on social media at Vegas World. I NC subscribe
- 34:14Speaker 1: to the podcast and audio phone wherever you get your
- 34:16Speaker 1: podcast listening, but also subscribe right here on YouTube Hip
- 34:22Speaker 1: Hop Now Pod. Become a member click the link in
- 34:26Speaker 1: the description of the episode, but more importantly shared this
- 34:30Speaker 1: podcast for people you know enjoyed this kind of content.
- 34:34Speaker 2: Until next time, y'all. I'm not a critic, I'm a
- 34:38Speaker 2: fan piece.