New York Queensbridge icon Nas teams up with DJ Premier for his 18th album. Best known as the son of jazz cornetist/guitarist Olu Dara, his debut illmatic and equally classic sophomore effort It Was Written are both widely regarded as one of the greatest albums in hip-hop history. I also like stillmatic, The Lost Tapes, God’s Son and Life is Good. Then there’s the Kanye West-produced NASIR & The Lost Tapes II, which I feel are great additions to his catalog, although the overall consensus is polarizing. However, the Hit-Boy-produced “King’s Disease” and “Magic” trilogy both became his most famous material since “Life is Good” and rounded out Mass Appeal Records’ historic Legend Has It series, with the fabulous “Lightyears” arriving nearly 20 years in the making.
“My Life’s Real” starts off by talking about telling the truth, as there’s no use lying around on piano-driven booming instrumentals before “Git Ready” brings a funkier vibe, laying down crime threads, all because of a few files. “NY State of Mind 3” is one of my 10 picks from Nas’s entire discography, a trilogy chapter that features Billy Joel songs, while “Welcome to the Underground” flips a guitar so he can talk about turning cornballs into cornstarch.
As for “Madman,” we have Nas strangely coming together to drop murderous material from a psychopath, while “Pause Tapes” recalls him making his first beats by looping samples on a dual cassette recorder. “Writers” blends funk and boom bap so they can lay a floral tribute to hip-hop’s oldest element (i.e. graffiti writing) before “Daughters” sequel “Sons (Young Kings),” a piano-laden tribute to everyone who has a son of their own and only wishes they had the strongest bond possible.
“It’s Time” continues the second half of “Light-Years”, talking about the whole concept of time itself in a funky way, while “Nasty Esco Nasir” samples some strings mixed with kick and snare, promising the world that we’re entering the fourth phase of his career. “My Story Your Story” featuring AZ is the only guest appearance that doesn’t disappoint as they seamlessly switch mics back and forth over the course of 4 minutes, while “Bouquet (To the Ladies)” is dedicated to the women out there.
The songs “Junkie” intersect over an orchestral boom, talking about his dream of being his great-great-grandfather when he was still alive, while “Shine Together” suggests that easy money is robbery in the grand scheme of things, becoming more and more phenomenal with every word he spits out. “Third Childhood” concludes by revisiting the concept of “second childhood” in “Second Childhood,” a concept I’ve always associated with, especially since I was growing up, which includes a reference to the late Black Sabbath frontman and WWE Hall of Famer Ozzy Osbourne.
There was a time when it was thought that Light-Years would never see the light of day, much like Redman’s ninth album Muddy Waters 2 just before Christmas last year. It’s been some 37 months since “30” from King’s Drugs III teased it, and I’m grateful that it finally caps off some of the most important years of Mass Appeal Records’ entire decade-long history. DJ Premier’s jazzy BAP production rivals Hit-Boy’s on the King’s Sickness and Magic series from the early 2000s, and Nas’s pen has been honed over time.
Rating: 9/10
