Fans of Nas and DJ Premier have been waiting for this day for years. The New York-based duo have finally confirmed their plans to release their highly-anticipated joint album.
On Friday, April 19, the Mass Appeal Records co-founder and the revered beatmaker released their new collaboration "Define My Name." The track opens with Preemo's scratches as he samples a line from Nas' 1999 hit "Nas Is Like" and the late Biz Markie's “Nobody Beats The Biz (Marley Marl Remix)." The elite MC uses his verses to break down the meaning of his birthname "Nasir" and rehash on his 35-year legacy in the rap game.
"At twenty, I said I'd better quit by thirty/Then by thirty, I thought by forty rapping is corny," Nas raps in his second verse. "How wrong was I?/Never would have thought at fifty, new songs by Nas would be hard and live."
The duo's song arrived in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Queensbridge, N.Y. native's debut album Illmatic. The 10-track album solidified Nas' place in Hip-Hop history alongside Premier, who produced three songs and sequenced the LP. Towards the end of their new joint, Preemo hops on and attempts to spit a verse for the outro. He stops midway through and laughs with Nas, who later confirms the duo are making more new music.
"I got the rhymes, you got the beats/Thirty years later, we back in the streets," Nas says. "We back in the lab.... It's time, it's album time!"
The duo have worked together on several hits in the years since Illmatic dropped but they've yet to team up on a full-length LP. Back in 2022, Nas got fans hype about a more in-depth collaborative effort on the song "30" from his King's Disease III album. In it, he says the "Premier album still might happen." Two years later, Preemo himself confirms the album "still gon' happen."
Listen to Nas and DJ Premier's new song "Define My Name" below and look out for their new album coming later this year.