Queensbridge legend Nas has excited fans with the prospect of a DJ Premier collaborative album following an Instagram photo taken in the 1990s that saw a young him alongside Preemo. The picture was most likely taken during the creation of his 1994 classic Illmatic.
The photo, posted on April 17th, had the caption, “Then vs Now. What if…” This sparked a massive amount of speculation that Nas is currently working with Premier on a new album. Fans were quick to share their thoughts.
One Nas fan wrote, “Don’t play with my emotions like this,” while another added, “Preem & esco album, maybe? Probably? Hopefully, lol?” One follower seemed sure it was a confirmation, commenting, “Here we gooooo!!!!!!!”
Although Nas (real name Nasir Jones) has worked with Premier extensively, the two have never released a joint project. The idea was first floated in a 2007 interview with Scratch magazine (now XXL).
Jones promised fans almost yearly that he had something in the works with Premier. However, a whole body of work never came to fruition, disappointing many. Despite this, many Nas followers still have a strange amount of hope.
Premier first decided to work with Jones after he heard his 1992 single ‘Halftime’. The track was released when Nas was still on Columbia and unknown outside of the East Coast. After this, he joined Large Professor, Q-Tip, and Pete Rock to craft Illmatic.
The pair’s most impactful collaboration was ‘N.Y. State of Mind’, which many New Yorkers consider one of the best hip-hop tracks ever. They continued this throughout the 1990s for It Was Written, I Am… and Nastradamus. Still, there was never an entire album.
The pair reunited in 2022 for ‘Beat Breaks’, which would appear on 2023’s Hip Hop 50: Vol. 1 EP. However, in recent years, Nas has seen a lot of success working with Hit-Boy, and many are unsure if he is looking to stray from what seems to be a winning formula for him.