Nas provides update on DJ Premier collaborative album
Nas has given an update on his joint album with DJ Premier. The Queensbridge rapper spoke about the anticipated project during a recent interview.
The rapper-producer duo officially announced the album last year while sharing the first single titled ‘Define My Name’.
Speaking to Rolling Stone, Nas said, “I can’t wait for people to finally hear it. I don’t know about anybody else, but for me and him, it was personally a long time coming for us to do it.”
When asked about their past plans before locking in on an album, he said, “I’m going to say at least two of those ideas happened on this album. We didn’t get a chance to do ’em when we were talking about ’em, but we finally got a chance to put those recordings together this year.”
The album is set to be released in 2025 as part of a seven-project series from seven artists on Mass Appeal Records, including Ghostface Killah, Mobb Deep, Raekwon, De La Soul, Big L, and Slick Rick.
Peter Bittenbender, who co-founded the label alongside Nas, recently revealed he has been pushing for the joint album for over a decade.
“I think there are only a few albums in the history of hip-hop that have had this level of anticipation,” he told Music Week. “Nas and Premo are the perfect manifestation of what we want at Mass Appeal. The greatest rapper, the greatest producer, and they’ve both been doing it at such a high level for such an extended period of time. So the way Nas treats the craft of writing, and the way Premo treats the craft of DJing and producing, it’s the pinnacle of excellence.”
He added, “I’ve been fighting for this album to come out for a long time and it’s been a product that’s been announced, started and stopped many times. So to have it so close to being out there is super-exciting. I can’t wait for fans to hear it. Since the day I got into business with Nas 12 years ago, I’ve been pushing for this. It’s a pure hip-hop album in its highest form.”
Nas and Premier have collaborated many times over the years on songs like ‘NY State of Mind‘, ‘Nas is Like’, and ‘2nd Childhood’.