Nas and DJ Premier produced magic together on the 1994 Hip-Hop classic Illmatic, including the singles “N.Y. State of Mind” and “Represent.”
Thirty years later, the dynamic duo has reunited for another track called “Define My Name.” Preemo announced the news in an Instagram post on Thursday (April 18), writing simply, “New joint at midnight.” He included the single art, a fish-eyed lens photo of the two standing outside somewhere in New York City.
Earlier this week, Nas reflected on the making of Illmatic, which included contributions from several Hip-Hop legends. Large Professor, Pete Rock, Q-Tip, L.E.S. and, of course, DJ Premier contributed the beats, while AZ was the sole guest feature.
“Grainy pictures for grainy times,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “I had a dream I could get my favorite producers to produce on my debut album. I knew exactly what I wanted and how it should be. But I didn’t know anyone except for Paul, so I asked him would he connect me to them all. The cool soul brother that he is helped me line it up. On April 19th we smashed s###.
“Even tho the album leaked months before the release date we still are apart of music history. Thank you Large Professor (Paul) and Dj Premier who drove into the projects to pick me up a time or two. Qtip , Pete Rock , and my man from The Bridge DJ LES, and my guy AZ who was just coming up himself. And thank you to everyone involved. Friday is the albums 30th. 2 The Listeners- ONE LOVE.”
Both Nas and DJ Premier have continued pumping out incredible bodies of work over the past few decades. Nas, in particular, has had an impressive run with the King’s Disease projects alongside Hit-Boy. In 2021, Nas won his first-ever Grammy Award for the original King’s Disease (2020), a testament to his commitment to the craft. Since then, he’s released five more projects: King’s Disease II (2021), Magic (2021), King’s Disease III (2022), Magic 2 (2023) and Magic 3 (2023).
