Arguably the greatest hip-hop album of all time, Nas' Illmatic, turns 30 years old tomorrow (Friday, April 19), and to start celebrating the occasion, it seems like the Queens legend is reminiscing on the moment with one of the people that helped make the album the golden standard that it is for rap music. Moreover, he shared an Instagram post on Wednesday (April 17) that featured a photo with DJ Premier in the '90s, and a picture of them right now. "Then v.s Now. What if…" the "One Time 4 Your Mind" MC captioned the post, and those last two words really got fans thinking that their mythical collab album might still arrive.
Furthermore, for those unaware, a team-up for a full LP's been on the cards for Esco and Preemo since at least 2007, if going off of recorded history. A Scratch interview saw them mention it, but nothing else has manifested since then other than occasional teases and promises that it will (or could) still happen. However, the most recent tease about this DJ Premier joint project came on Nas' "30" off of his King's Disease III album, which was ironically a collaborative effort with another producer, Hit-Boy. "Superhero material, rap star status / Premier album still might happen," he spits on the song.
Nas Hints At DJ Premier Collab Album, Fans Think
Going back to Illmatic, which contains some of DJ Premier's most legendary beats for Nas, the latter recently reflected on this time of his life in a recent IG post. "Grainy pictures for grainy times," he captioned about the pictures in the 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**t," the 50-year-old continued. "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." Do you think this collab album is ever coming out? Let us know in the comments and stay posted on HNHH for the latest news and updates on Nas and DJ Premier.