The long-awaited joint album from Hip-Hop legends Nas and DJ Premier is officially complete and set for release, much to the excitement of fans worldwide, per hiphopdx.com.
The iconic duo have revealed that their full-length collaboration is titled Light-Years and will arrive on 12 December via Mass Appeal Records. They also unveiled the official album artwork.
The project marks the seventh and final instalment in Mass Appeal Records’ ‘Legend Has It…’ series, which has brought a flood of new music from New York Hip-Hop royalty throughout 2025.
Light-Years follows highly anticipated releases from some of the genre’s finest names. The series kicked off in June with Slick Rick’s comeback LP, Victory, and was followed by albums from Raekwon (The Emperor’s New Clothes), Ghostface Killah (Supreme Clientele 2), Mobb Deep (Infinite), the late Big L (Harlem’s Finest: Return of the King), and De La Soul (Cabin in the Sky).
Nas, who co-owns Mass Appeal Records, recently discussed the significance of the series with Rolling Stone, saying the series channels the energy of a classic era.
“It’s 1995 all over again. Sometimes I feel like 2025 has that feeling. It’s not going backwards, [it’s] going forward, though. It’s that feeling of urgency, that vibration, the celebration of life and these songs and these albums, what they meant 30 years ago. It’s still thriving right now.”
The rapper added that the project is intended to “encourage [and] inspire hip hop and remind us all [of] the pureness of hip hop.”
Light-Years is the culmination of a legendary partnership between the Queensbridge MC and the Gang Starr producer. The pair have been responsible for countless Hip-Hop classics over the years, including Illmatic standouts “N.Y. State of Mind” and “Represent,” as well as “Nas is Like” and “2nd Childhood.”
Rumours of a full collaborative album have circulated for years, finally gaining confirmation last year when the duo announced the project and released the lead single, “Define My Name.”
Nas has confirmed that the album will not just feature new material, but will also include a handful of older songs recorded when the pair first discussed making an album years ago.
He told Rolling Stone: “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.”
“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,” he concluded.
