Nas has confirmed speculation that began earlier in the week when he posted a throwback photo with DJ Premier – new music from the pair is about to drop.
In an Instagram post on Thursday (April 18), Esco shared the cover art for their new single “Define My Name,” set to drop at midnight.
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The announcement followed a throwback photo from just one day prior featuring him and Preemo together in the 90s with the caption: “Then v.s Now. What if…”
The comments were flooded with excitement as people speculated about the post being his roundabout way of confirming that their long-awaited LP is on the way.
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“Don’t play with my emotions like this,” one person wrote, while another added: “Preem & esco album, maybe? Probably? Hope fully lol?”
Another comment read: “Here we gooooo!!!!!!!”
Word of a collaborative project by Nas and DJ Premier first made the rounds after the two mentioned teaming up for a full-length album during a 2007 interview with Scratch. Years went by, but nothing materialized outside of the legendary producer repeatedly promising that it would come out some day.
Both veterans began working together after the scratch master heard Esco’s “Halftime” track for the first time. He loved the record so much that he wasted no time hopping on the MC’s debut album Illmatic to handle production alongside Large Professor, Q-Tip, Pete Rock and more.
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The songs released as part of that LP are still among Nas’ most revered work, namely joints such as “N.Y. State of Mind,” “Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)” and “Represent.” The duo would continue to work with each other on songs such as “Nas Is Like” and “N.Y. State of Mind Pt. II” in subsequent years, but never on an entire album.
Despite not giving fans much of an update on the teased collaboration, Nas and Preemo reunited in 2022 when they joined forces on “Beat Breaks” off the producer’s Hip Hop 50: Vol. 1 EP.
Later that year, the MC snuck a line in about the joint effort on his King’s Disease 3 album with Hit-Boy – giving fans hope that the project would finally materialize.
“Doesn’t matter this is sheer relief, I feel the breeze this is/ Superhero material, rap star status/ Premier album still might happen,” he raps on the track.
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It’s unclear if the single will be a one-off or a full album just yet, but many are clamoring for the latter.
