Moments in Timelessness

Light-Years Album ∙ Rap ∙ 2025 Nas &  DJ Premier Any telling of Nas’ story would be woefully incomplete without mentioning DJ Premier. Back in the day, the esteemed Gang Starr producer laced the then-rising Queensbridge MC with three beats that made his game-changing 1994 debut,  Illmatic . That professional connection continued with placements on albums like  I Am…  and the triumphant  Stillmatic , further linking the two artists in the annals in hip-hop history. As such, the arrival of  Light-Years , fully produced by Preemo at the virtual halfway point of Nasir ’s improbable 2020s run, seems like the fulfillment of rap destiny. Naturally, these men have grown and evolved in the three decades since their first team-up. Nas’ references to crypto portfolios and Saudi investments on “ GiT Ready ” and “ Welcome to the Underground ” are exceedingly far from those found on their initial studio collaborations, a better reflection of the artist as c...

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE STREETS? Album ∙ Rap ∙ 2025 21 Savage Since breaking through with 2016’s icy  Savage Mode , a joint EP between himself and Metro Boomin , the Atlanta-based rapper has countered menace with candor, revealing his story in glimpses between scenes of cold-blooded murder and exorbitant flexing. It’s not that 21 Savage has let his guard down exactly, though on his third solo album, 2024’s  american dream , he let go of the pure nihilism of his early work to begin to open up about his family and his past. The 33-year-old rapper’s fourth album, announced just four days before its release, centers around familiar themes—chiefly, trying to make it in a bleak and cutthroat world. On “ DOG $HIT ,” featuring GloRilla , 21 makes balling out sound sinister, and on “ HA ,” he turns a supervillain laugh into a hook over a Zaytoven production straight out of the aughts (with a sample of a 2007 Gucci Mane mixtape cut for good measure). But on closing track “ I WISH ,” with...