Nas and DJ Premier are closing chapters like elder statesmen with a velvet hammer on Light-Years, their long-teased joint album beaming in December 12 via Mass Appeal, and “3rd Childhood” feels like the quiet epilogue—Nas peering back at life’s loops, wondering if wisdom’s just another playground bruise.
This closer track is peak Nas introspection laced with Premier’s golden-era grit: dusty vinyl scratches and snares that crack like ’94 thunder, wrapping around bars that meditate on rebirths, regrets, and the kid who never quite grew out of the Queensbridge concrete. It’s boom-bap purism with a sage twist—think Illmatic’s street poetry evolved into a father’s ledger, themes orbiting legacy’s weight, fatherhood’s pull, and that elusive third act where innocence flickers back amid the scars.
No features here; it’s raw duo alchemy, co-written in marathon sessions that spanned Nas’s Magic 3 haze to Premier’s analog vaults, teasing a sound that honors hip-hop’s roots while whispering future-proof truths. Dropped as the final reveal in yesterday’s tracklist bombshell, it had X erupting with “Nas at 52 spitting like 22” memes, fans already anointing it the sleeper soul-stirrer.
Light-Years itself? It’s the seventh and swan-song entry in Mass Appeal’s Legend Has It… series, a 15-track odyssey clocking 50 minutes of uncompromised craft—no gimmicks, just Premier’s dusty-fingered beats propping Nas’s novelist flows. Opener “My Life Is Real” sets the confessional tone, hits like “NY State of Mind Pt. 3” and “Nasty Esco Nasir” flex the braggadocio, while AZ guests on “My Story Your Story” for that Firm reunion nod. The rest—“Sons (Young Kings),” “Bouquet (To The Ladies),” “Junkie”—weave street hymns with tender threads, all executive-produced by Preem in his NYC lab. It’s a time machine and telescope: reflecting 30-plus years of synergy since “N.Y. State of Mind,” while plotting hip-hop’s next light-year leap.
Nas is in god-mode renaissance, off King’s Disease trilogy plaques and that surprise Glastonbury takeover last summer, where he dusted off joints that bent timelines. Premier, the Gang Starr GOAT, stays timeless—scratching relics into relics—proving their collab isn’t nostalgia; it’s necessary evolution, schooling the game on how queens become constellations.
Dive into the 3rd Childhood lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other Light-Years tracks for more of Nas & DJ Premier’s timeless boom-bap wisdom.
| Lead Vocals | Nas & DJ Premier |
| Songwriter | Nas & DJ Premier |
| Music Producer | DJ Premier |
| Label | Mass Appeal Records |
| Release Date | December 12, 2025 |
| Song Language | English |
| Copyright © | Mass Appeal Records |
Lyrics of 3rd Childhood by Nas & DJ Premier
[Chorus]
When I Flow for the Street, Who Else Could It Be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect Through the Birth of My Seed, Queensbridge
Make Everything Right, Get Yours, Nigga
When I Flow for the Street, Who Else Could It Be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect Through the Birth of My Seed, Queensbridge
Make Everything Right, Get Yours, Nigga
Is It Time to Take of the Skellies, the Timbs’ and the Fitted Caps?
Time to Let Go the Weed, Can’t Let the Jeans Sag?
Ozzy Ozbourne Still Got a Sting in [?]
Rock and Rollers, Still Rebels Any Age That They at
but When Rap Is a Time Limit, Never
I’m Livin’ Proof, I’m the Truth ‘Til if I Live A-Hundred-and-Two
When I Was Young I Knew Nothing, but Then Here Comes a New Lesson
From a Older Gentlemen Dressed in Dior, He Flexin’
He Said, “It’s Not How Old You Are, It’s How You You Feel”
Look Here, I’m in My Air Max 87 Still
[?] Secluded Out in the Bush
Pimps Still Wearin’ Their Derby’s, People Still Dippin’ Snuff
That’s How It Stay True, Ways We Learn of the Days of Our Youth
Seen a Man, Like Eighty-Two, He Rocked His Hat Ace-Deuce
I’m Goin’ Out Hood, Different From Bein’ a Third Childhood
Swished It Up a Little, but Still, I’m Goin’ Out Hood [Chorus]
When I Flow for the Street, Who Else Could It Be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect Through the Birth of My Seed, Queensbridge
Make Everything Right, Get Yours, Nigga
When I Flow for the Street, Who Else Could It Be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect Through the Birth of My Seed, Queensbridge
Make Everything Right, Get Yours, Nigga [Verse 2]
Hear Me Out Now, Back in the Days, It Sure Was the Time
Hear Me Out if I’ve Been Your Age and You Haven’t Been Mine
as We Get Older, at Times, Great Turns Into Mediocre
Good Turns Into So-So, “Bad” Just Means That It Could Be Better
I Wrote a Letter to the Judge From Prince
a Sharp Minded Man Who Though His Way Up ‘Bout the Pens
Corporations Are Not the Genius That Created Gangster Rap
Never Give ‘Em Credit for That, We Made It That
I Hip-Hop 50 to That [?] Stage, and Brought Kool Herc on Stage
I Made Sure That Hip-Hop Museum Got Paid
Matter Fact, Anything My Name Is Involved With, Positivity Revolves in It
Serendipitous, Always Move With Confidence
You May Not See Me Sweat, but Trust, Yo, I’ll Work Hard for This
Grew Up Around Heroin Addicts Before That Crack Shit
Crack Was Light Compared to What the Smack Did
Y’all Play With Marbles, We Play With Dope Fiend Needles We Found
Injected Worms When the Rain Brought ‘Em Up From the Ground
It’s Nothin’ Changin’, Some of My Men, We Go Back Like Daylight Savings
My Third Childhood, That Third Course, That’s the Main Dish
Hope We Get Dessert, That’s the Cherry on Top
Peaceful Sundays, but We Still Carry the Glocks, Registered
if You Made It This Far, Then It’s All Good
It Makes Me Proud, I Love That We Goin’ Out Hood
[Chorus]
When I Flow for the Street, Who Else Could It Be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect Through the Birth of My Seed, Queensbridge
Make Everything Right, Get Yours, Nigga
When I Flow for the Street, Who Else Could It Be?
N-A-S, Nas
Resurrect Through the Birth of My Seed, Queensbridge
Make Everything Right, Get Yours, Nigga
