Nas and DJ Premier are finally orbiting back to that ’94 cosmos with Light-Years, their long-buried collab asteroid landing December 12 via Mass Appeal, and Pause Tapes is the glitchy reel that pauses the whole game to honor the dusty art of making magic from madness.
This cut, slotted at track six, feels like a love letter etched in wax: Premier’s signature scratches and dusty-looped breaks cradling Nas’s baritone reflections on the pause-tape hustle—the OG sampling hack where you’d hit stop, rewind, layer, repeat till the soul bled through. It’s pure golden-age hip-hop, no frills or flexes, just that crisp boom-bap pulse evoking Queensbridge stoops and basement cyphers. Thematically, it’s introspective excavation: Nas unpacking the grind of creation, those frozen moments where beats breathe life into stories, nodding to Premier’s wizardry on cuts like “One Love” without saying it outright. No guests crashing the vibe; it’s duo dynamite, cooked in sessions that spanned decades, with Preem’s scratches acting like time-stamps on Nas’s lyrical Polaroids.
Light-Years caps Mass Appeal’s Legend Has It… series—their six-album hip-hop heritage sprint from June to now—like a victory lap for the architects. Clocking 15 tracks, it’s a no-skip saga: “NY State of Mind Pt. 3” revives the blueprint, “My Story Your Story” ft. AZ dusts off Firm ghosts, while “Sons (Young Kings)” and “Shine Together” chase legacy light. The concept? A deliberate rewind to raw craft amid AI beats and trap floods, proving boom bap’s not relic—it’s rocket fuel. Teased since ’06 whispers, the tracklist dropped December 8, hyping fans on X with “Illmatic 2.0” memes, and that April single “Define My Name” set the orbit just right.
Nas, at 52, is eternal ink—post-King’s Disease trilogy and that EGOT glow, he’s trading emperor capes for time-traveler threads, evolving from street poet to hip-hop’s griot. Premier, the beat surgeon who’s stitched Gang Starr to every GOAT, stays the quiet conductor, this project his canvas to remind kids sampling’s sacred. Together? They’re not just dropping bars; they’re beaming blueprints for the next light-year leap, tour dates already flickering from NYC to LA come January.
Dive into the Pause Tapes lyrics below and unpack its raw narrative. Don’t miss other Light-Years tracks for more of Nas & DJ Premier’s timeless boom-bap soul.
| 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 Pause Tapes by Nas & DJ Premier
[Intro]
You Remember the First Time I Made a Beat,
I Had a Cassette Player in My Grandma’s Crib
I Didn’t Have All, You Know, the Extravagant Equipment, You Know
This Was Back in the Late Eighties, and I Used to Listen to Music on the Radio
That I Liked, You Know, Particularly Old School, Like, Seventies
and I Would Record It, and Then, After I Recorded a Certain Part That I Liked
I Would Record, Loop, Record, Loop, Record, Loop, Until It Just Became One Beat
and You Know, That Was the Beginning of Me Making Beats
Re-Record, Loop, Re-Re-Record, Loop
Re-Record, Loop, Re-Re-Record, Loop
Re-Record, Loop, Re-Re-Record, Loop
It’s a Drive-in Movie, No Roofs On, a Bunch of Benz’s
Let’s Try to Reimagine the Passion When I Got in This
a Panasonic With the Taperecorder
Tryna Level the Treble and Bass in Order, the [?] Sound Distorted
I Moved the Dial to Improve the Sound, Years Later Got a Sony Stereo-System
No Comparison With the Boombox, My Living Room Knocks
My Nigga Mayo, Next Door, He Bangin’ on the Wall, Told Us to Stop
Take Me Back, Drugs and Money, We Crudie, Lungs Smoky
Fiends in the Hallway, Bummy, Just Finished the [?] Music Savin’ Our Lives
Just Listen and Gettin’ Fried to Underrated Emcees
Sprayin’ Somethin’ to Hide the Aroma, Still in My Mom’s Cribs, Was Young and Lazy
Quit School ‘Cause I Needed Fly Shit, the Fiends Would Page Me
Not Tryin’ to Be Locked on a Big Queen’s Crazy
Guess Jeans and Polo Jacket, Just in the Crib Causing All This Racket
Always Knew I Was the Verbal Assassin
Submerged in the Very Dirty World, but Only Was Half in
That’s When I Had an Epiphany, Came With Last on the Symphony
if I Could Set a Pose Cut Off, That’d Be My Entry
Pickin’ Up the Stereo’s Remote Control, Quickly
[?] in the Cassette Deck, Rockin’ the Shit, G
Surprised I Opened a Bombshell and My Mom Tell’s Me I Could
Hook a Beat Up for Myself to Rhyme
My Mom’s Hall Closet and Boxes All [?] and Shit
Johnnie Taylor Records and Some Good [Global Washingtons?], I’m Locking in
Grab a Piece of Vinyl, Drop the Needle at the Top
Listen for a Beat to Rock, Ninety Minute Tape, I Got Enough Time
Play It One Time, Four Bars, Press Record, Then Press Pause, Then Restart
Record, Loop, Repeat, Do That ‘Bout Twenty Times,
Yo, I Made My First Beat
Pause Tapes
[Outro]
Pause Tapes, Rewind It, Re-Record, Loop
Re-Record, Loop, Re-Re-Record, Loop
Re-Record, Loop, Re-Re-Record, Loop
Loop, Loop, Loop, Loop, Loop, Loop,
Loop, Loop, Loop, Loop, Loop, Loop, Loop
