ACRN.COM

By Nicholas Kobe, Staff Writer

[Mass Appeal; 2024]

Rating: 7/10

New York hip-hop legend Nas teamed up with DJ Premier for the new single “Define My Name”, released on the 30th anniversary of Nas’ groundbreaking debut album, 1994’s Illmatic. Both Premier and Nas have come a long way since they teamed up for some of Illmatic’s most earth-shattering tracks, such as “Represent” and “N.Y. State of Mind”. Premier has continued to work with just about every major name in hip-hop, specifically from the East Coast. He produced tracks for The Notorious B.I.G.’s Ready to Die and Jay-Z’s Reasonable Doubt, two of the most defining New York hip-hop releases of all time, as well as producing assorted tracks and remixes for artists like Snoop Dogg, Kanye West, and Christina Aguilera. 

While some could argue Nas’ discography fell off after Illmatic, he’s been consistently dropping solid albums for 30 years. Nas’ staying power was proven to any doubters with his King’s Disease (I, II, & III) and Magic (I, II, & III) series with Hit-Boy, a run of six albums that consistently ranked among the best hip-hop releases of the year, including King Disease (I) winning “Best Rap Album” at the 63rd Grammy Awards. After ending this series in 2023, questions lingered about where Nas would go after this renaissance of critically acclaimed albums. “Define My Name” with DJ Premier proves that Nas has found another fruitful collaborator. 

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The first instantly noticeable thing about “Define My Name” is Premier’s production. He’s purposely taking it very old-school, building a beat based on a high-pitched sample being scratched on a turntable. It’s a relatively minimalist production, something that I feel like Nas has always excelled at. Considering Nas is spending the track reflecting on his legacy, it’d feel unnatural if it was anything other than the traditional New York production that made him, and his city, the epicenter of hip-hop. 

Lyrically Nas’ reflections are poignant. I love the section in the first verse where he breaks down the history of his name, Nasir, and what that name means to him. It’s not only well-worded introspection, but it sets up for his second verse, where he marvels at the fact that he’s still churning out great songs at 50 years old. Nas’ flow is direct and perfectly on top of the beat. He’s not doing anything overly technical and flashy, but he’s staying in the pocket in a way many rappers lack the discipline to do. 

The song, clocking in at just about three minutes, feels much shorter than that run time implies. While I love what’s here, I think the tangent of Nas and Premier bantering would have landed a lot better if there had been a third verse. Considering said outro, it ends with Nas and Premier teasing an upcoming collaboration album. I’m grateful I don’t have to wait too long to hear from these two again. 

Nas’ experience is what shines through in “Define My Name”. While it was also front and center on his records with Hit-Boy, listening to “Define My Name” and then listening to “N.Y. State of Mind” back to back really shows just how far not only Nas and Premier, but hip-hop as a whole has come in 30 years. 

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