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Nas and DJ Premier link back up on 'Beat Breaks,' their first proper collaboration in 10 years, taken from Premo's 'Hip Hop 50 Volume 1' EP.

April 25, 2022 Esco, meanwhile, salutes the pioneers, revels in the spoils of rap stardom and reminisces on falling in love with Hip Hop as a shorty while displaying his ageless dexterity on the mic. Rocking with Preem is nothing short of amazing, he raps, before adding, Check the vibe, old school styles been augmented/You heard everything til Nas vocal cords hit it/Good Lord, now is it me or is they hard-headed?/Premo beats are water, let your thoughts dissolve in it. A post shared by @djpremier Beat Break is the first time Nas has laced a DJ Premier beat since Turn Up the Mic (Remix),from Bumpy Knuckles and DJ Premiers 2012 album KoleXXXion. (Premo featured on Nas and Hit-Boys 2021 song Wave Gods,but his contribution was limited to scratches.) Before that, they formed a formidable duo in the 90s and early 00s on Illmatic standouts such as Represent, Memory Lane and the aforementioned N.Y. State of Mind, as well as I Gave You Power, Nas Is Like and 2nd Childhood. A Nas and Premo album has long rumored to be in the works. During a 2015 VladTV interview the Gang Starr producer claimed Nas wanted to fulfill his Def Jam deal (which ended with 2018s Nasir ) before focusing on the fabled project. Nas has one more album to obligate to Def Jam, he said. He said he didnt really want to do there, he wanted to move on and do it independently, so we could do it how we want it. So I was like, All right, when the time come just holler at me, Im here. Read more