Nas and DJ Premier Team on New Single “Define My Name” to Celebrate ‘Illmatic’ Anniversary

The dynamic duo have an album coming this year.

Photo via Nas/DJ Premier

Today is the 30th anniversary of Nas' debut album Illmatic.

To celebrate the occasion, the Queensbridge rapper has shared a new song with DJ Premier, who produced a handful of classic beats on Illmatic ("N.Y. State of Mind," "Memory Lane," and "Represent"). They've also got an entire collab album coming later this year.

Over nostalgic production courtesy of Preemo, Nas reflects on his four decades in the rap game.

“At 20, I said I’d better quit by 30/Then by 30, I thought by 40 rapping is corny/How wrong was I?/Never would have thought at 50, new songs by Nas would be hard and live," he raps on the track

"Define My Name" is the latest classic collab from Nas and DJ Premier.

Since linking up on Illmatic, Nas and Preemo have joined forces on several albums from the Queens legend, including1996's It Was Written ("I Gave You Power"), 1999's I Am... ("Nas Is Like"), 1999's Nastradamus ("Come Get Me"), and 2001's Stillmatic ("2nd Childhood"), among others.

Stream "Define My Name" now on Apple Music, Spotify, and all major platforms.

Latest in Music