REVIEW: NAS & DJ PREMIER - LIGHT-YEARS

4/5

Legends Have It

Saving the best for last, Mass Appeal's 'Legend Has It...' series concludes with a classic collaboration before the curtain of this calendar. Slick Rick ('Victory'), Raekwon ('The Emperor's New Clothes'), Ghostface Killah ('Supreme Clientele 2'), Mobb Deep ('Infinite'), Big L ('Harlem's Finest: Return Of The King'), De La Soul ('Cabin In The Sky'). And now, Nas, who appears on all the albums from the aforementioned artists with the respective, 'Documents', 'The Omerta', 'Love Me Anymore', 'Down For You' (with Jorja Smith), 'U Ain't Gotta Chance', and 'Run It Back!' But now, Nas is like back with the legendary DJ Premier, like some of their collective classics. And the name of the game is 'Light-Years', like how much ahead of the competition this old-school/out of this world album is.

Premier previously released 'The Reinvention' with Ransom, mere months back, but it's God's Son who has been on a tear lately. Since COVID, Nas has given us the 'King's Disease' and 'Magic' trilogies, the latter with producer Hit-Boy, showcasing his supreme skill set as one of the game and genre's most legendary lyricists. This half-decade of dominance, making fans and purists alike debate if this was one of the G.O.A.T.'s greatest eras (he's an icon who deserves his time to be called as such), like the inspired 'Illmatic' beginnings, or the 'Stillmatic' career comeback when he gave the 'Ether' to Jay-Z. Not to mention when he buried all sorts of hatchets on 'Hip-Hop Is Dead'. Or almost called an album the 'N' word. And we can settle that Nasir Jones versus S. Carter debate right now. Jigga hasn't had a solo set out since they read the wrong name for 'Best Picture' at The Oscars. But by this moonlight, Nas makes it to 21 savage albums, if you count his collaborative ones with Damian Marley ('Distant Relatives') and The Firm ('The Album'). AZ calling it twenty-something on the real reunion of 'My Story Your Story'.

Jones really is a superhero like the Marvel comic collaboration with Mass Appeal. The premier DJ, too, giving us one of the New York rapper's greatest hits since 'Nas Is Like'. Singles? This dynamic duo doesn't need singles, like J. Cole doesn't guest features. Although 'Define My Name' last year, to mark 'Illmatic's' 30th anniversary was incredible. Not when they have sequels to their cinematic canons of hip-hop history. The instant classic, trilogy closer of 'N.Y. State Of Mind Pt.3' brings a bold and beautiful Billy Joel sample for Madison Square Garden's finest. Whilst we're in our '3rd Childhood' in closing now. Who else could it be? N.A.S. NAS! And Preme on the wheels of steel. Primo when it comes to other top tracks that could serve as spiritual sequels. Most notably, 'Sons (Young Kings)' for 'Daughters'. And the tribute to the best women in rap, with the 'Bouquet (To The Ladies)', like the 'U.B.R.' of an 'Unauthorized Biography Of Rakim'. And as he shouts out all the greats, like he does his 'Legend Has It' icons on the opening 'My Life Is Real, or the NYC sports teams on 'State Of Mind', whilst you listen out for Nicki, I'm wondering, where's Jean Grae?

This schedule by Mass Appeal is as good as that great day in hip-hop, a landmark moment for the genre. This should have been done when rap celebrated its 50th birthday. As classic as this cover in black and gold, blinging like the same 'Star Wars' Nas rapped about on another 'Illmatic' anniversary. The seventh seal and divine number. 'Nasty Esco Nasir' rapping like a 'Madman' and calling himself the crypto king on 'GiT Ready'. Rhyming "Welcome to the underground, that basement life/Way underneath the earth, dig up dirt, termites and baby mice, scatterin’/Below the surface, we deep in the soil, we jackhammerin'/To the core of it all, avoidin' the laws" with Ralph McDaniels. All before giving it up for the graffiti 'Writers'. Big beats take you through these streets as DJ Premier is as powerful as he is profound. Laying the groundwork for Nas to say such things like, "Rhyme a few bars, kick a few flows/For every word I spit, I get phenomenal/And we might as well shine together" for a Notorious B.I.G. refrain. No need to 'Pause Tapes', this hip-hop 'Junkie' who has been free-bassing since 2020, has that vision once more. Ayo, Black, 'It's Time' again. The appeal is mass and will last for light years beyond this great year in hip-hop. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'N.Y. State Of Mind Pt.3', 'Writers', 'My Story Your Story (Feat AZ)'.

Spin This: Mobb Deep - 'Infinite'

LIVE REVIEW: KYOKA + AMI KUSAKARI @ MUTEK JP 10, Spotify O-East, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan (23/11/25)

4/5

Water Studies 

Music is art, plain and simple, simple and plain. You only have to see sound and hear time with the late, great Ryuichi Sakamoto to feel this. Earlier this year, another artist inspired by the legendary likes of him, Ami Kusakari, released her inspired instrumental, and stunning solo set, 'Garden Studies' to rave reviews. Taking us back to the beauty and nature of life, soil to seed. This atmospheric album played in the white fog, of an exhibition like entrance to the epic, back-to-back, K-Arena 'Sakanaquarium' concerts with this bass player's band, Sakanaction, concluding their tour of the rising sun in August. 

Kyoka, also, needs no introduction. The first female artist signed to the iconic experimental German label, Raster-Noton (now Raster Media and NOTON), splits her time between Switzerland, Berlin and her native Japan. The eclectic sound and installation artist, DJ, field recorder and electric producer knows music and sound to the notes she devotes. Exploring and experimenting, the whole soundscape with a purists touch. Records like 'Is (Is Superpowered), 'iSH' and 'SH' will take you further...and higher. Using synths, equalizers and MIDI pads, Kyoka not only brings echos and reverbs of her signature sound, but also the amazing art itself, as the movie that played behind her and Ami was composed by Kyoka, herself. All for a personal and profound passion project that is "inspired by motion picture blindness". All through the flow of water and our own human perceptions in this compelling communication from Kyoka and Kusakari.

Together, the perfect pairing offered a stunning set, incredible, inspired and absolutely beautiful. All for the tenth MUTEK JP festival, from Montreal, Canada, to Tokyo, Japan. Playing in Spotify's O-East venue in the heart of Shibuya, just a few corners from the crossing. But through these neon streams, audible art took you on a path more meaningful and moving than all that. All for a three-day festival that also included the electronic music and digital creativity likes of Alex Vlair, Atsushi Kobayashi, BunBun, and many, many more. This tech cultural-exchange in the form of music celebrated it's tenth anniversary in Japan with a special showcase, and Kyoka and Ami were at the heart of it, headlining the final day. From Kyoka's heartfelt introduction to her work, and songs like 'Susurrus' and 'Shush', to Kusakari giving us her 'Garden Studies' (including 'Sound Of A Pier', 'RainFalls' and an extended version of 'Ginkgo Tree') in all their beautiful blooms, this left us all in attendance wondering what it would be like if this dynamic duo gave us an actual album. But this perfect performance was much more than that. Floating through the depths of our subconscious and resonating with us in layers. Sensory, physically and mentally. It contained multitudes. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

REVIEW: DE LA SOUL - CABIN IN THE SKY

4/5

Spirit In The Sky

Eye know you're going to love this. Gus from 'Breaking Bad', AKA Giancarlo Esposito, or Moff Gideon in 'Star Wars'', 'The Mandalorian', takes roll, like Key & Peele's classic 'Substitute Teacher' with that iconic voice of his. And it's one hell of a register. Killer Mike running the jewels on 'A Quick 16 For Mama' (the perfect lyrical gift for next Mother's Day). Contemporary Tribe's Q-Tip on 'Day In The Sun (Gettin' Wit U)', also featuring Yummy Bingham (Giancarlo likes that one), who also features on 'Will Be'. The great impressionist of Jay Pharoah with Gareth Donkin on 'Just How It Is (Sometimes'). Swedish Little Dragon singer Yukimi for 'Cruel Summers Bring Fire Life!" The 'Different World' of Gina Loring. The Roots of Black Thought on 'En Eff'. The praise be of 'Believe (In Him)' with a congregation of Stout and K. Butler & The Collective. And the 'Palm Of His Hand' and Bilal's. But when Mr. Espositio calls for De La Soul in the intro to this album, someone is missing from the frame. Kelvin 'Posdnuos Mercer? Here! Vincent 'Maseo' Mason? Check! David 'Trugoy the Dove' Jolicoeur? Dave? Dave?!

Legend has it that the penultimate album in the Mass Appeal series, that also featured the likes of Ghostface Killah, Raekwon, Mobb Deep and Big L, features songs with some of these artists that have formed like Voltron for a great year in hip-hop and a Marvel Comics crossover. Slick Rick, who set this all off, getting in 'Yours' with Common. And Nas ('Run It Back'), who is set to have the last album of the 'Legend Has It...' series, next month, to close out the year, with legendary producer DJ Premier. He also mans the tracks 'Sunny Storms', 'En Eff' and 'The Silent Life Of A Truth'. Whilst his own contemporary, Pete Rock, gets behind the boards of 'The Package', 'Different World', 'Yours' and 'Palm'. But even with more guest features than a Bizarro J.Cole. Not to mention references to both Superman and Lois Lane. This is a De La album, after all. And three is still the magic number as Trugoy The Dove, Dave himself, appears on six sweet tracks. Making this 'Cabin In The Sky' to Soul, what 'Infinite' was to Mobb Deep (rest peacefully, Prodigy), last month.

Amazing artwork, in Simpsons skies, will keep your head in the clouds, looking to the heavens of a rap God. All whilst those feet stay firmly on the ground, walking for all the people in the single that runs it back. And the '3 Feet High and Rising' legends prove they've still got it. De La Soul are far from dead, as this album, like 'The Grind Date', the 'Daylight' they showed an 'NBA Live' soundtrack, 'And The Anonymous Nobody' proves they've still got it. Even in this art official cage age, Prince was talking about, they bring back the year 2000s, 'Art Official Intelligence' feeling. From the millennium bug, to A.I., take that. Even reuniting with producer Prince Paul, this first album since David Jolicoeur's death, and the first in almost a decade, is a joy to behold. Especially as he never really left us. 'Yuhdontstop'! This ninth studio album really is a wonder, like the producer.

'The Package' left outside for your 'Day In The Sun' ("I walk through the city real slow/Like I've been pieced together by that dude named Frankenstein/And I only got one little thing on my mind: that's a whole lotta you/Hot on my tail be a whole lotta crew/After me they (searching) with their pitchforks and stakes/Try to backstab but they can't grab your attention away from me and vice versa/Mama always said there'd be days like this") are the singles that will be getting you through the fall, but it’s the real rhymes you'd stay outside in the cold for, crate digging. 'Good Health' is what you need, and that track eats like your vegetables. Whilst 'Patty Cake', is so good you should name it, and listen to it twice for the bakers, man! Yet in this cabin talk, after the terrific title-track for this soulful hip-hop, it's 'Don't Push Me' in cloud covering closing that will really take you to the edge...of heaven. "Tuesday morning, I ring upon the door/Wednesday morning, come knock a little more/Door cracked open they'll be like, "who is it"/it's the 86 come to pay that a## a visit." Meet Dave again. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Run It Back (Feat. Nas)', 'Yours (Feat. Slick Rick & Common)', 'Don't Push Me'.

Spin This: De La Soul - 'The Grind Date'.

REVIEW: AEROSMITH & YUNGBLUD - ONE MORE TIME EP

4/5

AeroBLUD.

If you've been crying for some new music from Aerosmith, then the pleasure and pain has been one and the same. It seems like the band with nine lives have been on a permanent vacation, as the 'Toys In The Attic' rockers haven't pushed play on an album since London held the Olympics, with 2012's 'Music From Another Dimension' (featuring the hallowed hit single 'What Could Have Been Love' and the beautiful 'Beautiful'). But it's time to get a grip (and your wings) on the pump again, as the elevator is going down again, like the love symbol going crazy. Recovering from the heartbreak of having to cancel their farewell tour to arms. And it's only taken a young twenty-something from Doncaster, South Yorkshire to get them here, bringing them on back. 'One More Time' for one last dance...and scream!

YUNGBLUD has never met a confidence he couldn't coax. Or the letter "O" for that matter. And fresh off his album of 'Idols', the '21st Century Liability' and huge rock hit maker has given the ageing Aerosmith their biggest collaboration since they walked this way with those legends that strut in shell toes. After their beautiful tribute to Black Sabbath's late, great Ozzy Osbourne together, Aerosmith and YUNGBLUD have given us the sensational single 'My Only Angel', sharing the microphone like Springsteen does with fellow Jersey boy rockers, The Gaslight Anthem. "Niiice!" "F#####g-A!" and "hallelujah's" can be heard as Dominic Richard Harrison kisses Steven Tyler on the cheek after bringing the 77-year-old's old thing back. With Joe Perry ripping and riffing, this really is 'Amazing'. All over again. Reworking 'Back In The Saddle', for a 2025 mix with the boys from Boston, that gives the track new blood.

'Problems' continue on a track that tells us, and the muse, "Yeah, I know I've felt you in my life/In the streets of every city/Where I dream at night/I met all the bitter saints, and I was sold/But to get to where you want/You can’t do what you're told." Whereas, riding a 'Wild Woman', this new perfect partnership sings, "Big life from a little dream/Whole forest from a little seed/Drop me off down by the ocean, baby/That's a good place to leave me/Big house on a little hill/That's what you said that you want from me/Call me up when you get lonely, lady/I'll give you what you need." 'A Thousand Days' keeps this 'Dream On', 'Sweet Emotion' sound going. And you won't want to miss a thing, like this, "You got a little fire going on in you head/Maybe we can turn it up in my cold bed/Because, babe, heaven's gonna burn down eventually", crazy love. From Blud's trademark open shirt, to the scarfs hanging from Steven's microphone, this may just be an EP, but the skull fits perfectly on the wings. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'My Only Angel', 'A Thousand Days', 'Back In The Saddle (2025 Mix)'.

Spin This: Aerosmith - 'Music From Another Dimension'

YUNGBLUD - 'Idols'

MOVIE REVIEW: PRINCE - SIGN "☮" THE TIMES (IMAX)

4/5

Peace

85 Mins. Starring: Prince. Director: Prince. In: IMAX Theatres.

By royal appointment, O(+> is back in theatres. Remember during Prince's 'Hit n Run' phase, before he passed, when he was on the revamped 'The Arsenio Hall Show' for the nostalgia? The legendary Arsenio asked the icon if he was on Instagram. Prince replied that he was going to have, "Princestagram" (amazing). Now, with the return of his critically-acclaimed, classic concert film 'Sign "☮" Of The Times', from 1987, in IMAX theatres. We ain't trying to botch that name ("IPrince" sounds like something from Apple, we're good), but perhaps the IMAX blue light should have turned purple for this outstanding occasion. Especially when here in Tokyo (sharing the experience with an amazing artist in their own right), Prince's  "☮" sign played in a cinema under Shinagawa's Prince Hotel...and a cherry moon. 

For a minute there, I lost myself, like Radiohead, and thought they had made Prince signs special for this presentation. Blame my inability to read Kanji. Anyway, between all the Studio Ghibli re-releases ('Princess Mononoke') and BTS concerts (J-Hope) in Japanese theatres right now, Prince hit IMAX like Christopher Nolan with his odyssey. I may have been two years old when this concert was conceived, but it's an absolute classic that still holds up to this day. Even with its inspired intro, nuanced in nostalgia, directed by the man that gave us the Lake Minnetonka purifying scenes of his own 'Purple Rain' movie. And even that classic, that came before in '84', didn't have to close this compelling concert when Prince had 'The Cross' to bear in an epic finale. 'Little Red Corvette' ('1999'), on a piano and a microphone, being the only hit from another records making it to these times. Otherwise, it was a 'Housequake' of 'Slow Love' and other timeless love songs like 'If I Was Your Girlfriend' and 'I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man'. 'Hot Thing' and the official video for 'U Got The Look', featuring Sheena Easton at intermission. Boy versus girl, in the World Series of love.

Charlie Parker also got a cover ('Now's The Time') in a sensational set as outstanding as Prince's true, glam rock star outfits on the neon Moulin Rouge like stage in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Playing to the Paisley Park pastel and paint of this trip's theatrical poster. The band's all here too. Even some comic-foils from The Revolution era. But from the prescriptions on the keys of Doctor Fink, to the influential introduction of dancer Cat Glover, it was the great Sheila E. on the skins, who truly took your breath away. Especially with one hell of a drum solo (see Prince's Brit Awards performance for more), that she did with sticks, and even her hands (DAMN!). Between sweet segues, showing you a ring in a shop window (before the formidable 'Forever In My Life', bringing The Artist himself to tears, showcasing such skill in asking the backing singers to back up for a shadowy sound), Prince did spins and splits more times than you and your pants when you slip on a banana. They say in IMAX you can hear everything so clear, from a pin drop, to a jumbo jet soar. Yet, Prince was so much more. Playing in the sunshine, it was always going to be a beautiful night. ☮. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

 

Further Filming: 'Purple Rain', 'Under The Cherry Moon', 'Graffiti Bridge'.

REVIEW: WALE - EVERYTHING IS A LOT

3.5/5

Washington Wizard

A lot is going on these days, especially in D.C., but one thing remains the same. It's still not pronounced "whale". Or "WALL-E", for that matter. Four years after the 'Folarin II' sequel, one of the best rappers in the game, Wale, is back with his eight wonder of an album, 'everything is a lot'. And it really is for Olubowale Victor Akintimehin. The Grammy nominated, 'Lotus Flower Bomb' rapper has had 'Ambition', ever since the 'Attention Deficit' of his 2009 debut that even cut records with Lady Gaga ('Chillin''). And from there, he's proved to be one of 'The Gifted'. Making albums, like mixtapes, with Seinfeld, all whilst showing his 'Shine'. 'Wow...That's Crazy', he said in 2019. And it really is for the Chango 'American God', whose style could even make NBA star P.J. Tucker put his sneakers back in the locker. But flossing on rhymes is where Wale really shines, and with this long-awaited, highly-anticipated rap album of the year, he gives us everything he has over the perfect pastel portrait of some amazing album artwork. On the cover and on wax.

Cutting some freestyle rhymes on LeBron James and Maverick Carter's 'The Shop' talk a fortnight ago, Wale showed his flow was ready to go. And here you have some hits ('Mirronnabenz (Feat. BNYX®)') that bring black and white bangers back like Busta. The ambitious girl dedicated 'Where To Start', Benny like 'Blanco' and the 'City On Fire', for Washington, featuring Odeal, completes the single set for this one. But monster collaborations across the board compel this CD, cassette, vinyl and stream even more. 'Watching Us' with Leon Thomas, Wale brings Teni and Seyi Vibez along for the ride of 'YSF'. Whilst ODUMODUBLVCK in all caps shows us his 'Big Head'. Big artists like Ty Dolla $ign and Nino Paid help Wale strive to 'Survive'. Even in closing 'Lonely' times, with Shaboozey as company on the curtain. But things get ballad beautiful with Andra Day on 'Like I'. Not to mention, the hallowed highlight 'Fly Away', featuring Sheryl Ann Padre, that samples the sweet 'Pretty Wings' ("Away from me too secretly/The way that love could be/When you are not with me/I had to leave, I had to leave") by the great neo-soul of Maxwell. And just wait until you hear the sample on 'Belly', like Nas and DMX.

A beast of an album continues with songs you know, like 'Michael Fredo', for a new Godfather of life, rhymes and times. It's a classic 'Conundrum' over drums that begin the album before Wale tells us, "Slow down, the fast life is crazy/Those lights in that town is dangerous/I been tried, this lifestyle is not for you, you, you/Slow down, the fast life is crazy/Those lights in that town is dangerous/I know now, my love language solitude, 'tude" on the profound 'Power And Problems'. And popping 'Corner Bottles' with a voice iconic to today, like the Method Man's and Q-Tip's before him, Akintimehin accentuates "They say heartbreak is the best teacher, I done been here before/Did a lot of songs and a lot of features, y'all don't wanna hear no more/The heavyset women are singing their note, that mean it's over, over, over/I wasn't ready, you told me to go/Keep all my clothes, just give me some closure". Bringing the breakup (it's a) rap back, even darker than Drake. But it's 'Tomorrow Today' that really sees the future that Wale owns, right now. With wise words earned. "Money isn't effort, effort isn't time/Hope you never know the difference, I give you all of mine." This is everything. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Mirronnabenz (Feat. BNYX®)', 'Belly', 'Fly Away (Feat. Sheryl Ann Padre)'.

Spin This: Wale - 'The Album About Nothing'.

REVIEW: MAVIS STAPLES - SAD AND BEAUTIFUL WORLD

4/5

A Mavis Grace

We live in a beautiful world. Yeah, we do. Yeah, we do. As Coldplay once sang. Even if, at times (like these), it's a sad one. But don't panic, Mavis Staples is back. Back in 2019 the legendary Staples Singer singer and iconic civil rights activist gave us the instant classic of 'We Get By'. Written entirely by one of our generation's greatest, singer/songwriter Ben Harper. Now, six years and a collaborative album with Levon Helm (2022's 'Carry Me Home') later, it's a 'Sad and Beautiful World', post-COVID and with presidential problems that affect the watching and waking world almost at war. Yet Mavis is back to staple it all this bad weather together, like Jack Johnson, at 86 years of age. All on the same New Music Friday that Willie Nelson, at 91, gives us his 78th album, and second this year, for the 'Workin' Man'. As 'Willie Sings Merle'. All in honour of his late, great friend and frequent, classic collaborator, Merle Haggard.

Hey, young world, listen to these wise words. Whether making music with Maggie (Rogers), or sitting at the doily graced table of her living room, Mavis Staples invites you into her home to hear her heart. The soul singer stirs with singles, covers and new classics across the board. 'Godspeed', Mavis Staples. Like the sign of your new call to embracing arms. Your new 'Chicago' classic, singing for her native Windy City, like the late, great Prince did for 'Baltimore', down to the concrete of the streets. "There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in", Staples sings over a Leonard Cohen 'Anthem', channelling Hemingway. Our collective world may seem broken now, but it's healing with helping hands like these. This may just be, not only, one of the best, but also the most important records of the year, yearning that 'We Got To Have Peace'. Mavis doing for her music what country star Johnny Cash did with his Rick Rubin 'American Recordings' in the winter of his life. Staples even covers the great country songbook's 'A Satisfied Mind', like not only Cash did, but Ben Harper once did, too, with the visionary Blind Boys Of Alabama.

Iconic, like the cover, this album is artwork in itself. The purity of songwriting and soulful deliverance of the perfect penmanship. From the 'Human Mind', to these 'Hard Times' we're living in. Especially in the country that used to give us the dream of the world. "If you ever hear that thunder/Put your eye to the sky, boy, and wonder/Maybe there's a kingdom above the weather/Oh, and whether you're gonna get on in/Is up to you", she warns on the familiar brutality of 'Beautiful Strangers'. Apologizing to Freddie Gray, on behalf of those who took his life, for what is now her most influential and incendiary track of the times we are living in, right now, that have needed to be a-changin'. It's why the title track hits even harder with lines like, "Sometimes days go speeding past/Sometimes this one seems like the last." Speaking not only to the impermanence of one's individual life, but also, these dark days and the pain we can't seem to make past. The same racism and hate is as alive as the day Mavis Staples and her sisters sang against it as young stars, but like Ben, she believes in a better way. One that, in closing, tells us, 'Everybody Needs Love'. That we do...and we need to show it, too. Life is a beautiful struggle. Let's work at making it easier...together. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: ''Chicago', 'Beautiful Strangers', 'Anthem'.

Spin This: Mavis Staples - 'We Get By'.