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We first got word that “Nas Album Done” back in July. It’s now November, where is it?

“Khaled called me when I was in album mode

So I put it on hold for the Major Key

My album done, n*ggas, wait and see” – Nas, “Nas Album Done”

It has been five months since Nas, by way of DJ Khaled, came out and said his new album was done. A lot has changed since then. A new president has been elected, Gucci Mane has dropped two full-length albums and even Khaled himself has become a first-time father since the announcement.

As we already know, a waiting game is always involved with a new Nas album. With the exception of his 1999 to 2002 run where he dropped four albums, it usually takes at least two years for a new Nas album to drop. That release rate continues to lean in favor of Jay Z‘s classic “one hot album every 10-year average” observation. Think that’s a lie? Ask yourself this then, are you honestly still listening to any Nas albums that were released between Stillmatic [hot] and Life is Good [also hot]? We’ll wait.

This pending album has been in the works since 2013. He said that the album was complete in 2014 around the time his Illmatic documentary dropped, but all fans got was one song, the J. Dilla-produced “The Season.”

History, or “HSTRY” also tells us that Nas tends to drop albums on even-numbered years. Only three of his 10 albums have dropped on odd-numbered years, and that hasn’t happened since 2001’s Stillmatic. So the stars are aligned for an album to come out this year. Plus, five of his last seven albums have dropped in either November or December.

But [pun intended] trumping all of that is the fact that we could really use a new Nas album to cap off what’s been a crazy year socially which made for great year musically. In 2016 we got albums from rap heavyweights like Kanye West and Drake, great albums from new schoolers like Schoolboy Q and Kendrick Lamar and much-needed politically-charged releases from T.I. and Vic Mensa. Add to that the fact that we saw “real Hip-Hop” acts like Royce 5’9, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest each release albums that hit #1 on the Billboard charts, the climate is ripe to hear from one of rap’s elite MCs.

Granted, a lot has changed on Nas’ schedule since he dropped Life Is Good in 2012. He’s emerged as a great businessman owning and operating a clothing line, media company, sneaker store and has become a venture capitalist in the tech sector. So yeah, he isn’t just writing in his book of rhymes 24/7 anymore.

That said, time doesn’t seem to be a luxury for Nas right now, meaning if this album doesn’t come out this year, who’s to say that it ever will.

Photo: HSTRY