Nas has been everywhere lately. The 52-year-old icon touched down in India for a major concert, while his Mass Appeal India imprint continues to flood the Subcontinent with quality releases. Back in the U.S., he pulled off something historic in the second half of 2025: dropping a new album every month from New York Hip Hop royalty. 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 just when it seemed like that run couldn’t get any crazier, Nas closed it out with the long-awaited Nas & DJ Premier album, Light-Years.

Miyachi was born in 1993—just one year before Nas changed Hip Hop forever with Illmatic. The opening track on that album, “NY State of Mind,” has become a cultural cornerstone, spawning sequels over the years and now a third chapter on Light-Years, built around a Billy Joel sample. For Miyachi—born in New York but moving fluidly between the U.S. and Asia like Nas—that moment sparked something deeper: a full-on Miyachi state of mind.

Posted up on a couch with the city glowing behind him, Miyachi comes out swinging. “I’m from where rats live and rents high / Transplants kill blocks and CEOs get whacked,” he raps, setting the tone with gritty precision. From there, he opens the vault with stories of growing up without role models and not even having cable to catch MC Jin on 106 & Park. He reflects on how Biggie, Mobb Deep, and Nas helped him keep his head up as an Asian kid navigating Hip Hop culture, then seals the moment by switching into Japanese to close the freestyle.

Nas’ influence runs deep, and Miyachi pays homage the right way—by snapping on the mic and turning respect into real bars.

Tap into Miyachi’s State of Mind below.