Albums Nas - The Lost Tapes 2 (Discussion Thread)

[The Dust King]

Yeah I disagree. I like the song but don't think it's needed on the album. Feels like putting a hat on a hat on top of another hat

i respect your opinion but i will put this to the test marty - doc brown voice

ill post up the lyrics and me n you can pick em apart w the others and we can see how much of the song is throughout the LP

 

[The Dust King]

The craziest things already happened, get me
Could tell you 'gon be laughing at me or you laughing with me?
My baby's mom made a book about me, she tried to out me
In Barnes & Nobles new release section she's confessin'
Now the streets guessin' the beefin' started over some woman
Couldn't be the furthest thing from the truth
Was she looking for fame, yo I hope she got it
Since then I been the object, gossip people tried to target
All women should bid
For keeping real fathers away from their kids
These rappers talkin' real shyt I lived
How many been married, divorced, their ex lady wildin'
Hires a lawyer, judge awards 'em monthly eighty thousand
Stevie Wonder sent me word that he was in my corner
Blind but still sees the pain of a young performer
Used to be my rib thought it was 'til death do us
She married again and I'm wishin' all the best to her
Got me looking for my mother, all I see is suckers
She lookin' over me now sayin' don't trust 'em
Come on I'm livin', I don't need many to pray for me
Her bad, she wanna keep the kids away from their dad
Tell you lames something, spit some game
Planes carry me to Madrid, Spain, so why complain?
When you place blame, then you're defective
When you take blame, then you're respected
You gotta give me credit

three things that stick out in the first verse is

1) carmens book in regards to ether
2) kelis payments
3) visitation issues

has he ever spoke on any of these? i dont remember really

 

[MartyMcFly]

three things that stick out in the first verse is

1) carmens book in regards to ether
2) kelis payments
3) visitation issues

has he ever spoke on any of these? i dont remember really

He spoke on the last 2 in bye baby that's my issue there. And throughout the album he talks about the money drama that's come from his marriage situation. Like I said, its putting a hat on top of a hat on top of another damn hat. Sometimes once you say something, you don't need to say it again because you dull the impact

and he's said publicly Carmen is a grown girl she can do what she wants with the book.

If the song works that much for you, that's dope. But for me, I get why he left it off because the whole album sums up everything that song is. It doesn't need the extra cherry

 

[The Dust King]

He spoke on the last 2 in bye baby that's my issue there. And throughout the album he talks about the money drama that's come from his marriage situation. Like I said, its putting a hat on top of a hat on top of another damn hat. Sometimes once you say something, you don't need to say it again because you dull the impact

and he's said publicly Carmen is a grown girl she can do what she wants with the book.

If the song works that much for you, that's dope. But for me, I get why he left it off because the whole album sums up everything that song is. It doesn't need the extra cherry

i will check bye baby lyrics. do you remember any other songs in paticular

 

[MartyMcFly]

i will check bye baby lyrics. do you remember any other songs in paticular

In bye baby he has the line about her wanting half and then he says "no seriously half" and goes through the whole deposition. He talks about Knight in that song as well. It's not to the same degree there, but I kinda understood just from what he said and didn't say that everything wasn't kosher on that end.

Bye Baby kinda encompasses everything you mentioned in Life is Good, minus the carmen shyt but again, he's talked about that in public even if he hasn't rapped about it. And maybe it's just me, but that shyt was 10-12 years old at that point. I didn't need or want to hear anything else about it. What made that album so special is its Nas talking about his now.

 

[The Dust King]

In bye baby he has the line about her wanting half and then he says "no seriously half" and goes through the whole deposition. He talks about Knight in that song as well. It's not to the same degree there, but I kinda understood just from what he said and didn't say that everything wasn't kosher on that end.

Bye Baby kinda encompasses everything you mentioned in Life is Good, minus the carmen shyt but again, he's talked about that in public even if he hasn't rapped about it. And maybe it's just me, but that shyt was 10-12 years old at that point. I didn't need or want to hear anything else about it. What made that album so special is its Nas talking about his now.

nas was talking about his now as that was the title track on LIG the album as evidenced by its content and hook.

the carmen thing was brought up again hence him addressing it

bye baby is a whole song about kelis.

beautiful life mentions kelis for only half of the first verse

as far as a russian doll goes bye baby is located in beautiful life (life is good)

i see why you think the song is unnecessary but thats really only half a verse.

 

[MartyMcFly]

nas was talking about his now as that was the title track on LIG the album as evidenced by its content and hook.

the carmen thing was brought up again hence him addressing it

bye baby is a whole song about kelis.

beautiful life mentions kelis for only half of the first verse

as far as a russian doll goes bye baby is located in beautiful life (life is good)

i see why you think the song is unnecessary but thats really only half a verse.

Because brevity counts for something. Again, you're putting together an album, not a mixtape. If you've already gone into a thing and done it beautifully, I might add, then you don't need to keep doing it. An album is a whole not just random tracks thrown together even if they are dope. it has to paint or should paint a whole picture

 

[kes929]

just listened to 'back when' after many years because of this little discussion in this thread.
damn, that album was on repeat for 6/7 years and especially back when.
no one reminisces as beautifully about their past like nas does.
always a joy to hear him talk about new york/queensbridge
GOAT

Back When is a Great Hip Hop Record man. He was spitting on there and that beat is smooth.

 

[The Dust King]

Because brevity counts for something.

you cant say this is why the song wasnt on the album

but i can say theres 3 verses and only half of 1 verse speaks on these things

 

[MartyMcFly]

you cant say this is why the song wasnt on the album

but i can say theres 3 verses and only half of 1 verse speaks on these things

Yeah and that’s where we disagree. Whenever I’m writing something that’s a part of a whole, if I touched on it I’m good in terms of the whole. I don’t need to go into it again because I’ll say “yeah I already talked about this” it’s why Dance is such a powerful song on God’s Son. If he peppered that album with bits and pieces about his mom passing then that song has less impact. And clearly he wasn’t worried about making a short album cause there are bonus tracks there that I feel should’ve made the actual track list.


I see what you’re saying about liking the song. I get that. But in terms of the whole, one body of work, I get why it’s not there. It’s touching on topics he already touched on during the album either directly or indirectly and it can feel redundant in the context of that album.

 

[The Dust King]

Yeah and that’s where we disagree. Whenever I’m writing something that’s a part of a whole, if I touched on it I’m good in terms of the whole. I don’t need to go into it again because I’ll say “yeah I already talked about this” It’s touching on topics he already touched on during the album either directly or indirectly and it can feel redundant in the context of that album.

this makes sense but again you cant apply it to him, only to you.

nas has many albums where he deals with a topic multiple times. i mean nas even has little rhymes and phrases he repeats

you keep mentioning my like of the song but that holds no bearing on 4 minutes of the song speaking on things hes never spoken on

for all we kno he just didnt want a title track. all this is speculatory but what isnt is the content to the song

im sure songs like roses and trust make kelis references. do they negate bye baby?

no they do not hence my point

 

[MartyMcFly]

this makes sense but again you cant apply it to him, only to you.

nas has many albums where he deals with a topic multiple times. i mean nas even has little rhymes and phrases he repeats

you keep mentioning my like of the song but that holds no bearing on 4 minutes of the song speaking on things hes never spoken on

for all we kno he just didnt want a title track. all this is speculatory but what isnt is the content to the song

im sure songs like roses and trust make kelis references. do they negate bye baby?

no they do not hence my point

No but again references are different than full entire verses. Also another reason those are bonus songs. You’re making my point for me actually.

If an album is filled with references to something, like life is good is full of, then it means you’re building to something and that build, for that album, is bye baby. Bonus tracks are bonus tracks because they didn’t fit the narrative of the album perfectly but the artist or the label said they should go on in some capacity.

And of course it’s speculation but it’s also me going off his track record. Nas’ best albums are the ones where he’s succinct from beginning to end. The ones that are the weakest are the ones where he ends up repeating himself or being unfocused either lyrically or musically. The reason life is good is as dope as it is, is because of that precision. When I compare the tracks from lost tapes 2 to lost tapes, I get why he left the tracks on the cutting room floor with one and wished he didn’t leave the tracks on the floor with the latter. I Am and Nastradamus would’ve been a lot better with those joints on lost tapes. I understand the circumstances as to why they’re not there and a lot of that was out of his control, but the point remains. Those two albums feel rushed and incomplete and all over the map because he was scrambling in the 11th hour.

life is good on the other hand feels complete and a whole. Even without the bonus tracks. It encompasses everything he was going through at that time and bye baby is the exclamation point at the end he was building to. And he’s a storyteller, probably the best rap has ever had. He knows how to finish something.

 

[The Dust King]

No but again references are different than full entire verses. Also another reason those are bonus songs. You’re making my point for me actually.

@Big Mark

life is good isnt an entire verse. its less than half a verse in a 3 verse 5 minute song.

i feel it belonged on the album and im happy he released it

whether lost tapes 1 or 2 or 3 or 4 the theme is those songs shouldve made there respected albums

also im not ignoring your piece, i agree with your opinion on thematics and the rest.

we just dont agree on this 1 track

 

[Alexander Wiggin]

Because brevity counts for something. Again, you're putting together an album, not a mixtape. If you've already gone into a thing and done it beautifully, I might add, then you don't need to keep doing it. An album is a whole not just random tracks thrown together even if they are dope. it has to paint or should paint a whole picture

Bye baby was perfect for an album closer, so as beautiful life. To me he had to made a choice. And bye baby was a good choice cause more positive

 

[Big Mark]

With TLT2, we heard some of his best unreleased material but they were all from top tier producers. It seems like it was a plan to put the top producers all together but I wonder what is in the stash with some of the 2nd tier producers? He has unreleased work with Salaam too. I think Justice League as well.

Also, With that Film track, I was amazed to know that he has such quality rhymes to spare. The track by unknown producer c-sick was very nice too. It made me wonder what else does he have in the vaults? I then think back to the Nasty Nas days. Before you think it, I know, I need to let go of the past because we aren’t getting those Sony Tapes; but Nas was known to compete with BIG to see who “rhymed sickest”. To me, that meant they were trying to come up with the craziest, most insane shyt ever. Like when Nas said “Gouging your eyes out cause you seen too much” and “your bytch bleed, biting her nipples with my chipped tooth”. I want to hear that shyt.

Too bad that Sony music is long gone.