Official Nas Thread
- Thread starter Ronald
- Start date
IllmaticDelta
Veteran
OG fetus beat > LT version
Nas Remembers ‘The Lost Tapes’ | Mass Appeal
Just saw this thread
NAS REMEMBERS ‘THE LOST TAPES’
Will ‘Lost Tapes 2’ ever see the light of day?
Exactly 15 years ago today, Nas changed the game with the release of The Lost Tapes. This carefully curated collection of outtakes and B-sides was a pre-emptive strike against rampant bootlegging during the nascent internet era. Debuting strong on the Billboard charts without the benefit of a single or a video, The Lost Tapes has aged well, standing up as a strong addition to Nas’ extensive discography. Yesterday MASS APPEAL’s own Young JFK dug deep to present a thorough oral history of the making of the project, sprinkled with a few gems from Nas that were culled from some “lost” interview tapes dating back to 2003. Last night MASS APPEAL spoke with the God MC, who shared his thoughts on that record—and dropped some hints about his where he’s going next.
First of all I’ve got to say congratulations on a dope performance at The Meadows in Queens. That Gucci outfit was remarkable.
Oh yeah, man. I’m all about keeping shyt fresh.
You definitely did that. So today is the 15th anniversary of The Lost Tapes. Is that a fond memory for you?
Yeah, sure it is. I was working on my third album. I wanted it to be a double album. I just seen the way things was goin’. It was moving into that: 2Pac, Wu Tang Clan, B.I.G. You know, so I was right there, the next one to get that one out there. That was what turned out to be the I Am… album. Because songs leaked. Songs like “Project Windows” had leaked already and a couple of other records was out there. So that killed the whole double album thing.
So we had all these records now and nothing to do with them. And you know, usually I work on songs and some songs I’m just doing just to get a feel for being back in the studio. And still songs would leak. Or they would be put to the side, ’cause they wouldn’t be what I wanted to be on the final cut. And then we’d release the album and then we had records—you know, unfinished records: A verse on a beat, three verses on a beat with no chorus, one long verse on a beat. Whatever it was, we had no home for ’em. No place. Nuttin’ to do with ’em. They’re not records that I wanted on an album, just stuff that we had. So, you know, we started to think about Lost Tapes.
Sometimes those things found their way out without your blessing, right? There was a lot of wild stuff going on with certain mixtape DJs.
Yeah the mixtape DJs was… That would be perfect for them because the mixtape DJs was all about exclusives. So that just fit perfect for what they was doin’.
And some of those became very hot records. Like “Drunk By Myself” was one that the producer mentioned was getting a lot of play.
Yeah, that one I like a lot, ’cause I put a lot into it. But sometimes you don’t want that… It doesn’t fit the rest of the records that you really want to put out there. So it’s just a record that you have, but don’t really want everybody to hear it.
Rockwilder mentioned that “Everybody’s Crazy” is one of his favorite tracks that he’s ever produced.
Yeah, I love that track. That shyt’s hard. I remember writing that song over and over and over for months and months. I couldn’t kill it like I wanted to ’cause the beat was challenging and the beat was hard. I loved the beat so much I was trying to get the perfect words to it. So I spent a lot of time on that.
Well, Rock remembers that one as a classic. It’s amazing that The Lost Tapes album did so well on the charts without a single or a video. What does that say to you?
Well, you know, that rap music is sought after crazy. We’re always lookin’ for stuff that’s away from the beaten path. You know what I’m sayin? And Lost Tapes fit that. Me as a rap fan, I would love to hear lost tapes from anybody.
That’s true. We saw Kendrick Lamar put out some of his own lost tapes last year. Do you think this project might have influenced him to put out that untitled unmastered?
Who knows? I know that a lot of people work on records and they don’t fit with the sequence of that new music that they’re putting out. And lost tapes is a perfect vehicle for that. It’s that stuff that fell on the edit floor.
Back in ’03 you were talking about doing a Lost Tapes 2. What ever happened with that?
I still have it. I still have the songs. They didn’t go anywhere. I just didn’t release ’em yet. They have to be put out when they need to be put out. More important to me is my album, my real album. Lost Tapes, those are real albums too, but they’re not what I want to put out first.
Understood, but they may still see the light of day?
They have to, but they can’t lead the movement. And it’s important that what I’m doing leads the movement for the game. So that’s coming first. And I really feel like, after those songs sit around a little longer, they will have their own life later.
We’ll all be listening.
Alright, fam. Out.
Just saw this thread
NAS REMEMBERS ‘THE LOST TAPES’
Will ‘Lost Tapes 2’ ever see the light of day?
Exactly 15 years ago today, Nas changed the game with the release of The Lost Tapes. This carefully curated collection of outtakes and B-sides was a pre-emptive strike against rampant bootlegging during the nascent internet era. Debuting strong on the Billboard charts without the benefit of a single or a video, The Lost Tapes has aged well, standing up as a strong addition to Nas’ extensive discography. Yesterday MASS APPEAL’s own Young JFK dug deep to present a thorough oral history of the making of the project, sprinkled with a few gems from Nas that were culled from some “lost” interview tapes dating back to 2003. Last night MASS APPEAL spoke with the God MC, who shared his thoughts on that record—and dropped some hints about his where he’s going next.
First of all I’ve got to say congratulations on a dope performance at The Meadows in Queens. That Gucci outfit was remarkable.
Oh yeah, man. I’m all about keeping shyt fresh.
You definitely did that. So today is the 15th anniversary of The Lost Tapes. Is that a fond memory for you?
Yeah, sure it is. I was working on my third album. I wanted it to be a double album. I just seen the way things was goin’. It was moving into that: 2Pac, Wu Tang Clan, B.I.G. You know, so I was right there, the next one to get that one out there. That was what turned out to be the I Am… album. Because songs leaked. Songs like “Project Windows” had leaked already and a couple of other records was out there. So that killed the whole double album thing.
So we had all these records now and nothing to do with them. And you know, usually I work on songs and some songs I’m just doing just to get a feel for being back in the studio. And still songs would leak. Or they would be put to the side, ’cause they wouldn’t be what I wanted to be on the final cut. And then we’d release the album and then we had records—you know, unfinished records: A verse on a beat, three verses on a beat with no chorus, one long verse on a beat. Whatever it was, we had no home for ’em. No place. Nuttin’ to do with ’em. They’re not records that I wanted on an album, just stuff that we had. So, you know, we started to think about Lost Tapes.
Sometimes those things found their way out without your blessing, right? There was a lot of wild stuff going on with certain mixtape DJs.
Yeah the mixtape DJs was… That would be perfect for them because the mixtape DJs was all about exclusives. So that just fit perfect for what they was doin’.
And some of those became very hot records. Like “Drunk By Myself” was one that the producer mentioned was getting a lot of play.
Yeah, that one I like a lot, ’cause I put a lot into it. But sometimes you don’t want that… It doesn’t fit the rest of the records that you really want to put out there. So it’s just a record that you have, but don’t really want everybody to hear it.
Rockwilder mentioned that “Everybody’s Crazy” is one of his favorite tracks that he’s ever produced.
Yeah, I love that track. That shyt’s hard. I remember writing that song over and over and over for months and months. I couldn’t kill it like I wanted to ’cause the beat was challenging and the beat was hard. I loved the beat so much I was trying to get the perfect words to it. So I spent a lot of time on that.
Well, Rock remembers that one as a classic. It’s amazing that The Lost Tapes album did so well on the charts without a single or a video. What does that say to you?
Well, you know, that rap music is sought after crazy. We’re always lookin’ for stuff that’s away from the beaten path. You know what I’m sayin? And Lost Tapes fit that. Me as a rap fan, I would love to hear lost tapes from anybody.
That’s true. We saw Kendrick Lamar put out some of his own lost tapes last year. Do you think this project might have influenced him to put out that untitled unmastered?
Who knows? I know that a lot of people work on records and they don’t fit with the sequence of that new music that they’re putting out. And lost tapes is a perfect vehicle for that. It’s that stuff that fell on the edit floor.
Back in ’03 you were talking about doing a Lost Tapes 2. What ever happened with that?
I still have it. I still have the songs. They didn’t go anywhere. I just didn’t release ’em yet. They have to be put out when they need to be put out. More important to me is my album, my real album. Lost Tapes, those are real albums too, but they’re not what I want to put out first.
Understood, but they may still see the light of day?
They have to, but they can’t lead the movement. And it’s important that what I’m doing leads the movement for the game. So that’s coming first. And I really feel like, after those songs sit around a little longer, they will have their own life later.
We’ll all be listening.
Alright, fam. Out.
Ukbrotha
Superstar
Its Overture Presents Nasty Nas & The Extra P (The Lost Album) - Nah Right
This extra P mix especially of stillmatic intro.
Hey Nas and warrior song are 10 times better.
This extra P mix especially of stillmatic intro.
Hey Nas and warrior song are 10 times better.
Last edited:
Its Overture Presents Nasty Nas & The Extra P (The Lost Album) - Nah Right
This extra P mix especially of stillmatic intro.
Hey Nas and warrior song are 10 times better.
Heard first two songs.. fire
I need a DL link
IllmaticDelta
Veteran
Jack Trippa 3z company ho
Superstar
You gonna cry about it? Quit bytchin, we have an enormous Nas catalog. He'll drop when he's ready, shyt I listened to Halftime today. Some of y'all kill me acting like Nas owes you something.
It isn't that he owes the fans. He's been saying he had an album ready for four years. Yeah, he has an entire catalog of music, but fans are clamoring for a new album. That anticipation is compounded by the fact that he keeps teasing new music, but there hasn't been a single new Nas song in over a year. He's put out some songs from soundtracks, but nothing as official as "Nas Album Done" and that was for Khaled's album. So yeah, it's not whining when people are like "yeah that's cool, but where's the new album". It would be different if he didn't say an albun was done, he had an album title, it's coming this summer etc.
InstantKlassik
...
Who's bytching you ho ass nikka? Y'all nikkaz kill me that make it seem like a crime to want new music from an ACTIVE artist who's mentioned his album was finished. Don't know if dudes are that dumb and can't comprehend or just really that dumb.
Jack Trippa 3z company ho
Superstar
Y'all are too emotionally invested. Nas is the GOAT, I have every album and listen to them weekly. But crying on here and acting like he owes you something is weak. Yeah he may say his album is done, and maybe at that moment he felt it was. Or maybe Khaled did that title for hype? After all that's all Khaled is, is hype.
Point being y'all are wasting energy crying that Nas owes you an album. He doesn't. Take what he gives you and be happy with that. Every feature he's had in the last few years has been fire. He'll drop an album at some point, I believe that. Until then we've got 100's of songs from him, enjoy that.
Jack Trippa 3z company ho
Superstar
Nah, I want new music too. He don't owe me, and I don't cry when I don't get it. That's what y'all are doin.
All of this is irrelevant. Nas hasn't announced retirement. He's still an active artist. As an active artist, the demand for new music is always there.
And no, as a fan, wanting new music isn't a crime. Even Nas himself said it's time. So you trying to dictate how everyone else should feel about Nas releasing new music is ludicrous. You're not Nas. Of course people are emotionally invested. It's music. If he sucked at his craft, there wouldn't be an emotional investment. He's offered up some very revealing, personal thoughts in his music that resonates with fans. Through his music, he's been an open book and it's crazy to dictate how fans should feel just because they are anxious to see what the next chapter brings.
Jack Trippa 3z company ho
Superstar
I'm with you on that. Im the biggest Nas fan I know. I'm just saying there's no point in sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for his next album. It'll come when it comes. People getting all grumpy about it.