Official Nas Thread
- Thread starter Ronald
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Wonder if "I Can Explain" is about why he hasn't put out an album in six years
Thats already been explained...
Nas, The Investor: The Rap Mogul Talks About the Importance Of Supporting Diverse Startups
What does the rap mogul look for in an investment? “It has to make sense.”
Nasir Jones, better known as Nas, reigns atop many folks’ “best rappers alive” lists. But in the past few years, Nas has also been building his cred as a tech investor. As a founding partner of L.A.-based Queensbridge Venture Partners, the celeb’s portfolio includes some pretty high-profile startups. He was one of the first investors in Rap Genius, and his firm has also invested in Dropbox, SeatGeek, Lyft, and Walker & Company Brands, whose founder,Tristan Walker, was profiled recently in Fast Company. Below, a brief Q&A with Nas on why he decided to invest in Walker’s company, and his ideas on funding more entrepreneurs of color.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.fa...he-importance-of-supporting-diverse-start-ups
Wonder if "I Can Explain" is about why he hasn't put out an album in six years
I think this is why Nas hasnt come out in 6 years. He wanted to be off Def Jam and on Mass Appeal
Universal and Mass Appeal have now partnered
Article:
Mass Appeal and Universal Music Announce Distribution Deal, Including Nas’ New LP
Mass Appeal, the urban culture-focused media and entertainment company, and Universal Music Group today announced the companies have entered into a multi-year global agreement.
According to the announcement, the deal encompasses the exclusive distribution of physical and digital formats for recorded music and short-form video content — including Nas’ forthcoming Kanye West-produced album, which is out Friday — and provides Mass Appeal with the ability to strategically leverage UMG’s marketing and promotion teams across more than 60 territories for select artists and projects.
UMG will also distribute Mass Appeal’s extensive catalog of releases from artists who include DJ Shadow, J Dilla and Run the Jewels, as well as forthcoming projects including the 11th solo record from Nas (pictured above), which will be a collaboration between Mass Appeal and Nas’ longtime label, UMG’s Def Jam.
In announcing the partnership, Nas said, “I’ve been blessed to work with two of the best brands in music. Columbia Records was how I got my start and Def Jam was where I continued that journey. In my next chapter, I am proud to say that I am signing myself to myself. I look forward to releasing many projects in the very near future with Mass Appeal’s new global partnership with UMG.”
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Last year, UMG successfully led Mass Appeal’s $6 million Series A funding round.
Peter Bittenbender, CEO of Mass Appeal, said, “In the 15 months since joining forces with UMG, we have seen the Mass Appeal brand expand rapidly, experiencing our most successful year to date. Much like fans across the world we are hyped that Nas is finally dropping his new album and couldn’t be more proud that it’s our first release through this new partnership.”
Michele Anthony, Executive Vice President at UMG, said, “Mass Appeal is a thriving multimedia platform that speaks to an audience that is increasingly influencing culture. I couldn’t be more thrilled to expand our relationship. UMG will now provide Mass Appeal’s label with our expertise and resources to maximize the global opportunities for their exceptional roster of artists.”
Mass Appeal recently developed and produced “Rapture” an eight–part series on Netflix about hip-hop and its influence on culture in 2018. Each episode explores the persona of a different rap artist, including Nas, Dave East, T.I., Rapsody, Logic, G-Eazy, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, 2 Chainz and Just Blaze.
We did it 
Piff Perkins
Veteran
Possibly, but he knew he had one more album on Def Jam regardless. Could he have been working behind the scenes to get this distribution deal ready? Perhaps. And lord knows the Kanye assist made this more lucrative/appealing for everyone involved.
The Season Of Nasir...
Whatever the Hip Hop and Nas curated album is/was if we hear it it’ll be one of Nas’s Mass Appeal projects.
They just signed a huge distribution deal so Nas isn’t going anywhere musically for awhile
Ukbrotha
Superstar
I'm still waiting for Spotify. Need that audio crack something serious.
MustafaSTL
Achievement In Every Field of Human Endeavor
Yes and it hasn’t really been a secret.
It was announced as far back as 2014 I believe that Nas was going to release music through Mass Appeal when he was done with Def Jam. Those types of announcements (while being signed to another label) are rare. So Nas been seeding this plan for at least the past 4 years.
Nas and Anthony Saleh are fukking geniuses man
Piff Perkins
Veteran
I'll try to listen during lunch. Ended up going to bed late last night instead of waiting for it to appear on iTunes. Is it mastered and on iTunes now?
