The Lost Tapes (Nas album)
The Lost Tapes | ||||
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Nas chronology | ||||
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The Lost Tapes is a
Released with little promotion, The Lost Tapes debuted and peaked at number 10 on the Billboard 200, selling over 70,000 copies in its first week. It received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom viewed it as Nas' best record since his 1994 debut album Illmatic. A second volume of previously unreleased songs was planned before Nas had signed with Def Jam Recordings in 2006, but the project was delayed because of issues with his record label; The Lost Tapes 2 was eventually released on July 19, 2019.
Background
In 2001, Nas made an artistic comeback with the release of his fifth album Stillmatic and his highly publicized feud with rapper Jay-Z.[2] Both events revitalized his image in hip hop music at the time, following a string of commercially successful but critically subpar albums.[2] Nas' record label, Columbia Records, capitalized on his comeback with a promotional campaign that included the release of two archival albums, the extended play From Illmatic to Stillmatic: The Remixes and The Lost Tapes, while leading up to the release of his 2002 studio album God's Son.[3]
Preparation
The Lost Tapes compiles previously unreleased tracks that Nas recorded during 1998 to 2001 in the sessions for both his 1999 album
Songs on The Lost Tapes were recorded in several recording studios in New York, including
Music and lyrics
The Lost Tapes features introspective lyrics and themes of
According to
The opening track "Doo Rags" contemplates Nas' youth and society's cyclical nature.
"Blaze a 50" features a violin-based instrumental and a complex
"Black Zombie" is an impassioned, self-reflective critique of problems afflicting the African-American community, including prejudice ("You believe when they say we ain't shit, we can't grow / All we are is dope dealers and gangstas and hoes"), economic insolvency ("What do we own? The skin on our backs / We rent and we ask for reparations, then they hit us with tax"), and dependency ("I'm a
An untitled hidden track follows "Poppa Was a Playa" and has Nas rapping from the perspective of his prenatal self.[2] It was originally recorded for I Am... and had planned titles "Fetus" and "Belly Button Window".[8][31] The track opens with solemn guitar chords and the sound of bubbling liquid before being overlaid with a beat and a piano riff.[32] An introductory verse is delivered by Nas in a spoken word tone: "Yeah. I want all my niggas to come journey with me / My name is Nas, and the year is 1973 / The beginning of me / Therefore I can see / Through my belly button window / Who I am."[32] The narrative follows the time before his birth, covering subject matter such as his parents fighting and his expectations for life.[33] In Book of Rhymes: The Poetics of Hip Hop (2009), writer Adam Bradley denotes the track's lyrical narrative of an MC's story of birth as "one of the core narratives in rap", having its roots in a similar autobiographical convention found in African-American slave narratives. Of Nas' narrative, Bradley states, "By endowing the insensible with voice, he aspires to an expressive level that transcends speaking for oneself, or of oneself, to one that self-consciously constructs itself as an artist giving shape to that which lacks coherence."[32]
Marketing and sales
The Lost Tapes was released by
On October 2, 2002, The Lost Tapes was reported to have sold more than 70,000 copies in its first week of release, giving it a chart debut of number 10 on the
Critical reception
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
The Source | [43] |
Spin | 8/10[25] |
Stylus Magazine | B[14] |
The Village Voice | B+[17] |
The Lost Tapes was met with widespread critical acclaim. At
Reviewing for Entertainment Weekly in September 2002, Craig Seymour said Nas' "gritty, yet hopeful, reflections make Lost Tapes a real find."[8] Rolling Stone critic Jon Caramanica hailed it as "the real Stillmatic", writing that it "displays Nas' gifts for tightly stitched narrative and stunningly precise detail."[13] In The A.V. Club, Nathan Rabin deemed it a masterpiece whose assorted tracks cohere as well as any of Nas' official studio albums while reaffirming his reputation as "rap music's poet laureate of urban despair".[2] Ken Capobianco from The Boston Globe said the leftover songs prove why Nas had so much promise early in his career,[12] while Spin's Chris Ryan viewed the record as a hip hop version of Bob Dylan's much-bootlegged Basement Tapes—"a raw document [that] still proves that Nas had it all along."[25] PopMatters critic Marc L. Hill called it a "masterfully arranged" and "necessary addition to the collection of any hip-hop fan".[35] In The Village Voice, Christgau was particularly impressed by the four autobiographical songs closing the album, preferring them to other songs he felt are nothing more than outtakes.[17] In a less enthusiastic review, Brett Berliner from Stylus Magazine wrote that as good as the songs were, "they don't make a real album ... [more] like a superb mixtape",[14] while Billboard's Rashaun Hall believed the production on some of the songs sounds outdated.[20]
In a retrospective review,
Sequel
A follow-up compilation, , he explained why the sequel was abandoned:
When I released Lost Tapes, it was on Sony. Being at Sony for so long, I was used to things going easy. Kinda easy. At Def Jam, I just got there, I'm still in my ways at Sony. I'm like, 'yeah, this record'll come out this time, a few months later I'ma drop this.' But we just started working together, so they're like, 'We can do this, but wait, maybe we should do it like this,' and I wasn't used to that. And then there was no communication at all, and I wasn't used to that. With Sony, I wasn't used to a lot of communication, it was just, we understood what we were doing. [...] Def Jam, it was more, 'Let's sit down, let's have tea and talk this over.' I wasn't so used to that, and I saw kinda things falling behind. It kinda messed up my flow, I thought. The timing for that is gone. Now, it's all about the new record.[58]
On June 11, 2019, Nas shared a promotional video via his Instagram account, announcing the release of The Lost Tapes 2 in the near future.[59] Its track listing and cover art were revealed on July 2, and the album was released on July 19.[60]
Track listing
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Doo Rags" | Deric Angelettie, Allan Wayne Felder, Norman Ray Harris | Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, Kanye West (co.)[1] | 7:09 |
12. | "Fetus" | Jon Shriver, Nasir Jones | Shrive Alive AKA Jon Shriver | 3:19 |
Total length: | 43:02 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
13. | "It Ain't Hard to Tell" (Large Professor Remix) | Highleigh Crizoe, Jones, William Paul Mitchell | Large Professor | 2:51 |
14. | "Affirmative Action" (Remix) (featuring Foxy Brown and AZ) | Dave Atkinson, Barnes, Anthony Cruz, Jones, Inga Marchand, Cory McKay, Olivier | Dave Atkinson, Poke and Tone | 3:23 |
15. | "One Mic" (Remix) | Tyrone Fyffe, Jones, James Mtume | Ty Fyffe | 4:34 |
Total length: | 53:40 |
Notes[9]
- "U Gotta Love It" contains excerpts from the composition "Love Song" performed by Mandrill, written by Carlos Wilson, Louis Wilson, and Ricardo Wilson.
- "No Idea's Original" contains excerpts from "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby" written and performed by Barry White.
- "Poppa Was a Playa" contains excerpts from the composition "The Newness Is Gone" written by Allan Wayne Felder and Norman Ray Harris, performed by Eddie Kendricks.
- A hidden track begins at 3:49 of track 11.
Personnel
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[9]
|
|
Charts
Chart (2002) | Peak position |
---|---|
Nielsen SoundScan)[61]
|
52 |
Canadian R&B Albums ( Nielsen SoundScan)[62]
|
10 |
French Albums ( SNEP)[63]
|
104 |
Swiss Albums ( Schweizer Hitparade) [64]
|
50 |
US Billboard 200[65] | 10 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[66] | 3 |
Year-end charts
Chart (2002) | Position |
---|---|
Canadian R&B Albums ( Nielsen SoundScan)[67]
|
174 |
Canadian Rap Albums (Nielsen SoundScan)[68] | 87 |
See also
References
- ^ a b c Horowitz, Steven J. (June 20, 2011). "D-Dot Lashes Out at Kanye West for Slandering His Name". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f Rabin, Nathan (February 3, 2003). "Nas: God's Son". The A.V. Club. Onion Inc. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- Rovi Corporation. Biography. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b "Nas – The Lost Tapes CD Album". CD Universe, Muze. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Amazon.com Inc. Editorial Reviews. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Juon, Steve (September 24, 2002). "Nas :: The Lost Tapes :: Ill Will/Columbia Records". RapReviews. Flash Web Design Exclusive. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Philips, Craig (February 8, 1999). "IBM Aims to Unplug Online Music Pirates". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Seymour, Craig (April 14, 1999). "Nas's 'I Am' Isn't Quite; Rapper's Third Effort Thoughtful but Uneven". The Washington Post. p. C.05.
- ^ a b c d Nas (2002). The Lost Tapes (CD liner). New York, New York: Columbia Records. CK 85275.
- ^ a b Seymour, Craig (September 27, 2002). "The Lost Tapes Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b "The Lost Tapes Resurface" (Press release). Sony BMG. January 6, 2003. Archived from the original on August 14, 2008. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
{{cite press release}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link) - ^ a b c Capobianco, Ken (October 11, 2002). "Nas The Lost Tapes Columbia". The Boston Globe: C.14. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Caramanica, Jon (September 25, 2002). "The Lost Tapes by Nas". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Berliner, Brett (September 1, 2002). "Nas – The Lost Tapes – Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c d Bush, John (October 1, 2003). "The Lost Tapes – Nas". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Review. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Conti, Chris (October 24, 2002). "Music | Nas". Boston Phoenix. Phoenix Media/Communications Group. Archived from the original on August 25, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Christgau, Robert (February 4, 2003). "The Prelude". The Village Voice. Village Voice Media. Consumer Guide. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Samuels, David (November 27, 2002). "Nas, the rapper from New York, is no Eminem. He's better". Slate. The Slate Group. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- New York Daily News. Daily News, L.P. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Nielsen Business Media. p. 19. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Hazell, Richard (June 20, 2011). "Nas – The Lost Tapes". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- Complex. Complex Media. #53. Nas "U Gotta Love It" (2002). Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Alvarez, Gabriel (May 25, 2011). "The 100 Best Nas Songs". Complex. Complex Media. #45. Nas "No Idea's Original" (2002). Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Ryan, Chris (December 2002). "Nas, 'The Lost Tapes' (Ill Will/Columbia)". Spin. 18 (12). VIBE/SPIN Ventures: 140. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Bradley (2009), p. 173.
- ^ Alvarez, Gabriel (May 25, 2011). "The 100 Best Nas Songs". Complex. Complex Media. #63. Nas "Purple" (2002). Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Ross (2008), p. 325.
- ^ Lazerine (2008), p. 121.
- ^ Alvarez, Gabriel (May 25, 2011). "The 100 Best Nas Songs". Complex. Complex Media. #66. Nas "Poppa Was a Playa" (2002). Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Coleman, Brian (November 1, 2002). "Discs; Aguilera strips off old image". Boston Herald. Herald Media: S.24. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b c Bradley (2009), p. 171.
- ^ Alvarez, Gabriel (May 25, 2011). "The 100 Best Nas Songs". Complex. Complex Media. #73. Nas "Fetus" (2002). Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "Nas – The Lost Tapes [PA] in Music". J&R Electronics. Muze. Credits. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Hill, Marc L. (November 8, 2002). "Nas: Lost Tapes". PopMatters. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "The Lost Tapes: Nas" (in Japanese). Amazon.co.jp. Amazon.com. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Markman, Rob (October 7, 2010). "Def Jam Should Release "Lost Tapes 2," Right?". XXL. Harris Publications. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- MTV Networks. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Crosley, Hillary (July 5, 2008). "More Than Words". Billboard. Vol. 120, no. 27. Nielsen Business Media. p. 33, Tuned Out?. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "Top Hip-Hop and R&B Albums & Charts". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media. Week of October 12, 2002. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ CBS Interactive. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Hazell, Ricardo (September 26, 2002). "Nas - The Lost Tapes". HipHopDX. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- The Source(157). The Source Enterprises. Reviews.
- ^ Padania, Jesal (August 25, 2009). "Jesal's Artist of the Decade Series – Nas". RapReviews. Flash Web Design Exclusive. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ a b Dombal, Ryan (September 16, 2010). "Nas Preps The Lost Tapes: Vol. 2". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- About.com. The New York Times Company. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Ryan (2004), p. 569.
- ^ Staff (December 2007). "Retrospective: XXL Albums". XXL (98). Harris Publications.
- ^ Martin, Andrew (December 6, 2012). "Nas, The Lost Tapes (2002) — 25 Rap Albums From the Past Decade That Deserve Classic Status". Complex. New York. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
- ^ MTV News (September 29, 2003). "For the Record: Quick News On Nas, DMX And Eve, 'The Bachelor,' Foo Fighters, Phantom Planet & More". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "Nas : ナズが10周年記念アルバムをリリース" [Nas: Release / Nas's 10th anniversary album] (in Japanese). BARKS. ITmedia. February 19, 2004. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Leeds, Jeff (January 23, 2006). "Rapper Nas Is to Join Label Led by Former Rival Jay-Z". The New York Times. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Jacobs, Allen (June 2, 2010). "Nas Says "Lost Tapes" Volumes 2 & 3 Is Possible in September 2010". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Roberts, Steven (October 7, 2010). "Nas Accuses Def Jam of Skimping on Lost Tapes: Vol. 2 Budget". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Jacobs, Allen (December 21, 2010). "Nas Fans Create Online Petition for Def Jam to Release "Lost Tapes 2"". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Rodriguez, Jayson (June 3, 2011). "Nas Talks Lost Tapes Vol. 2, Label Issues". MTV News. MTV Networks. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Koroma, Salima (March 15, 2011). "Nas Shares Thoughts on Libya, Updates on 'Lost Tapes Vol. 2'". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ Kuperstein, Slava (May 17, 2011). "Nas Says Time for "Lost Tapes 2" Has Passed". HipHopDX. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
- ^ Scott, Dana (June 11, 2019). "Nas Reveals 'The Lost Tapes 2' Promo On Instagram". HipHopDX. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
- ^ "Nas Gathers Unreleased Tracks for Long-Awaited 'Lost Tapes 2'". Rolling Stone. July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ "Albums : Top 100". Jam!. October 24, 2002. Archived from the original on December 10, 2004. Retrieved April 12, 2023.
- ^ "R&B : Top 50". Jam!. October 17, 2002. Archived from the original on October 21, 2002. Retrieved January 29, 2023.
- ^ "Nas – The Lost Tapes" (in French). lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
- ^ "Nas – The Lost Tapes" (in German). hitparade.ch. Hung Medien. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
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Bibliography
- Bradley, Adam (February 23, 2009). ISBN 978-0-465-00347-1.
- Ryan, Chris (November 1, 2004). "Nas". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Ross, Dax-Devlon (June 1, 2008). The Nightmare and the Dream: Nas, Jay-Z and the History of Conflict in African-American Culture. Outside the Box Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9817398-1-6.
- Lazerine, Cameron; Lazerine, Devin (February 29, 2008). Rap-Up: The Ultimate Guide to Hip-Hop and R&B. ISBN 978-0-446-17820-4.
External links
- The Lost Tapes at Discogs (list of releases)