Nas Announces Long-Awaited "The Lost Tapes II" Project

Let's all hope that it doesn't include scratched songs from "Nasir."

BYAron A.
Mike Coppola/Getty Images

It's nearly been a full year since the release of Nas last album, Nasir, an album entirely produced by Kanye West during the Wyoming sessions. The project was, unfortunately, very underwhelming, especially since fans were waiting years for the follow-up to Life Is Good. Many thought it might be a while until we get another album from Nas but from Nas' latest Instagram post, it seems like we might be in for a new album from Nas in the near future.

Nas first released The Lost Tapes in 2002 which was met with widespread acclaim. The project included unreleased tracks from 1998 to 2001 from sessions for I Am... and Stillmatic. Although a sequel for The Lost Tapes was planned, it was later put on hold indefinitely after Nas took issue with the way Def Jam was handling the budget for the project. However, it looks like Nas is getting ready to finally release the project soon. He took to Instagram to share video of him holding a broken cassette (or a mold of one) that reads, "The Lost Tapes II"  while dressed up in full-chemist attire. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Byk-XCIg8wP

Back in 2011, Nas explained the reason behind shelving The Lost Tapes II was because of his new home at Def Jam. "When I released Lost Tapes, it was on Sony. Being at Sony for so long, I was used to things going easy," he explained. "At Def Jam, I just got there, I'm still in my ways at Sony... 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."


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About The Author
Aron A. is a features editor for HotNewHipHop. Beginning his tenure at HotNewHipHop in July 2017, he has comprehensively documented the biggest stories in the culture over the past few years. Throughout his time, Aron’s helped introduce a number of buzzing up-and-coming artists to our audience, identifying regional trends and highlighting hip-hop from across the globe. As a Canadian-based music journalist, he has also made a concerted effort to put spotlights on artists hailing from North of the border as part of Rise & Grind, the weekly interview series that he created and launched in 2021. Aron also broke a number of stories through his extensive interviews with beloved figures in the culture. These include industry vets (Quality Control co-founder Kevin "Coach K" Lee, Wayno Clark), definitive producers (DJ Paul, Hit-Boy, Zaytoven), cultural disruptors (Soulja Boy), lyrical heavyweights (Pusha T, Styles P, Danny Brown), cultural pioneers (Dapper Dan, Big Daddy Kane), and the next generation of stars (Lil Durk, Latto, Fivio Foreign, Denzel Curry). Aron also penned cover stories with the likes of Rick Ross, Central Cee, Moneybagg Yo, Vince Staples, and Bobby Shmurda.