''The Lost Tapes 2'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

by American rapper

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

, released on July 19, 2019 by

Mass Appeal Records Mass Appeal Records is an American independent record label founded in 2014. The label is the music division of the Mass Appeal Media Group. In May 2014, it was announced that American rapper Nas was launching an indie label with Mass Appeal ...

and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. It is the sequel to the compilation album '' The Lost Tapes'', released in 2002. ''The Lost Tapes 2'' features unreleased tracks from Nas’ last four studio albums: ''

Hip Hop Is Dead ''Hip Hop Is Dead'' is the eighth studio album by American rapper Nas, released December 19, 2006, on Def Jam Recordings. His first album for the label, it was co-financed by Nas's previous label, Columbia Records, which once distributed for Def ...

'' (2006),

Untitled Untitled or (Untitled) may refer to: Artworks * '' Untitled (2004)'', by Banksy * ''Untitled'' (1982 painting), by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat * ''Untitled'' (Devil), a 1982 painting by American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat * ''Untitled ...

(2008), '' Life Is Good'' (2012) and the album scrapped in favor of ''

Nasir Nasir ( ar, ناصر, translit=Nāṣir) is a masculine given name, commonly found in Arabic which can mean "helper" or "one who gives victory" (grammatically the Stem I masculine singular active participle of consonantal verb root ''n-ṣ-r''). ...

'' (2018). It includes production from producers such as RZA,

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973) is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. Alongside close colleague Chad Hugo, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in the early 1990s, with whom he ...

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

No I.D. Ernest Dion Wilson (born June 23, 1971), professionally known as No I.D. (formerly Immenslope), is an American hip hop and R&B producer from Chicago, Illinois. Wilson is also a disc jockey (DJ), music arranger and former rapper, having relea ...

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongs ...

and

The Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

, among others.

Background

In 2002, Nas released '' The Lost Tapes'', compiling previously unreleased tracks that were discarded from recording sessions for Nas' studio albums, '' I Am...'' (1999) and ''

Stillmatic ''Stillmatic'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Nas, released on December 18, 2001, by Ill Will and Columbia Records. In contrast to his previous work's gangsta rap themes, the album contains socially conscious and philosophical theme ...

'' (2001). A follow-up compilation, ''The Lost Tapes 2'', was originally intended to be released on December 16, 2003, and include unreleased recordings, remixes, and freestyle tracks. However, its release was delayed, and in 2006, Nas signed to

. In a June 2010 interview for Hot 97.5 KVEG, he said of following-up ''The Lost Tapes'', "I do got a lot of songs that really didn't make no album, that's just sittin' around rgot lost. So I've got enough actually, for a ''Lost Tapes 2'' and ''3'' by now. So I've just got to set it up, put them together – 12 songs for one album, 12 songs for another album, and figure it out. That's all it takes." In September, he announced plans to release ''The Lost Tapes 2'' on December 14. However, its release was further delayed by Def Jam, whom Nas accused of mishandling the project and its budget in a personal e-mail sent to label executives. Reports of the project's delay incited fans to create an

online petition An online petition (or Internet petition, or e-petition) is a form of petition which is signed online, usually through a form on a website. Visitors to the online petition sign the petition by adding their details such as name and email address. T ...

in December asking for Def Jam to release the album. After losing time to the project's delay, Nas began recording for a new studio album and put plans for ''The Lost Tapes 2'' on hold. In 2012, American singer

Frank Ocean Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...

and producer

Hit-Boy Chauncey Alexander Hollis Jr. (born May 21, 1987), better known by his stage name Hit-Boy, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, and songwriter. In May 2011, he had signed a two-year deal with Kanye West's GOOD Music production branch. ...

created a track entitled "No Such Thing As White Jesus" that went unreleased. The track was reworked as "Royalty" featuring

RaVaughn RaVaughn Nichelle Brown, known professionally as RaVaughn, is an American singer-songwriter and actress from Carson, California. She was initially signed to Ne-Yo's imprint Compound University which includes artists such as Adrienne Bailon. RaV ...

. Ocean still received songwriting credit for the track.

Promotion

On June 11, 2019, Nas shared a promotional video via his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

account, announcing the release of ''The Lost Tapes 2'' in the near future. On July 2, a trailer was released to announce the album's cover art and production credits, alongside its track listing and a release date of July 19, 2019. The trailer included a preview of the album track "Lost Freestyle".

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from mainstream publications, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7, ...

score of 58, based on 7 reviews. Roisin O'Connor of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' concluded that ''The Lost Tapes 2'' "sounds like an artist rediscovering his love for hip hop in the most joyous and satisfying way", naming the songs produced by

and RZA as the standout tracks. ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

''s Christopher R. Weingarten praised Nas' performance, calling him "a rap legend at his most stylistically diverse", however, he described the album as "a messy display of the many sides of Nas" at both "his most essential and least essential".

Commercial performance

''The Lost Tapes 2'' debuted at number 10 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with 23,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditi ...

s, of which 12,000 were pure album sales. It is Nas's 13th US top 10 album.

Track listing

Notes * signifies a co-producer * "You Mean the World to Me" features uncredited vocals by Tony Williams Sample credits * "Jarreau of Rap (Skatt Attack)" contains an interpolation from " (Round, Round, Round) Blue Rondo à la Turk", written and performed by

Al Jarreau Alwin Lopez Jarreau (March 12, 1940 – February 12, 2017) was an American singer and musician. His 1981 album '' Breakin' Away'' spent two years on the ''Billboard'' 200 and is considered one of the finest examples of the Los Angeles pop and R ...

. * "Lost Freestyle" contains a sample from "Accept Me (I'm Not a Girl Anymore)", written and performed by

Angela Bofill Angela Tomasa Bofill (born May 2, 1954) is an American singer-songwriter of Cuban- Puerto Rican origins. A New York native, Bofill began her professional career in the mid-1970s. Bofill is most known for singles such as, "This Time I'll Be Sweete ...

. * "Tanasia" contains samples from "

Mother Russia The personification of Russia is traditionally feminine and most commonly maternal since medieval times. Most common terms for national personification of Russia are: *Mother Russia (russian: Матушка Россия, tr. ''Matushka Rossiya'' ...

", written by

Michael Dunford Michael John Dunford is a football administrator, who is currently Chief Executive at Plymouth Argyle Football Club. Career His first role in football came as General Manager of Derby County, a role he was at from July 1992 until 5 November 19 ...

and Betty Newsinger, and performed by

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

. * "Adult Film" contains uncredited interpolations of "Raw", written by Antonio Hardy, and performed by

Big Daddy Kane Antonio Hardy (born September 10, 1968), better known by his stage name Big Daddy Kane, is an American rapper who began his career in 1986 as a member of the Juice Crew. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential and skilled MCs in hi ...

. * "The Art of It" contains samples from "

Uptown Anthem "Uptown Anthem" is a 1992 song by hip-hop group Naughty by Nature. It was made for the soundtrack for the movie ''Juice''. Naughty by Nature rapper Treach had a cameo acting role in the movie. Rapper 2Pac, who stars in the film, is featured in t ...

", written by Vincent Brown, Anthony Criss, and Keir Gist, and performed by Naughty by Nature; and samples from "

Straighten It Out "Straighten It Out" is the second single by Pete Rock & CL Smooth from their album, ''Mecca and the Soul Brother'', which was released to critical acclaim in 1992. The song deals with bootleggers and sample clearance opportunists. Unlike the prev ...

", written by

Peter Phillips Peter Mark Andrew Phillips (born 15 November 1977) is a British businessman and the son of Anne, Princess Royal, and Captain Mark Phillips. He is the eldest nephew of King Charles III, and 17th in the line of succession to the British throne. ...

and

CL Smooth Corey Brent Penn, Sr. (born October 8, 1968, New Rochelle, New York), known by his stage name CL Smooth, is an American rapper. He is best known as the vocal half of the hip-hop duo Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Career After the duo Pete Rock & CL S ...

, and performed by

Pete Rock & CL Smooth Pete Rock & CL Smooth were a hip hop duo from Mount Vernon, New York. They made their debut with their 1991 EP, '' All Souled Out'' and followed that with their 1992 LP '' Mecca and the Soul Brother''. Career 1991–1994: The Golden Age As a p ...

, which itself samples "Our Generation", written and performed by

Ernie Hines Earnest Lee-Pickford Hines (born 1938) is an American soul musician. He was born in Jackson, Mississippi. Career Hines moved to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in 1958, after leaving college to play for a gospel group and later forming his own singi ...

. * "Highly Favoured" contains samples from "

(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" is a song written by Stax Records songwriters Homer Banks, Carl Hampton, and Raymond Jackson. Originally written for The Emotions, it has been performed by many singers, most notably by Lut ...

", written by

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are co ...

, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson, and performed by

Alton Ellis Alton Nehemiah Ellis (1 September 1938 – 10 October 2008)Godfather ...

. * "It Never Ends" contains samples from "One Way Rag", written by Colin Gibson and

Kenny Craddock Kenny Craddock (18 April 1950 – 30 May 2002) was a British instrumentalist, composer and producer. Throughout his career he worked with artists including Ringo Starr, Ginger Baker, Billy Bragg, Gerry Rafferty and Alan White. He collaborat ...

, and performed by Alan White. * "You Mean the World to Me" contains samples from "Don't It Make You Feel Good?", written and performed by

Leroy Hutson Leroy Hutson (born June 4, 1945) is an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and instrumentalist, best known as former lead singer of R&B vocal group The Impressions. His music concerns '70s soul, as noted in the June 2 ...

. * "Beautiful Life" contains samples from "Happy Song", written by Reginald Brown, Richard Davis, and Stafford Floyd, and performed by The Dynamic Superiors.

Charts

References