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Lost Tapes
: The album is hot, but there is a reason why Nas left certain songs out of his albums. Better production would've made it hotter, it needed Premo. Tracks like "Fetus", "Blaze a 50", and "Black Zombies" remind us why Nas still is the greatest lyricist ever.
 When I found out that NaS released a complete CD of underground hits I was very hesitate to make a purchase. Being the great fan of his I am very happy to say that I LOVE this CD! From the first track of "Doo Rags" you are hooked. Nas is a great storyteller and goes beyond guns and drugs. The production and lyrics on this project were flawless! My favorite tracks are:
Doo Rags
Nothing Last Forever
No Idea's Original
Drunk By Myself
Black Zombie (Very Positive Rhyme!)
No matter if you are a fan or you just enjoy Hip Hop, you MUST get this for your collection. This is a prime example of why NaS is truly the King Of New York.
Before I start this review, I just want to make one statement: Anyone that is a fan of Nas' debut CD, "Illmatic", should definitely go out and buy "The Lost Tapes". From beginning to end, this CD will remind you of his classic debut CD. Any true Nas fan has heard the majority of these tracks from the orginal "I Am" bootleg CD and on various mixed tapes and mixed CDs. After Nas completed his "It Was Written" CD, he had went back to studio to record "I Am". Months before the official release date, the whole CD appeared on...other websites and Nas decided not to use the majority of the songs on "I Am". The CD was also being bootlegged heavily. He later decided to go back to the studio and just release 2 CDs, which turned out to be "I Am" and "Nastradamus", in the same year, which was 1999. I was sent a copy of the bootleg, via mail, and I was impressed by the results. It featured, "Project Windows", which was featured on "Nastradamus", "U Gotta Love It", "Blaze A 50", "Poppa Was A Player", "Fetus" and other tracks. Lyrically, there aren't too many rappers that can see Nas and I would advise any nonbelievers to listen to this CD. It starts off with the CD's best track in my opinion, "Doo Rags". Precision, who also did production work on AZ's "Aziatic" CD, produces the track. Nas just has a way with words, metaphors and analogies. When he is hooked up with street beats, he is almost untouchable. The tracks "No Idea's Original" and "Everybody's Crazy" were featured as bonus tracks on Nas' "Stillmatic" CD if you purchased the disc from Circuit City. On "The Lost Tapes", "No Idea's Original" has a different beat than it has on "Stillmatic". The Alchemist does a good job on the "remix". You will love the Barry White sample that he used for the song and you will wish the song was 6 minutes long and not 3 minutes and 4 seconds. On "Everybody's Crazy", Nas has a few bars for Jay Z. Al West, who produced "Big Things" on "I Am", shows up again on the CD's 2nd best track, in my opinion, "Drunk By Myself". It's a very haunting beat and it sounds like it should have been on "Illmatic". The only producer to show up on every Nas CD, L.E.S., produces 3 tracks: "U Gotta Love It", "Nothing Lasts Forever" and the underground classic, "Blaze A 50". All 12 tracks on "The Lost Tapes" are worth checking out. There is no filler material on this Nas collector's item. Overall, as I have previously stated, a Nas fan can not afford to miss this CD. "The Lost Tapes" will reaffirm any old or new Nas fan, where his place in hip hop history is. His new CD, "God's Son" is scheduled to drop in November of 2002. Track listing: 1) Doo Rags
2) My Way
3) U Gotta Love It
4) Nothing Lasts Forever
5) No Idea's Original
6) Blaze A 50
7) Everybody's Crazy
8) Purple 9) Drunk By Myself
10) Black Zombie
11) Poppa Was A Player
12) Bonus Track: Fetus (Belly Button Window) James' Top 5 1) Doo Rags
2) Drunk By Myself
3) Blaze A 50
4) U Gotta Love It
5) Poppa Was A Player
A couple years ago, months before Nas' "I Am" was about to drop, a friend of mine came by with a tape... He explained to me that Nas' album had leaked, and that this was it. I listened to this album intensely, only to find that Nas had brought it back to "Illmatic" on this piece. Due to heavy bootlegging, the original version of "I Am" was scrapped, and it was released as a mostly radio friendly album, which disappointed me immensely. Due to Nas' recent successes, he now wields the power to be able to release something that really does not have a radio track on it, but is a return to the days of Nasty Nas. "The Lost Tapes" is a selection of a few tracks that were supposed to make up "I Am", as well as a few that were left off of "Stillmatic" (for some BIZARRE reason!).
Nas starts the album off in fine fashion, with "Fetus", a story of Nas' escape from his mother's womb. Those who have heard this track in the past will be surprised to know that Nas re-recorded the first verse, which is now completely different than the original. Rumor has it that Nas re did the first verse to pay tribute to his mother, who recently passed away. From "Fetus", we arrive at "Doo Rags", a track that has been circulating the underground since "Stillmatic" dropped, and has everyone scratching their heads as to why Nas would leave this off "Stillmatic". This track is easily one of the finest songs Nas has ever recorded, a mellow, chilled out beat where Nas talks about growing up in his era, this song alone is worth the purchase of the album. Nas then glides through an Alchemist produced gem, "My Way", before employing an AZ sample for the hook on the smooth as hell "Gotta Love It". Two tracks later, Nas hits us with "Blaze a 50", one of the most underappreciated concept tracks ever. Nas spits fire while telling a story about lies, lust, deceit, and a double murder. This track is not to be missed. Nas' newfound political outlook makes a strong appearance in the form of "Black Zombies", another Stillmatic leftover. This is an excellent song about the perils of blacks in the world, and should definitely be heard to be fully appreciated. "Can't have more than two guns without squeezin' 'em, on our own people", "scared to do it for ourselves unless we see someone do it first", these are just a few of the many quotable lines from this track. Nas masterfully rounds of "The Lost Tapes" with "Poppa Was a Player", a song dedicated to his father and respecting the fact that he waited until Nas was grown until he decided to leave the family. I guess most people reading this are wondering why this album isn't a 10. There is only 1 reason (that I can think of): Nas' decision to leave "Among Kings" off of "The Lost Tapes" only proves that he really has issues when choosing what to include on albums, which contributes the idea that Nas has one of the illest unreleased catalogues. Had "Among Kings" been included, it would given the album one more outstanding track, and would have upped the length and the depth of the tracklist. That said, "The Lost Tapes" is easily one of the best releases of the year, and a solid Soundscan showing for this item would only increase the chances that other rappers would follow suit, releasing albums that are generally aimed at only their hardcore fans, leaving out the radio friendly [garbage] that so frequently corrupts the overall quality of an album. - www.mvremix.com -
Excellent collection of Nas joints off of bootleg tapes and NYC mix tapes. Alot of this you will have heard before or own. But pick this one up anyway. All the tracks are cleaned up and sound much better than the tapes or off the internet. At 43 minutes it's not as short as you might think. 12 tracks deep, with Nas dropping gem after gem. No skits or cameos on this one, just Nas kicking that lyrical brilliance we've all come to expect from the Verbal Assassin himself. Don't be fooled by his recent "The Remixes" EP, this the real deal. Favorite track - "No Idea's Original." This ain't a perfect album, but compared to what else is out there, definitely worth the 5 star rating. A must for any Nas/hip hop fan. Get this ASAP.
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