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The Lost Tapes 2
Compilation album by Nas
Released	July 19, 2019 (2019-07-19)
Recorded	2007–2017
Genre	Hip hop
Length	59:37
Label	Mass Appeal Def Jam
Producer	The Alchemist AraabMuzik DJ Dahi DJ Khalil DJ Toomp Eric Hudson Hit-Boy Kanye West No I.D. Pete Rock Pharrell Williams RZA Statik Selektah Swizz Beatz Xharlie Black Nasir Jones
Nas chronology
Nasir (2018) The Lost Tapes 2 (2019) King's Disease (2020)
Singles from The Lost Tapes 2
"Jarreau of Rap (Skatt Attack)" Released: July 12, 2019

The Lost Tapes 2 is a compilation album by American rapper Nas, released on July 19, 2019 by Mass Appeal Records and Def Jam Recordings. 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 (2006), Untitled (2008), Life Is Good (2012) and the album scrapped in favor of Nasir (2018). It includes production from producers such as RZA, Swizz Beatz, Pharrell Williams, Kanye West, No I.D., Pete Rock and The Alchemist, 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 (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 Def Jam Recordings. In a June 2010 interview for Hot 97.5 KVEG, he talked about a follow-up to The Lost Tapes, "I do got a lot of songs that really didn't make no album, that's just sittin' around got 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 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 and producer Hit-Boy created a track entitled "No Such Thing As White Jesus" that went unreleased. The track was reworked as "Royalty" featuring RaVaughn. Ocean still received songwriting credit for the track.

Promotion

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. 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

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	58/100
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
HipHopDX	3.1/5
The Independent
NME
Pitchfork	5.1/10
Rolling Stone

At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 58, based on 7 reviews.

Roisin O'Connor of The Independent 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 Kanye West, Swizz Beatz and RZA as the standout tracks. Rolling Stone'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 units, 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.
• "Lost Freestyle" contains a sample from "Accept Me (I'm Not a Girl Anymore)", written and performed by Angela Bofill.
• "Tanasia" contains samples from "Mother Russia", written by Michael Dunford and Betty Newsinger, and performed by Renaissance.
• "Adult Film" contains uncredited interpolations of "Raw", written by Antonio Hardy, and performed by Big Daddy Kane.
• "The Art of It" contains samples from "Uptown Anthem", written by Vincent Brown, Anthony Criss, and Keir Gist, and performed by Naughty by Nature; and samples from "Straighten It Out", written by Peter Phillips and CL Smooth, and performed by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, which itself samples "Our Generation", written and performed by Ernie Hines.
• "Highly Favoured" contains samples from "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", written by Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson, and performed by Alton Ellis.
• "It Never Ends" contains samples from "One Way Rag", written by Colin Gibson and Kenny Craddock, 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.
• "Beautiful Life" contains samples from "Happy Song", written by Reginald Brown, Richard Davis, and Stafford Floyd, and performed by The Dynamic Superiors.

Charts

References

1. ^ "Nas Gathers Unreleased Tracks for Long-Awaited 'Lost Tapes 2'". Rolling Stone. July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
2. 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. Archived from the original on September 12, 2012. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
3. "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.
4. 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.
5. Jacobs, Allen (June 2, 2010). "Nas Says "Lost Tapes" Volumes 2 & 3 Is Possible in September 2010". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
6. Dombal, Ryan (September 16, 2010). "Nas Preps The Lost Tapes: Vol. 2". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
7. Roberts, Steven (October 7, 2010). "Nas Accuses Def Jam of Skimping on Lost Tapes: Vol. 2 Budget". MTV News. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on January 24, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
8. Jacobs, Allen (December 21, 2010). "Nas Fans Create Online Petition for Def Jam to Release "Lost Tapes 2"". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
9. Rodriguez, Jayson (June 3, 2011). "Nas Talks Lost Tapes Vol. 2, Label Issues". MTV News. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on January 5, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
10. Koroma, Salima (March 15, 2011). "Nas Shares Thoughts on Libya, Updates on 'Lost Tapes Vol. 2'". HipHopDX. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
11. "Hear Nas' Previously Unreleased "Royalty" Which Credits Frank Ocean". 19 July 2019.
12. Scott, Dana (June 11, 2019). "Nas Reveals 'The Lost Tapes 2' Promo On Instagram". HipHopDX. Retrieved June 12, 2019.
13. "Nas Reveals 'The Lost Tapes II' Tracklist, Release date". Rap-Up. July 2, 2019. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
14. ^ "The Lost Tapes II by Nas". Metacritic. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
15. Kellman, Andy. "Nas – The Lost Tapes II". AllMusic. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
16. McKrell, Aaron (20 July 2019). "Review: Nas' "The Lost Tapes 2" Doesn't Match The OG's Euphoria". HipHopDX. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
17. ^ O'Connor, Roisin (19 July 2019). "Nas review, The Lost Tapes II: Queensbridge rapper's latest work feels a lot like redemption". The Independent. Archived from the original on 2022-06-18. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
18. Hobbs, Thomas (23 July 2019). "Nas – 'The Lost Tapes II' review". NME. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
19. "Nas: The Lost Tapes 2 Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
20. ^ Weingarten, Christopher R. (23 July 2019). "Nas' 'The Lost Tapes II' Is a Grab Bag Set That Shows Every Side of the Iconic Rapper". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
21. ^ Caulfield, Keith (July 28, 2019). "Ed Sheeran's 'No. 6' Spends Second Week at No. 1 on Billboard 200 Albums Chart, Beyonce & Nas Bow in Top 10". Billboard. Retrieved July 29, 2019.
22. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Digital Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. July 29, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
23. "Ultratop.be – Nas – The Lost Tapes 2" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
24. "Nas Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
25. "Dutchcharts.nl – Nas – The Lost Tapes 2" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
26. "Le Top de la semaine : Top Albums Fusionnes – SNEP (Week 30, 2019)" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
27. "Nas: The Lost Tapes 2". officialcharts.com.
28. "Nas Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved July 30, 2019.
29. "Nas: The Lost Tapes 2 (Digital Albums)". billboard.com. Billboard. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019.

• 2019 compilation albums
• Albums produced by the Alchemist (musician)
• Albums produced by Kanye West
• Albums produced by Swizz Beatz
• Albums produced by AraabMuzik
• Albums produced by DJ Toomp
• Albums produced by Eric Hudson
• Albums produced by DJ Dahi
• Albums produced by No I.D.
• Albums produced by DJ Khalil
• Albums produced by Pete Rock
• Albums produced by RZA
• Albums produced by Hit-Boy
• Albums produced by Statik Selektah
• Albums produced by Pharrell Williams
• Nas compilation albums
• Sequel albums
• Def Jam Recordings compilation albums
• Mass Appeal Records albums