Over the years, the Internet has demanded — and, of course, been given — a variety of pop-culture happenings: the phoenixlike rise of Betty White, the union of U.K. Christmas No. 1 and Rage Against the Machine song, and the much-deserved second life of Jericho, to name a few. Next up: the release of Lost Tapes 2, the sequel to the beloved 2002 collection of unreleased Nas tracks.
As you may recall, back in October Nas wrote an irate letter to his record company’s execs, blaming them for holding up the album’s release for no good reason (also, accusing them of attempted slavery). That was the last we heard of the injustice — until this week, when a grassroots campaign sprung up, soliciting signature for a pro–Lost Tapes 2 petition. Say the organizers:
Dear Def Jam,
We the fans of Nasir Jones, have been waiting for the follow-up to the 2002 classic “Lost Tapesâ€. This was a record of compiled tracks that did not make Nas albums, but put together for the sake of the fans. Since its release almost a decade ago, it has received critical acclaim and quickly became a fan favorite.
It has come to our attention that Nas has in fact completed the follow-up, titled “Lost Tapes 2â€, and is waiting for you (Def Jam) to green-light the project and give it a release date. We do not like to go into speculation and rumors, but it seems as though you do not want to release Lost Tapes 2 because you don’t want it to count as an official album since Nas only has 2 more albums left to fulfill his contractual obligation to Def Jam.
Like the Lupe Fiasco fans, we understand how important it is to support the artists that still strive to bring creativity and artistic integrity back to the forefront of Hip-Hop. Nas is a hip-hop legend whose career has lasted nearly 20 years and deserves to be treated as such.
We ask that you give the people what they want and release Lost Tapes 2 to the fans.
Sincerely,
The Undersigned
Are you paying attention, Def Jam? The Internet gets what the Internet wants.
Nas Fans Create Online Petition For Def Jam To Release “Lost Tapes 2†[HipHopDX]