Nas' The Lost Tapes: A Review

In 1999, Nas planned to release a double album, but bootlegging of the tracks prevented that, leaving Nas to release the mediocre I Am... (read review) and the awful Nastradamus (read review) instead. Riding high off of his victory over Jay-Z and the Roc-A-fella camp, Nas' label capitalized by releasing a compilation of these bootlegged records that had gained some critical acclaim on the mixtape circuit. Called The Lost Tapes, the collection is perhaps the strongest argument against music piracy you'll ever hear. The tracks are some of the purest, rawest, and most elegant music the man has ever made.Taking it as an album would be a mistake, as it is a clearly a compilation, the records drawing from Nas' differing rap personas. The lenses don't detract though from Nas' mostly candid appraisal of himself and the world around him. There is little of the self-conscious self-aggrandizement that dominated his late nineties work. Beginning with the lovely piano-driven Doo-Rags, Nas charts the course of his youth with the candor and wisdom Nas fans had hoped for earlier in his career. Purple is an equally candid rumination on the streets and the industry over a minimal, intimate beat. Nothing Lasts Forever and No Idea's Original deal with the concepts behind their titles eloquently, and Blaze a 50 is a tale told of a planned robbery gone wrong, as only one of hip-hop's premier storytellers could tell it.

While these tracks are amazing for their simplicity and, after the excesses of I Am... and Nastradamus, their humility, the standout tracks are Poppa was a Playa (produced by an uncredited Kanye West) and Fetus. The former track has Nas recalling the special bond with his father - a tie strengthened by Nas' learning of his father's adultery and keeping it quiet: subject matter anathema to most mainstream rap artists. Fetus has Nas recounting the time he spent in his mother's womb, again, content that marks Nas' uniqueness as an emcee. Drunk By Myself, which grippingly depicts the mindstate of an alcoholic, is another memorable track.

There are some less than stellar tracks here: Black Zombie is just a little too preachy, and Everybody's Crazy, which sounds like a Jay-Z-induced fit of pique doesn't match the quality of the rest of the compilation. My Way and U Gotta Love It resurrect It Was Written's (read review) Nas Escobar, though fortunately, a more reflective figure, without the flash and excess in production or content that fans decried. But overall, these are minor grievances concerning a collection that is some of Nas' best work to date.

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