Earlier this year, Queens, New York emcee icon Nas said in an interview that he had plans to release a second installment of his Lost Tapes. The September, 2002 release featured previously unheard songs by Nas, produced by the likes of Alchemist and L.E.S.
Whereas the original collection of songs came by way of Nas’ then-label Columbia Records, the emcee alluded that his post-2006 home, Def Jam Records, would be responsible to release The Lost Tapes 2. Based on leaked emails, and interviews since the first announced in June of this year, the project has been delayed by the label home to Kanye West, The Roots, Rihanna and Ghostface Killah.
Fans siding with Nas have created WeNeedLostTapes2.com, a petition side hoping to sway the New York-based label into releasing the collection of songs.
The site states, “We the fans of Nasir Jones, have been waiting for the follow-up to the 2002 classic Lost Tapes. 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.
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It has come to our attention that Nas has in fact completed the follow-up, titled Lost Tapes 2, 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.”
At press time, 677 signatures had been collected.