Songs on The Lost Tapes were recorded in several recording studios in New York, including Right Track Studios, The Hit Factory Studios, and Sony Studios in New York City, Lobo Studios in Long Island, and Music Palace in West Hempstead, as well as South Beach Studios in Miami, Florida and Westlake Studios in Santa Monica, California. Most of the compiled songs first became available as bootlegs on underground mixtapes before being selected and mastered for The Lost Tapes. Several songs from the sessions for the former album, including 'Blaze a 50', 'Drunk by Myself', and 'Poppa Was a Playa', were bootlegged prior to its release and leaked to the Internet through MP3 technology, which led to their exclusion from I Am. The Lost Tapes compiles previously unreleased tracks that Nas recorded during 1998 to 2001 in the sessions for both his 1999 album I Am. A second volume of previously unreleased songs was planned before Nas had signed with Def Jam Recordings in 2006, but the project was delayed because of issues with his record label The Lost Tapes 2 was eventually released on July 19, 2019. It received widespread acclaim from critics, some of whom viewed it as Nas' best record since his 1994 debut album Illmatic. Released with little promotion, The Lost Tapes debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200, selling over 70,000 copies in its first week. With low-key, sparse sounds and observational lyrics about urban life, the songs are largely autobiographical and nostalgic, departing from the thug persona of Nas' previous records. It features production by L.E.S., The Alchemist, Poke and Tone, and Deric 'D-Dot' Angelettie, among others. It was released on September 23, 2002, by Ill Will Records and Columbia Records, who wanted to capitalize on what was seen in hip hop music as Nas' artistic comeback the year before, and compiles previously unreleased tracks that were discarded from recording sessions for the rapper's previous studio albums I Am.

The Lost Tapes is a compilation album by American rapper Nas.

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