“’The Lost Tapes’ is already a ‘pre-release’ classic, comprised of tracks made during especially prolific recording sessions for the classic albums ‘I Am’ and ‘Stillmatic’, these songs are famous for never having been officially released. Mainly heard on select underground mixtapes, fans have tried to collect these songs one by one for their own Nas anthologies.

"In appreciation of the immense love and interest shown by the fans, Nas, Ill Will & Columbia Records have met the incredible street demand by releasing ‘The Lost Tapes’. Now available for the first time ever are the mastered, completed songs as Nas had intended.”

Well, that’s what the booklet that accompanied the CD says, and somehow, it matches the record. The term “classic” in the first line of the text is to be understood figuratively – they are classics in the sense of not absolutely new any more. And that’s about the whole content of the album, as Columbia second-titled it: Classic unreleased bootlegs, B-Sides and Underground Jewels.

Well, not all on the tracks on the CD are jewels. Take a look into the record industry and you’ll know that there’s a reason why people record fifty tracks but only fifteen make the album. Record company A&Rs are not always dumb, right? Here, we’ve got tracks that did not make Nas' albums' for obvious reasons, but still we have a lot of cool stuff – why? becaues real fans always love the singles’ b-sides, don’t we? “Doo Rags” for example, the opener, shows Nas once again as a poet, in his reflecti ve, contemplating type of style– it's a calm track. “Blaze A 50” shows opinions and thoughts, but on a type of production that goes straight forward – a system-bumper. “Purple” takes a more happy direction musically, but Nas once again thinking and reflecting – the "taking-a-look-over-your-shoulder-back-into-the-past"-type of poem. So is the album: it definitely reconciles the term “Poet” with regard to Nas' abilities. No need to argue or do real and deep criticism, the album is a collector’s item, another part to the Nas anthology, not an absolute necessary piece, but a good one for Nas fans. It might not be “Illmatic” or “Stillmatic”, but it is a very good collection of tracks detailing Nas’s deep heart and impressive mental awareness. It's definitely worth the money.

***** out of SIX SHOTS.