Fuck Harvey Levin and anybody that loves his celebrity news website. First you prematurely pronounce the impending death of Lil Wayne (Weezy Forgives. We Don't.) and then you try to link the horrific actions of one of the Boston Marathon culprits to our culture? "DEAD BOMBING SUSPECT: HEAVY INTO HIP HOP" You don't say? It's 2013 and most kids are into rap music. We've been penetrated pop culture, you cock suckers. "What's interesting... hip-hop lyrics are notoriously violent and often degrading to women." So our music is at fault in this tragedy? Let's be clear the only bombs my culture cosigns is DJ Funkmaster Flex's sound effects. Thirty Mile Zone is prone to post anything to get traffic. Fuck dude and his coffee cup. Get you a Rap Radar cup and drink with us in the winner's circle.
Yo Mister Cee, the people feel threatened! Soliciting prostitutes is illegal and this is the second time your private affairs have been publicized. Get some help...and a room! —B.Dot
Nas allegedly wrote this email to the bigwigs at Def Jam demanding the release of Lost Tapes Vol. 2 this winter. Supposedly, they offered him $200,000 to fund the project. Until we receive confirmation, believe half of what you read after the jump.
From: Nas
To: LA Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley, Michael Seltzer, Joseph Borrino, Chris Hicks
Subject: PUT MY SHIT OUT!Peace to all,
With all do respect to you all, Nas is NOBODY’s slave. This is not the 1800′s, respect me and I will respect you.
I won’t even tap dance around in an email, I will get right into it. People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don’t connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it. Yet time and time again its the executives who always stand in the way of a creative artist’s dream and aspirations. You don’t help draw the truth from my deepest and most inner soul, you don’t even do a great job @ selling it. The #1 problem with DEF JAM is pretty simple and obvious, the executives think they are the stars. You aren’t…. not even close. As a matter of fact, you wish you were, but it didn’t work out so you took a desk job. To the consumer, I COME FIRST. Stop trying to deprive them! I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn’t understand RAP. Pretty fucked up situation
This isn’t the 90′s though. Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago. @ this point I just need you all to be very clear where I stand and how I feel about “my label.” I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man. I did business with Tommy Mottola and Donnie Einer, two of the most psycho dudes this business ever created. I worked well with them for one major reason……. they believed in me. The didn’t give a fuck about what any radio station or magazine said….those dudes had me.
Lost Tapes is a movement and a very important set up piece for my career as it stands. I started this over 5 years ago @ Columbia and nobody knew what it was or what it did but the label put it out as an LP and the fans went crazy for it and I single handlely built a new brand of rap albums. It’s smart and after 5 years it’s still a head of the game. This feels great and you not feeling what I’m feeling is disturbing. Don’t get in the way of my creativity. We are aligned with the stars here, this is a movement. There is a thing called KARMA that comes to haunt you when you tamper with the aligning stars. WE ARE GIVING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop throwing dog shit on a MAGICAL moment.
You don’t get another Nas recording that doesn’t count against my deal….PERIOD! Keep your bullshit $200,000.00 fund. Open the REAL budget. This is a New York pioneers ALBUM, there ain’t many of us. I am ready to drop in the 4th quarter. You don’t even have shit coming out! Stop being your own worst enemy. Let’s get money!
-N.Jones
WHATEVER…GET LA REID OUT OF DEF JAM
HE’S A R&B NINJA…HIP HOP DOESN’T FLOW THRU HIS VEINS
Well gotdamn.
Nas you should of thought about before you SOLD ya SOUL …no way out….they own you.
WHATEVER…GET LA REID OUT OF DEF JAM
HE’S A R&B NINJA…HIP HOP DOESN’T FLOW THRU HIS VEINS
^
u talking bout the same LA Reid that signed Outkast to their first deal? *holds up c’mon son sign*
NAS MAD!
I agree with @darkaqua L.a. Reid got lucky with outkast other than that he don’t know shit about hip hop. If you need an example just look at the deal he gave shyne. Who in the right hip hop frame of mind would do that deal? Nobodys checking for Shyne but Nas on the other hand has a solid fan base that ride with him to the death. Put the album out
@b.dot sooo he signed outkast….. that was then…..this is now…. what has he done recently that deserves any credit… what do I know???? Maybe they don’t believe the project would do numbers…. we in the pop rap era now where ppl like it or not
Nas is dealing with “lupe’s paradox”, a hot album that everyone wants to hear but the fascist/slaveowner labels are bent on dumbing down the youth and fucking over the artists at the same time. KILLUMINATI
Hopefully Nas will be able/want to release it on his own for his fans. Labels stay losing
u talking bout the same LA Reid that signed Outkast to their first deal? *holds up c’mon son sign*
^
You mean Kawan Prather, LA only did what a room full of people told him makes sense #gethimouttathere
PREACH!
Altho I’m having a hard time believing Nas typed “Beefing with record labels is SO 15 years ago” sounds like some valley girl shit. Either way…
We want Lost Tapes Vol. 2!
Respect That.
u talking bout the same LA Reid that signed Outkast to their first deal? *holds up c’mon son sign*
^
You mean Kawan Prather, LA only did what a room full of people told him makes sense #gethimouttathere
———————–
Yep!
I remember Nas saying that when he was looking for a deal that Russell Simmons told him that he wasn’t what the label was looking for. Then in an effort to squash that beef with Jay-Z, he hands in the CEO card and signs with the label. Now he’s writing letters.. Welp.
before I say anything, let me just say that who ever had the idea of attaching the instrumental to Kiss’ letter to BIG is a fucking genius (at least just for today).
I’m just looking at the names this email is supposedly addressed to and I’m shaking my head cuz none of them are Hip Hop. Its fucked up that these are the fuckos that get to make decisions up there. This is definitely not the Def Jam of the past. They rather dump money into Rick Ross even after discovering his C.O. past to spite 50 and they succeeded in erasing the public’s memory of that. I just don’t understand how anyone in their right mind could look Nas in the eyes and tell him anything about his art. That shit is mind blowing to me. If this letter is legit and really came from Nas, I’m officially jumping on the “Fire LA Reid” bandwagon. I felt a little bad for him when those rumors came out a few weeks ago cuz he gave Shyne all that money but to try to block what Nas is trying to do is just crazy. The suits in that building need to get it the fuck together and let the God do what he does best. I see exactly why Jay Electronica hasnt signed to a major label yet, could you imagine the kind of shit they would want him to put out there? This is a fucking shame.
Reid is obviosly more into R&B. That’s why they didn’t want to let Jay-Z leave.
But Def Jam’s money is sort of tied up. Neyo, Rihanna, ect have 4th quarter albums.
And Nas is one of the best rappers to ever do it but he isn’t a commercial guarantee. .
@rAND
T.I. has been on Atlantic since his 2nd album because he Reid did him dirty when he was signed to LaFace/Arista.
And have you all noticed the lack of talent that Def Jam has been signing/releasing as of late? It’s mostly one hit/no hit wonders and R&B acts.
Not dropping a 4th quarter Nas album is crazy his 4th quarter albums all do big numbers. Def Jam is a bunch of fuck ups they shoulda never gave them niggas loose leaf.
DEF JAM SUCKS
NAS SHOULD CHANGE IT
NAS SALES—>000
@B.Dot
…Guru caught that ass slippin. kawan prather indeed… and besides, wasn’t that like 1992-’93? yep.
“you’re only funky as your last cut
you focus on the past, ya ass will be a has-what”
this definitely applies to L.A. ….but fuck all that other shit. Nas is teaching in the letter. i hope all you aspiring artists, etc niggas are paying CLOSE attention. to lupe’s situation too. study study study!
@QUEENZ
agree 100% (of course they didn’t care about ross being a C.O. though… that’s poppy cock to a label exec. only thing they tryna preserve is their pockets.)
nas has gotta be the most retarded fuckers on planet earth…. everytime he is supposed to have something nice coming to the table he runs and shoots himself in the ass.
THERE IS NO WAY TO BUCK THE SYSTEM……. stop fucking trying NASIR JONES…….
you know what response this letter gets from label exec’s….. yeah right FUCK YOU…. we’ll shelve your ass…….
the only hope that nas has to even continue his career if he keeps doing this shit is if jay-z, kanye, or somebody of higher power comes down & rescue his ass……
it’s like after millions of dollars one thing nas never learned was the music business. he’s always been fighting it his whole career, and his shit been on a constant decline. nas career could have been so much more glorious than it is…. he should have been overtop of biggie & jay-z & pac status.
instead he wants to cry at every twist & turn and have people like, fuck nas, he’s always a problem.
KIDS DO NOT RELATE TO NAS……… don’t give a fuck if he’s a hiphop pioneer or not, young people who are in the mix of music do not even know what illmatic is.
shit kinda piss me off, cuz I like nas and always have, but it’s like he always fuck up the music situation and leave his albums flat. he’s not doing the fans any justice by doing that, the music ends up suffering…. he has this I can do it all myself attitude and that’s never the case & never works in music
This is bullshit! 200k for lost tapes? Millions for fuckng SHYNE?! Fuck l.a reid and fat shit son. Fuck a budget eating Rihanna(wish Breezy woulda mamed ur ass) , fuck Defjam staff too.
L.A REID and co. ,I hope u old coons die from strokes.
HIPHOP IS DEAD!
NaS is right, 100%. Fuck the man!!
UMMM…IM READING ALL THE COMMENTS AND IM FUCKED UP. SOME OF YALL HAVE POINTS AND I AGREE WITH BOTH SIDES. WE AS BLOGGERS DONT UNDERSTAND THE INDUSTRY SO WHAT WE SAY DONT REALLY MATTER.
I WANNA SEE LOST TAPES, BUT WHY THE FUCK THEY LOST IF THE SONGS ARE SO HOT? I KNOW SOME SONG DONT FIT ALBUMS FORMAT SOMETIMES BUT DAMN NAS, IM A HUGE FAN BUT YOU DROP THE BALL SOMETIMES THEN BLAME THE LABEL AND SAY THEY TREATING YOU LIKE A SLAVE, KNOCK IT OFF IT’S GETTING OLD.
NAS BEEN IN THE GAME FOR YEARS, HE SHOULD HAVE BETTER CONTROL OF WHAT HE WANTS TO RELEASE TO THE FANS THAT BELIVE IN HIM
More bitching smh. The music industry is about selling records. You want to give away free music and be like these kids for wat. Your NAS. Make some hits and go platinum if your the best rapper alive and got such a following. LA Reid is a legend and is responsible for great artist and millions of millions of records sold. Stop bitching. Make some hits and Stfu. Distant Relatives was all cute but boring. Dont blame the big bad record labels cus you cant sell records. Your only as important as the money you can make for someone else. Its about business. If Michael Jackson couldnt sell anymore they’d do the same to him. Make hits and Stfu.
Last Tapes 2 Dec 14, 2010!
B.Dot says:
Thursday, October 07 2010 at 10:07 AM EST
WHATEVER…GET LA REID OUT OF DEF JAM
HE’S A R&B NINJA…HIP HOP DOESN’T FLOW THRU HIS VEINS
^
u talking bout the same LA Reid that signed Outkast to their first deal? *holds up c’mon son sign*
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LA REID WASN’T ALL ABOUT OUTKAST IN THE BEGINNING….HE LUCK UP ON THAT B. DOT. LA DIDN’T SIGN “ALOT” ON RAP ACTS IN THE 90′S THAT EVENTUALLY BECAME HOT AND MADE MILLIONS….
AND A SIGN THAT HE REALLY ISN’T ABOUT HIP HOP….YOU ONLY COULD NAME “ONE” RAP ACT.
DISCLAIMER: This may or may not be nas people. it could be fact. dont jump to conclusions now
get drake off pimp c’s album!
@Truth
Nas has went platinum 8 times with out radio hits…please stop with the bullshit!. They did do the same to Michael Jackson the record labels jerked him around for years and he sold miilions on top of millions! Prince, Janet, Mariah and the list goes on. There are artists with # 1 hits on the radio and billboard and has yet to go gold B.O.B for example. Gucci and Waka are all over the radio and their albums don’t sell much…so what is your point. Nas last solo album ‘Untitled’ went gold plus and counting with absolutely no radio play. Distant Relatives is still currently on the Billboard top 200 and their tours are sold out across the globe.
@broadstreetbully! And idiot^, STFU!
Nas has classics! U camel riders. Get off the smartenup bandwagon. Nas’s albums are gr8. He now needs one more to shut u fools up.
Youth dont relate to Nas coz of b.s shoved down our throats by old coons like l.a reid for the last decade! Nas is a legend!
[...] {Source} [...]
Team Nas!
“Fuck Def Jam as a staff, record label and a mutha fuckin crew.. and if you down with Def Jam.. fuck you too. ”
Let Nas do his thing… the first Lost Tapes was up there with his best albums.. and a nigga needs this right now.. the game starting to forget him again like right before Ether.
He’s right though… you got Executives that think there the stars.. they a bunch of grudge holding niggas..
and that Reid nigga can’t live off of one decision his whole life.. you gotta look at the whole.. and RECENT mistakes.. nigga outta touch.. burning money on shyne all day.. this nigga living off of signin OutKast like Mister C still living off of old B.I.G. recordings. lol
@Android if hip hop is dead you finally get your ignorant ass off the site for good !
i hope it works out for nas, one of the best rappers alive
2Truth co-sign
truth always speaks the truth
“u trying to kick knowledge….huh fuck knowledge”…..lol
wow!!! I totally agree with Nas. 100%
but thats fucked up cuz YOU signed the deal son. why the fuck u went to Def Jam?? damn..
GZA-read the labels godson. Rick ross is a former police. T.i is a repeat offender headed for jail unless he turns informant. Jayz left before it got worse. Nas owes kelis hella cake monthly.its a good letter for us to read but for label execs? I think he’ll lose on account of being both kind and resentful.call a spade a spade. Smarten up nas. Nas can have his own label by now.planet asia does and he doesn’t have a quarter of the fanbase.i think its sad to see one of the greatest get jerked but damn…hovas verse in h to the izzo (overchargin niggas for what they did to the cold crush)and qtip industry rule#1080. Put the blunts down for a sec and get ur business right nas
@ BroadwayBully
Yes Kids do not relate to Nas but what about the millions of adults 25-40 who does?? When will the lable understand that its a genre of HipHop heads out here who are starving for there artist to put out new music. One poster said we are living in a Hip-PoP era, and thats all fine and well with these kids liking what they want, but what happens to us born 1975-1987 who was born and raised in hiphop and now getting older with our favorite artist? Do we like Souljah boy? do we Dougie? or embrace the skinny Jeans movement? HELL NO! , We need our artist to continue to have a lane and Def Jam is one of the speed bumps from allowing this to take place…
Lets be innovative and creative, not just replicating what everyone else is doing… Yes new blood is needed into hiphop but age shouldnt fade out good music.
oooh Nas should definietly file that letter to the same place Lupe sent it to… and thats the NOBODY CARES BUILDING!
once you sell your soul you cant get it back! ask Kanye, Ask Wayne, Ask Em its nice at the start but in the long run it SUCKS
Imma wait until we have a confirmation from Nas.
Also, this is just a further situation about Def Jam’s situation.
For all you “Nah with NAS it’s all about the music”… FOH.. LMAO
He’s a money hungry whore like everyone else. Only difference most ain’t afraid to own it.
You couldve signed indie.. You didn’t. These fuckjng label can only offer you radio, which you don’t need. You could be putting out projects with free and clear artistic expression.. But that means you would have to depend on people buying your music to eat off the backend.. No you took the “$50K in the briefcase instead of the $1Mil check”
And $200K is more than enough to record a bunch records. Producer would work with NAS on spec. So GTFOH with this childish rant, quit throwing around slavery like it’s anything your weak ass could have gone through..
Your star has landed and know you just Old Dude My Pops talk about. Make music
This is why I Fuck with bad.
Nas*
u guys mad
perfect photo for the article.
Nas did an awful job of articulating whatever the fuck he was trying to say….It was actually hard to read this bullshit….I always thought he was intelligent, but this letter makes me think otherwise. Learn how to write nigga and quit crying. You sound like a bitch right now.
perfect photo for the article.
^
it’s all about the details, lol