Nas’ 2002 compilation The Lost Tapes may come with an asterisk when ranking it with the rest of his studio discography, but it’s all but a universal opinion that it ranks high in terms of the quality of projects he’s put out.

There has long been rumors of sequel dating far back as 2003, but nothing but hearsay and half-baked confirmations have come from said rumors. Now, in a new interview with Drip, a more concrete timeline for The Lost Tapes 2 has been announced by Mass Appeal creative director Sacha Jenkins and CEO Peter Bittenbender.

“I love talking about it,” Bittenbender says when prefaced with the notion that he may be sick of hearing about The Lost Tapes 2‘s whereabouts. “Because every time I talk about it, I feel like I’m helping bring it to life. Nas is working to deliver this next record to Def Jam, which will be his last [for them]. I haven’t been too involved in that, so I can’t tell you when it’s coming. Once that’s out, then Lost Tapes will follow shortly after. It’ll definitely be a 2016 release, hopefully earlier in the year than later. The music’s amazing. It carries on what he built with the first Lost Tapes. The fans are gonna love it.”

The year 2012 was the last time the world was blessed with a full-length album from Nas, in Life is Good. Since then, he has been steadily building his brand through a partnership with both Hennessy and Sprite, and guiding the careers of Run the Jewels, Fashawn and Bishop Nehru as co-founder for Mass Appeal Records.

H/T: HHDX

—

Photo: SIPA/WENN.com