Photo by Matt Salacuse

Nas has announced his plans to start Mass Appeal Records, a label that will allow him to release his own music once his contract with Def Jam ends later this year, as Billboard reports. The label is co-founded by Peter Bittenbender and will launch in conjunction with Mass Appeal, the culture publication which Nas helped relaunch last year. Mass Appeal's catalogue will be distributed by Sony's RED, a sales division which handles distribution for independent labels.

The label's first releases include a compilation album featuring artists like Future, Pusha T, A$AP Mob, and Mac Miller, as well as The Lost Tapes 2, a collection of unreleased Nas music that follows a collection released in 2002. Also announced is a posthumous Pimp C record that will be coproduced by modern producers such as Mike WiLL Made It, DJ Mustard, and Juicy J. The label plans to start releasing material this summer.

"I'm excited to be a part of creating and supporting future careers and legacy artists, promoting love and finding new genius to help the world," Nas told Billboard. "I'm going to be as involved as I need to be, but I also want to be respectful of the art and give artists the space they need to grow and become themselves."

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