The Lost Tapes

1	Doo Rags 4:03
2	My Way 3:55
3	U Gotta Love It 3:18
4	Nothing Lasts Forever 3:52
5	No Idea's Original Original Version 3:04
6	Blaze a 50 2:49
7	Everybody's Crazy 3:35
8	Purple 3:39
9	Drunk by Myself 4:03
10	Black Zombie 3:35
11	Poppa Was a Playa 3:49
12	Fetus Bonus Track 3:20

Barnes & Noble

With 2001's well-received Stillmatic, Nas simultaneously resurrected his career and sparked one of hip-hop's most memorable battles (with Jay-Z). He celebrated by signing with Irv Gotti's bling-blingy Murder Inc., sinking his street cred once again. Right on time, then, comes The Lost Tapes, a stunning 11-track collection that reminds us why some still feel him. Culled from outtakes from 1999's I Am and Stillmatic, -- many of which are already favorites on the underground mixtape circuit -- The Lost Tapes are a catalogue of Nas's maddening career choices. Why leave cuts such as the soulful opening number "Doo Rags" or the Alchemist-blessed "No Idea's Original" off his ever-more-commercial releases? And poetic, socially conscious songs such as the education system–bashing "Black Zombie" and the ode to his jazzbo father Olu Dara, "Poppa Was a Playa" -- gems like these make Nasir's late-'90s morph into his thuggish alter ego, Escobar, seem like a bad acid trip. His lyrical prowess continues to flow on the thin-line- between-love-and-hate tale "Blaze a 50" and the sobering "Drunk by Myself." The Lost Tapes is what Nas fans have been waiting for since 1996. Let's just hope the gifted MC concocts more of the same the next time he's in the studio. Ron Hart

Spin Magazine

The closest thing to Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes hip-hop has ever produced: a collection of songs from, and largely about, the past that bode well for the future and sound pretty damn good today. (8) Chris Ryan

Entertainment Weekly

[Nas's] gritty, yet hopeful, reflections make Lost Tapes a real find. (A-) Craig Seymour

The Source

On the brink of becoming hood lore, The Lost Tapes comes through Geraldo-Rivera-style and recovers these lost treasures in addition to several mixtape marvels penned by Nasir Jones over the past three years. Tony Fredricks