Legendary rapper Nas‘ highly revered album The Lost Tapes is turning 20 years old … let that sink in. To commemorate the anniversary, there is a limited, must-have vinyl pressing available for preorder now via Get On Down.
The special 20-year anniversary pressing is limited to 2000 numbered copies, and is accompanied by a 45 single with a track that has never been commercially released before: “Represent,” the OG demo mix by DJ Premier.
For those who don’t know the story, was an alternate version of “Represent” that was already recorded, however upon hearing how crazy Q-Tip’s “One Love” sample was, that he scrapped it and went back to the lab.
If you already have a pressing of The Lost Tapes in your crates, the 45 is available on its own—but only a small quantity will be available, so collectors will want to get in on it quick; this one probably won’t see a repress this proper.
The Lost Tapes was widely praised by critics upon its release in September of 2002—only months before his 6th studio album God’s Son. Some, like us, hail it as one of Nas’ finest bodies of next to his opus, Illmatic. Upon its release, it debuted in top 10 of Billboard’s Hot 200 chart, selling 70,000 copies in its first week.
Preorder the vinyl here.
