-Welcome to the show. -Thank you.
-Thanks for having me. -I'm such a big fan of yours,
and I'm so excited for this new album.
Uh, what's weird to me is the-the first time I met you
-was in Russia. -Russia, yeah.
Which is very... We were both there for the World Cup.
-Yeah. -Which is very stra...
Like, I'm in Russia, and I turn around,
and I'm not expecting to see anybody who is black.
-And... -(laughter)
And then I'm like, "Wow, that guy looks like Nas."
And it it was you. Did you enjoy it out there?
-Was that your first World Cup? -I... It's my first World Cup
-and, uh, first time in Russia. -Yeah.
I didn't know at the time, though,
that you were planning to drop an album.
You didn't tell me. You didn't even, like, slip it in.
You didn't, like, you know, just give me the inside scoop.
-No. -I didn't even know.
It-it just... It was, we was working on it
for a couple of years,
and, um, I-I really didn't know what to do with these songs
'cause they weren't really...
the songs that I wanted to put on the record.
-Right. -So they were just sitting there,
and I always thought, like, I'd come back to them
and finish them up later, but it never happened.
So I'm sitting here with all these songs
starting to pile up, and I'm like,
"Oh, I did a Lost Tapes album 17 years ago."
-Right, right, right. -I think it's time to...
-for another one. -Yeah.
But Lost Tapes was one of the most iconic albums
where people said, like, "Oh, Nas came out with this music
that, you know, is a collection of ideas."
And you put it together.
It is an interesting idea, as a musician, to say,
"These songs didn't have a space on an album,
"but I still love what I've created.
I'm still trying to do something different."
And, so, it-it's a mix,
which some people actually enjoy more
-because it has such a varied sense. -Right.
When people listen to it,
is there an order for Lost Tapes?
Do you just... do you just, like, play the songs?
Does it matter?
-Is it, like, five, seven, two, three, one? -No.
-Doesn't, like... -No, no. You just play them.
You kind of... you kind of got to guess,
like, "What year did he make this one?"
Oh, that's nice. It's like a guessing game.
-Yeah. -(laughter)
Some of the songs are, like, ten years old, 12 years old,
and some of them are, like,
as early as, like, a year and a half ago.
That's dope. You are seen as a music mogul now.
You're seen as a businessman,
but I'm interested in some of the things
that you started doing that people don't expect.
For instance, like, you're going on tour now
with Mary J. Blige, and that's exciting.
-Yes. -Right? People are really excited about that.
(cheering and applause)
-It's an honor. It's an honor. -That's...
I'm a huge fan of Mary J. Blige, so, yeah.
So, the Royalty Tour. Check it out.
-That's gonna be insane. -Yeah.
And then you are..
-you are part of a hip-hop museum. -Yeah.
We-we, um, hope to break ground on that this year.
We plan to build it in the Bronx by 2022.
Is it interesting for you to look at hip-hop
and how it's changed?
Because some rappers came into the game
when hip-hop was completely, you know, bona fide,
and people are like, "Yeah, it's mainstream."
-Yeah. -You've seen the change from being considered
the hoodlums on the side to the mainstream now.
Did you ever think that hip-hop would get to this point?
I thought it, but I didn't know it would be reality.
-Right. -You know? But I-I did... I was hopeful
that it would turn out to be this way
and that I would be around to see it happen,
and thank God I am, because it's a great time.
-Right. -It's a great time to be a hip-hop artist.
A hip-hop artist, uh, a mogul,
part of a museum, going on tour,
and one of the most interesting aspects of your life right now
is you are releasing a children's book.
Yeah, called I Know I Can.
-(cheering and applause) -Yeah.
Yeah.
That is a completely different...
Now, that I didn't see happening.
-(laughter) -Yeah, I didn't see that one.
But I do have a song.
It's an important song in my catalog called "I Can."
So, um, you know, I'm into education for kids.
You know, I have two kids, so I want...
I want to see the best for our kids out here,
so putting together this book.
I'm still writing it, so...
-Right. -Could be out this year.
You know, what I'm excited about the most
is there's gonna be now another generation
that's gonna grow up and be like, "Oh, Nas. Yeah, I mean,
one of the greatest children's book writers of all time."
I'd be like, "But he raps."
-They'd be like, "He raps?!" -Right.
It's gonna be amazing. Thank you so much
-for being on the show. -Oh, thank you. Thanks for having me.
Appreciate it.
The Lost Tapes 2 will be out July 19.
Nas, everybody.