Tell Us Your Thoughts & Stream: Nas’ New Album ‘NASIR’ [Produced by Kanye West]

One thing we can say for sure is that Kanye West is a man of his word.

As he promised, five albums were due from his hands (via his own work or acting as lead producer) and now, following Pusha T‘s ‘Daytona,’ his own ‘Ye,’ and ‘Kids See Ghosts’ (his joint album with Kid Cudi), West is seeing the fourth of the five projects roll out –  ‘Nasir’ by Nas.

After holding his private listening session in his hometown of New York City on Thursday night (b), the set – kept highly guarded and top secret until its official unveiling – follows the same formula of West’s most recently preceding productions by housing only 7 songs.

The follow up to Nas’ own 2012 chart-topper, ‘Life is Good,’ ‘Nasir’ may have seen its production handled exclusively by Kanye but it features a host of Hip Hop heavyweights as guests including the likes of Puff Daddy, 070 Shake, Tony Williams, and The Dream.  

Following a six-year album hiatus, hip-hop heavyweight Nas released his 11th solo effort, Nasir, on Friday.

The marketing rollout was complete with a listening session in New York City and a live stream via the YouTube channel of magazine-turned-media company Mass Appeal to document the event for those unable to attend.

Nasir is ladened with Kanye West’s production and serves as the fourth consecutive G.O.O.D. Music-affiliated release. But behind the seven-song creation is a strategic business move executed by Nas.

In 2014, Nas co-founded Mass Appeal Records with CEO Peter Bittenbender. The label, along with Def Jam, is responsible for the distribution of Nasir, as well as discography for Run the Jewels and Dave East, as well as holds catalogs for J Dilla and Pimp C. Days before Nasir’s release, the label announced a multi-year distribution deal with Universal Music Group.

“I’ve been blessed to work with two of the best brands in music,” Nas said in a statement. “Columbia Records was how I got my start and Def Jam was where I continued that journey. In my next chapter, I am proud to say that I am signing myself to myself. I look forward to releasing many projects in the very near future with Mass Appeal’s new global partnership with UMG.”

Mass Appeal’s influence within hip-hop has expanded with Nas’ touch. In addition to its label services, the company operates as a media and content company. In March, they released their Netflix-distributed show Rapture, an eight-episode series documenting the lives of hip-hop artists including Nas, Dave East, Just Blaze, 2 Chainz, Logic, T.I., G-Eazy, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie and Rapsody.

The norms and standards of the music industry changed drastically since Nas’ 2012 Life Is Good album. Streaming services such as Soundcloud, Spotify and Apple Music were far from being the major curators and tastemakers they are today. Still, Nas found his own way to benefit financially from the growing impact of tech. With the help of manager Anthony Saleh, Nas founded the Queensbridge Venture Partners investment firm. The company’s portfolio holds stakes in companies such as lyric decoding website Genius, Lyft, Dropbox and Ring, which was acquired by Amazon for $1.1 billion and earned Nas a reported $40 million.

In 2001, Nas and Jay Z went head to head with multiple vicious lyrical spats. Throughout his career, Jay Z has been praised for his ability to balance his lyrical prowess with his business acumen. The two New York natives have since reconciled, but the Illmatic rapper may clash with the Brooklyn native again—this time as a businessman.

Listen to the project in full inside: