Nas Letter To Def Jam Titled "Put My Shit Out"

From: Nas
To: LA Reid, Steve Bartels, Steve Gawley, Michael Seltzer, Joseph Borrino, Chris Hicks
Subject: PUT MY SH*T OUT!

Peace to all,

With all do respect to you all, Nas is NOBODY's slave. This is not the 1800's, respect me and I will respect you.

I won't even tap dance around in an email, I will get right into it. People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don't connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it. Yet time and time again its the executives who always stand in the way of a creative artist's dream and aspirations. You don't help draw the truth from my deepest and most inner soul, you don't even do a great job @ selling it. The #1 problem with DEF JAM is pretty simple and obvious, the executives think they are the stars. You aren't.... not even close. As a matter of fact, you wish you were, but it didn't work out so you took a desk job. To the consumer, I COME FIRST. Stop trying to deprive them! I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn't understand RAP. Pretty fucked up situation

This isn't the 90's though. Beefing with record labels is so 15 years ago. @ this point I just need you all to be very clear where I stand and how I feel about "my label." I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man. I did business with Tommy Mottola and Donnie Einer, two of the most psycho dudes this business ever created. I worked well with them for one major reason....... they believed in me. The didn't give a f**k about what any radio station or magazine said....those dudes had me.

Lost Tapes is a movement and a very important set up piece for my career as it stands. I started this over 5 years ago @ Columbia and nobody knew what it was or what it did but the label put it out as an LP and the fans went crazy for it and I single handlely built a new brand of rap albums. It's smart and after 5 years it's still a head of the game. This feels great and you not feeling what I'm feeling is disturbing. Don't get in the way of my creativity. We are aligned with the stars here, this is a movement. There is a thing called KARMA that comes to haunt you when you tamper with the aligning stars. WE ARE GIVING THE PEOPLE EXACTLY WHAT THEY WANT. Stop throwing dog s**ton a MAGICAL moment.

You don't get another Nas recording that doesn't count against my deal....PERIOD! Keep your bulls**t $200,000.00 fund. Open the REAL budget. This is a New York pioneers ALBUM, there ain't many of us. I am ready to drop in the 4th quarter. You don't even have s**tcoming out! Stop being your own worst enemy. Let's get money!

-N.Jones

NAS IS MY FAVORITE RAPPER HANDS DOWN. I PERSONALLY THINK HE'S THE GREATEST OF ALL TIME. WITH THAT BEIN SAID I THINK ITS DOPE THAT ARTISTS ARE TAKIN A STAND AND EXPOSIN THE BULLSHIT THAT GOES ON BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. BUT WE NEED TO LOOK AT THIS SITUATION FORM ALL ANGLES. FIRST OF ALL NAS WRECKED DEF JAM AND ROC-A-FELLA SINGLE HANDEDLY WHEN HE WAS BEEFIN WIT JAY-Z. WHY SIGN TO A LABEL WHOSE MONEY YOU FUCKED UP? LOL. THATS JUS KARMA. ON THE OTHER HAND LOST TAPES TAPES WAS A CLASSIC! A LOT OF THOSE RECORDS LIKE DRUNK BY MYSELF AND FETUS I HAD AMASSED FROM TRAVELS TO NEW YORK. BUT TRACKS LIKE PURPLE AND BLACK ZOMBIE REALLY MADE IT A CLASSIC CUZ THEY WERE ACTUALLY LOST TAPES. I AS A FAN OF NAS REALLY CONNECT MORESO WIT HIS OLDER MATERIAL THAN HIS NEW. SO TO GET LOST TAPES MY OUR FAVORITE NAS ERA IS DOPE. I THINK THEY NEED TO QUIT BULLSHITTIN AND PUT HIS SHIT OUT. AT THE END OF THE DAY, NAS IS A BRAND JUS LIKE JAY-Z. YOU PUT SOMETHIN OUT WIT THAT STAMP ON IT AND IT SELLS. NIGGAS BE SO THIRSTY TO GET SIGNED BUT WE REALLY NEED TO CHANGE OUR FRAME OF MIND! WE CAN DO THIS SHIT OURSELVES...WHO REALLY WANTS TO DEAL WIT THIS TYPE OF BULLSHIT?

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