Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

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djfilthyrich
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Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by djfilthyrich »

Created this thread because I don't think Lescratch can post new threads yet.

Paging Lescratch and Cairokid :gyeah:

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by lescratch »

Thanks Rich! I've almost got the bootleg compiled completely. Just waiting on a couple records to arrive in the mail this week. Can I send you the .Wav's as soon as I rip them?

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by djfilthyrich »

lescratch wrote:Thanks Rich! I've almost got the bootleg compiled completely. Just waiting on a couple records to arrive in the mail this week. Can I send you the .Wav's as soon as I rip them?
Yeah no prob homie....send over the .WAV files once you record them, and I'll clean them up.
cairokid wrote:
lescratch wrote:@cairokid the tape confirms a couple IAM tracks as well as shows 'triple threat' was meant for nature
Here's the best version I have of The Curse, in 192 kbps. This comes from "Vamp" who was a well known member of the various Nas message boards back in the day. Before he posted this, to my knowledge, there was only a really really bad quality version of it. He always claimed to have heard/or have the full version of the song, but who knows, as it never has leaked. This is likely the version that is floating around the 'net, at least it used to be. I recall people going crazy when he posted this. to have it in great quality finally (just the snippet!) made people lose their minds!

https://www.sendspace.com/file/126mke" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thanks Cairokid. I took this track and beefed up the low end since Vamp's rip sounds very thin. Normally I don't like altering mp3's and re-encoding back to a lossy format, but in this case I think it sounds much better. If Vamp wants to send us the WAV file of the track (or the snippet), I can redo the EQ in better sound quality.

Here's my EQ of the track in case anybody wants it.
http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/CUmrxWHT/file.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's also worth noting that Nas re-used this verse on the track 'Crime Cardinals aka The Saints' with Killah Priest.

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by cairokid »

djfilthyrich wrote:
lescratch wrote:Thanks Rich! I've almost got the bootleg compiled completely. Just waiting on a couple records to arrive in the mail this week. Can I send you the .Wav's as soon as I rip them?
Yeah no prob homie....send over the .WAV files once you record them, and I'll clean them up.
cairokid wrote:
lescratch wrote:@cairokid the tape confirms a couple IAM tracks as well as shows 'triple threat' was meant for nature
Here's the best version I have of The Curse, in 192 kbps. This comes from "Vamp" who was a well known member of the various Nas message boards back in the day. Before he posted this, to my knowledge, there was only a really really bad quality version of it. He always claimed to have heard/or have the full version of the song, but who knows, as it never has leaked. This is likely the version that is floating around the 'net, at least it used to be. I recall people going crazy when he posted this. to have it in great quality finally (just the snippet!) made people lose their minds!

https://www.sendspace.com/file/126mke" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thanks Cairokid. I took this track and beefed up the low end since Vamp's rip sounds very thin. Normally I don't like altering mp3's and re-encoding back to a lossy format, but in this case I think it sounds much better. If Vamp wants to send us the WAV file of the track (or the snippet), I can redo the EQ in better sound quality.

Here's my EQ of the track in case anybody wants it.
http://www43.zippyshare.com/v/CUmrxWHT/file.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

It's also worth noting that Nas re-used this verse on the track 'Crime Cardinals aka The Saints' with Killah Priest.
Thanks Rich. I was going to mention that about the Killah Priest song. Maybe one day it will come out, the real version!

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by cairokid »

Just reposting a few things of mine from The Firm thread, that might be relevant here.
I just wanted to throw a few cents in on the "I Am..." topic, but don't want to hijack the topic. There was/is another forum I used to frequent often that had someone undertake a similar effort. What they ultimately were trying to put together was as close as possible a representation of what the original "I Am..." album would have been (2 disc version). They produced what I think is the most researched and thought out explanations for what they chose to include on their version, which they admit isn't perfect. Long story short, they searched the Internet for old articles, interviews etc. Also of great use were liner notes for "I Am...", "Nastradamus", and "The Lost Tapes". This didn't dawn on me until reading the explanations on the liner notes, but quite a bit of information can be gathered from them when you look at where songs were recorded and who worked on them (engineers, etc).

All of the songs are out there that ended upon that particular compilation, it wasn't like he found some super secret "I Am..." era songs. Whoever ends up working on the Philaflava version, I can share some of this with you if you'd like for your reference. I would think many of the actual people (engineers, etc) who worked on "I Am..." may be available on social media nowadays and might be able to share even more insights into what went on with the various leaks and what was/wasn't recorded.

If anyone is interested, I worked with Claaa on a "Death of Escobar" project, after doing some research of my own. You can find that here: http://claaa7.blogspot.com/2014/05/nas- ... death.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Tracklist referenced above:
Here's the track list....

Disc 1
1. Intro
2. Fetus (Belly Button Window)
3. Poppa Was A Playa
4. Project Windows
5. NY State of Mind II
6. Find Ya Wealth
7. Small World
8. Blaze A 50
9. Daydreamin' Stay Schemin'
10. Wanna Play Rough
11. U Gotta Love It
12. Hardest Thing To Do
13. Favor for a Favor
14. Money Is My Bitch
15. Kissing
16. Drunk By Myself
17. Undying Love

Disc 2
1. Afterlife (Interlude)
2. Amongst Kings
3. Pray
4. The Curse (Snippet)
5. Nas Is Like
6. Sometimes I Wonder
7. I Want to Talk to You
8. Dr. Knockboot
9. You Won't See Me Tonight
10. Big Things
11. Hate Me Now
12. My Own Worst Enemy
13. Life Is What You Make It
14. Ghetto Prisoners
15. We Will Survive
16. The Rise and Fall

Some notes....all of the retail album, including the Intro is part of this. The version of "Fetus" is the original version, not the one from The Lost Tapes. The "Project Windows" version is from Nastradamus. They felt this was the better version. Personally I prefer the "I Am..." leaked version, where the beat is slightly different (piano) and slightly different lyrics I believe. Pray is from the "I Am..." tape. Hate Me Now is the original version with the opera sample, not the album version.

I believe this was the advanced version that leaked:

nas-01-fetus_belly_button_window-apc-traxter.mp3
nas-02-small_world-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-03-money_is_my_bitch-apc-traxter.mp3
nas-04-project_window-apc-traxter.mp3
nas-05-poppa_was_a_player-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-06-dr_knockboots_dos_and_dont-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-07-day_dreamin_stay_schemin-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-08-sometimes_i_wonder-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-09-hardest_thing_to_do_is_stay_alive-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-10-drunk_by_myself-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-11-wanna_play-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-12-blaze_a_50-apc-traxter.MP3
nas-13-we_will_survive-apc-traxter.MP3
Last edited by cairokid on Mon Aug 08, 2016 8:55 pm, edited 1 time in total.

itzmurda
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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by itzmurda »

That's the tracklist that I would go with. The only problem I see is leaving out "Come Get Me" when Nas mentions album three on the song.

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by cairokid »

itzmurda wrote:That's the tracklist that I would go with. The only problem I see is leaving out "Come Get Me" when Nas mentions album three on the song.
I've always thought that "Come Get Me" was one of the "new" songs recorded for Nastradamus. Right after the line about "album three" he mentions 3D, which if I recall was how Nastradamus single video was presented (in some shape or form?). Just personally for this reason, I always leave it out of any I Am re-dos I put together. I enjoy the song a lot, just minus the skit at the end of the album version!

The track list I posted was constructed with the thought of using songs that were strictly recorded or meant for I Am originally, using primarily the original leaks unless research proved otherwise.

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by djfilthyrich »

Nas just gave an interview a few days ago where he mentions that Lost Tapes 2 is finally coming out on his 'Mass Appeal' label.
Although he mentioned it coming out years ago, it got held up due to problems with Def Jam. But now that Nas has his own label that he controls, it looks like this will actually see the light of day! Let's just hope it will have some of the older material on there that we've all been looking for in CDQ.
Excerpt below, and link to the whole article:

Nas: Lost Tapes 2, that’s done, that’s the Mass Appeal release. They’ll be a three and a four. As long as I’m recording… You know you just got the stuff that just don’t make the final cut so it makes space for something else. I don’t like them just lingering out there, you have to find a home for your songs. And Lost Tapes 2 is it. It’s been a couple years since the first one. I think the Lost Tapes 2 could’ve came out already honestly. But it’s cool because everything works out in time. So, yeah I wish that Lost Tapes 2 has been out already, but things happen the way they happen.

http://hiphopdx.com/interviews/id.2942/ ... ne-details" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by lescratch »

Hey guys, I'm waiting on some 12s to arrive. DJ FilthyRich agreed to clean them up and then we'll share the classic bootleg in here pronto.

Oh and @Cairokid I believe you’re 100% correct about Come Get Me. The 'I wild on haters on album three’ line, to me is reflective.

Hustlers & Killers, Gangsta Tears were both for Nastradamus as well.

What is the general consensus here on the Rise and Fall? Recorded for Nastradamus?

It would be amazing if anybody here has .wav's from the following sources:

After Life interlude (Iam cd international version)
Amongst Kings (Iam cd international version)
Pray (Iam cassette bonus)
The curse (iam sampler tape)
Hate me now - original with O Fortuna sample ( from ?)

Extras:
Hustlers and Killers? (nastradamus bonus circuit city) (nastradamus cds) (nastradamus edited)
Never Gonna Give It Up - (featuring Product) (nastradamus edited)
Tales From The Hood (post nastradamus) (from ?)
My Worst Enemy (lost tapes Japan bonus)
You Don’t Know (around stillmatic) (lost tapes japan) -

Thanks in advance everybody!

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

Ive got hustlers and killers. Just have to locate the cd

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by BrandanEvans »

i got that gansgta tears joint on a clue tape
also that tales from the hood on a clue tape
"Rap is something u do, Hip-Hop is something u live"

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by step one »

Is Gangsta Tears the one off the Exit Wounds soundtrack?
ONLY BUILT FOR zSHARE LINKS
http://www.djstepone.blogspot.com

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by lescratch »

@madstadik Hero! It would be great if you could upload a .wav of that soonish.

@Stepone yes.

@brandanevans thanks but hopefully we can find a version of cd / vinyl without clue.

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

Yea man ill start digging today or tomorrow afternoon. As soon as i find it ill up it

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

Cooincidentally look what popped up today

http://scnlog.eu/music/nas-i_am___-adva ... -1999-ftd/

Image
Last edited by madstadik on Mon Aug 08, 2016 5:48 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

VBR rip of the old RNS scene rip of the "international" version!

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by djfilthyrich »

@madstadik....good looks on that I Am Advance!

Here's The OG Hate Me Now with the O Fortuna sample, & Pray ft Bravehearts (personally can't stand this track....Bravehearts probably would never would've gotten on wax if it weren't for their connections to Nas IMO).
http://www82.zippyshare.com/v/Yz9a54uf/file.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FYI - If nobody has connections to some type of advance CD, Rise & Fall, Tales From The Hood, and Never Gonna Give It Up can be found on the link that Cairokid posted above for the Death Of Escobar project. I think these may be the best versions I've heard so far....

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by cairokid »

djfilthyrich wrote:@madstadik....good looks on that I Am Advance!

Here's The OG Hate Me Now with the O Fortuna sample, & Pray ft Bravehearts (personally can't stand this track....Bravehearts probably would never would've gotten on wax if it weren't for their connections to Nas IMO).
http://www82.zippyshare.com/v/Yz9a54uf/file.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

FYI - If nobody has connections to some type of advance CD, Rise & Fall, Tales From The Hood, and Never Gonna Give It Up can be found on the link that Cairokid posted above for the Death Of Escobar project. I think these may be the best versions I've heard so far....
Like Rich said, you can find several of the tracks you asked about at the DOE link: http://claaa7.blogspot.com/2014/05/nas- ... death.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Here's the track list for reference:

01. "My Way" [prod. by Alchemist]
02. "You Don't Know Me (Hardest Thing 2 Do)" [prod. by Poke & Tone]
03. "Your Mouth Got You In It" [prod. by Dame Grease]
04. "Rise & Fall" [prod. by Poke & Tone]
05. "U Gotta Love It" [prod. by L.E.S.]
06. "Make It Last Forever" [prod. by L.E.S.]
07. "Worst Enemy is Me" [prod. by Infinite Arkatechtz]
08. "The Foulness (Interlude)" [prod. by Poke & Tone]
09. "Sinful Living (Street Dreams Remix)" (Ft. R. Kelly) [prod. by Poke & Tone]
10. "Never Gonna Give It Up" (Ft. Product G&B) [prod. by Al West]
11. "Tales From Da Hood" [prod. by Curt Gowdy]
12. "Drunk By Myself" [prod. by Poke & Tone + Al West]
13. "Hard 2 Tell - Remix" [prod. by Large Professor]
14. "Projects 2 Hot" (Ft. 50 Cent & Nature) [prod. by CHOP DIESEL]
15. "Poppa Was A Playa" [prod. by Deric Angelettie & Kanye West]
16. "Seeds Of Heaven" [prod. by Infintie Arkatechtz]

That link also has some of the research I found when putting that together with Claaa.

Here are MP3 versions of Hustlers & Killers and Gangster Tears: https://www.sendspace.com/file/anwri1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

Hopefully lost tapes 2 will help us w some of the songs we are missing in CDQ. Fingers crossed

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by itzmurda »

djfilthyrich wrote: Here's The OG Hate Me Now with the O Fortuna sample
http://www82.zippyshare.com/v/Yz9a54uf/file.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Nice post man. Here's a 320kbps rip of the Hate Me Now OG: https://www.sendspace.com/file/w81v2d" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Last edited by itzmurda on Tue Aug 09, 2016 5:46 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by lescratch »

@madstadik WHOA!!! Thank you!!! This is great. Notice how 'Small World is missing from here. Sadly 'Hate Me Now' is the reworked version still. And the added 'Nature's Shine' interlude.

@djfilthyrich Super thanks Rich! Where do these (Pray + Hate Me Now) come from?

@cairokid thanks for uploading Cairokid! Hopefully we can obtain a slightly better sounding version out of the vinyl for Hustlers & Killers or one of the alternate Nastradamus CD's or cd-singles. And Gangsta Tears from the CD of Exit Wounds OST.

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by itzmurda »

lescratch wrote: @djfilthyrich Super thanks Rich! Where do these (Pray + Hate Me Now) come from?
Hate Me Now OG (check the post above yours for 320k) is from the following release:
https://www.discogs.com/Nas-The-Nas-Chr ... se/1847848" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Pray is from the cassette version of I Am... sandwiched in between Big Things and K-I-S-S-I-N-G

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by lescratch »

@itzmurda WHOA! Thank you! I never expected it to be on there, all casual. :)

@cairokid I was reading the emailblast from D.O.E. You're convinced 'YOUR MOUTH GOT YOU IN IT' was meant for IAM?

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

lescratch wrote:Hey guys, I'm waiting on some 12s to arrive. DJ FilthyRich agreed to clean them up and then we'll share the classic bootleg in here pronto.

Oh and @Cairokid I believe you’re 100% correct about Come Get Me. The 'I wild on haters on album three’ line, to me is reflective.

Hustlers & Killers, Gangsta Tears were both for Nastradamus as well.

What is the general consensus here on the Rise and Fall? Recorded for Nastradamus?

It would be amazing if anybody here has .wav's from the following sources:

After Life interlude (Iam cd international version)
Amongst Kings (Iam cd international version)
Pray (Iam cassette bonus)
The curse (iam sampler tape)
Hate me now - original with O Fortuna sample ( from ?)

Extras:
Hustlers and Killers? (nastradamus bonus circuit city) (nastradamus cds) (nastradamus edited)
Never Gonna Give It Up - (featuring Product) (nastradamus edited)
Tales From The Hood (post nastradamus) (from ?)
My Worst Enemy (lost tapes Japan bonus)
You Don’t Know (around stillmatic) (lost tapes japan) -

Thanks in advance everybody!

All i see for a japan press contains tracks from illmatic to stillmatic remixes. Where did u see this one u mentioned!?

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by itzmurda »

I was just thinking yesterday about how "Your Mouth Got You In It" and "Wanna Play Rough" are both produced by Dame Grease

Edit: Corrected where I accidentally wrote Blaze a 50
Last edited by itzmurda on Wed Aug 10, 2016 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.

madstadik
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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

Dame grease put some work in on that album. On a side note not one person still has the nas bootleg cd from 1998 in their physical collection?

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by cairokid »

lescratch wrote:@itzmurda WHOA! Thank you! I never expected it to be on there, all casual. :)

@cairokid I was reading the emailblast from D.O.E. You're convinced 'YOUR MOUTH GOT YOU IN IT' was meant for IAM?
It's been a while since I've read through that, I can't recall all that was said.

I'm in agreement with itzmurda and madstadik. Nas certainly recorded quite a bit of material with and worked with Dame Grease often around that time (I Am.../Nastradamus), so I think it was certainly recorded at some point around that era. If it was actually meant for I Am..., I can't say personally. If it was ever released properly (has it been?) you could check the liner notes and get a better idea on where it was recorded and who else worked on it. I would guess it would line up with at least one other Dame Grease song from around that time.

I always think there is a "core" group of I Am.../Nastradamus era songs, and then a group that seem on the fringe of "does this fit into I Am... or is it just after "this was really a D.O.E. song/pre-Stillmatc(/original Stillmatic sessions). And then some that are really hard to pinpoint on where they fit. So much material from that time period!

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by lescratch »

@madstadik I believe this was the first time I've read it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM5HwE1isg8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Sadly read the comment section on here. https://www.amazon.com/Lost-Tapes-Nas/dp/B00006IIFC" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

@itzmurda LES did Blaze a 50 though, didn't he?

@madstadik I did have it.. Moved around a lot though. Wouldn't know where to start looking. Were you able to find Hustlers & Killers on CD? Would be great if you could upload.

@cairokid we've actually booked Nas in the Netherlands at the end of the month. I'm just gonna ask him. :)

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

Ive had a crazy busy week at work. I promise hustlers and killers by the end of the week. It is on my computer in V0 vbr when I ripped the nastradamus cd a while back. Ill have to look around the house for the actual cd

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Re: Re-imagining of Nas "I Am"

Post by madstadik »

lescratch wrote:@madstadik I did have it.. Moved around a lot though. Wouldn't know where to start looking. Were you able to find Hustlers & Killers on CD? Would be great if you could upload.
Dude if u find that nas bootleg cd and rip it to wav i would really appreciate it. If u can find it. Dont kill yourself looking. Ive always wanted in in higher quality than the 160kbps APC scene rip from 1998

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