We previously reported on Nas’ expansion into music record territory with Mass Appeal Records…now we know the first releases that we can expect from the label. Spotted on Billboard:
First among Mass Appeal Records releases, arriving late this summer, will be an annual compilation album featuring friends of the brand like Future, Pusha T, Mac Miller, A$AP Mob and Nas himself performing a cover of the 1994 Gang Starr single that gave the company its name. Also on deck is “Lost Tapes 2,” a collection of unreleased Nas music, and a posthumous album from Pimp C that will pair the Houston icon and UGK member with modern production titans like Juicy J, Mike Will Made It and DJ Mustard.
Sony’s RED is Mass Appeal’s distributor, reuniting Nas with the parent company that released “Illmatic” in 1994. RED won the rights to the label in a bidding war with Caroline and the Alternative Distribution Alliance, putting up an advance in the low seven figures for a multi-year agreement.
Fun fact: apparently, the record label (which also houses new artist Boldy James) was sort-of birthed from Decon Records’s artist division (Mass Appeal’s co-founder Peter Bittenbender also co-founded Decon). You can check out more on that here.