Nasir (album)
Nasir (stylized in all caps) is the eleventh studio album (a mini-album) by American rapper Nas. It was released on June 15, 2018 through Mass Appeal Records and Def Jam Recordings. It succeeds Nas album Life Is Good, released six years prior in 2012. The album features an appearance from Kanye West, who also produced the entirety of the album, as well as guest appearances from Puff Daddy, 070 Shake, Tony Williams, and The-Dream.
Nasir
June 15, 2018
June 2018
West Lake Ranch (Jackson Hole, Wyoming)[1]
26:29
- Kanye West
- Andrew Dawson
- Benny Blanco
- BoogzDaBeast
- Cashmere Cat
- Che Pope
- Eric Danchick
- Dot da Genius
- Evan Mast
- Mike Dean
- Plain Pat
The album is executive produced by West, and is the fourth of five seven-track albums West produced in what has become known as the "Wyoming Sessions", with each album being released weekly. It follows the release of Pusha T's Daytona, West's Ye, and West's collaboration with Kid Cudi entitled Kids See Ghosts, and precedes the release of Teyana Taylor's K.T.S.E..[2][3] Nasir rose to No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and No. 16 on the UK Albums chart.[4][5]
Background[edit]
American musician DJ Khaled's 2016 album Major Key featured a track titled "Nas Album Done" with Nas which announced the completion of his album. The same year, Kanye West expressed his wish to produce an album by Nas, seemingly promising Barack Obama that he would achieve this.[6][7]
In May 2017, Nas' brother, Jungle, made a post on Instagram in a recording studio with the hashtag #NasAlbumAlmostDone.[8]
Release and promotion[edit]
In April 2018, Kanye West announced that he was producing Nas' new album with a release date of June 15, 2018.[9] West later released an incomplete track listing of the five albums he was working on, revealing the Nas track "Everything".[10] On June 12, West revealed a full tentative tracklist for the album, while the album title and cover art was revealed on June 14, a day before release.[11]
A listening party for the album took place on June 14, 2018 in Queensbridge, New York City and was streamed via Mass Appeal's YouTube channel.[11]
Commercial performance[edit]
Nasir debuted at number five on the US Billboard 200 with 77,000 album-equivalent units, of which 49,000 were pure album sales.[27] It serves as Nas's twelfth top-ten album in the United States.[28] The album dropped to the number 36 in its second week, earning an additional 14,000 album-equivalent units.[29]
Notes
Samples[31]