Life Is Good (Nas album)

Untitled

Life Is Good is the tenth studio album by rapper Nas. It will be released on July 17, 2012. This is Nas' final album under Def Jam Records.

Background

On August 9, 2011, the first single entitled "Nasty" was released via iTunes. On February 24, 2012, Nas stated on Twitter that he had finished the recording of the album. A new single entitled "The Don" was released on iTunes on April 3, 2012, after premiering on Funkmaster Flex's radio show. The song is produced by Salaam Remi, Da Internz and the late Heavy D. The song "Another Black Girl Lost" was leaked on April 17, 2012 though it does not appear on the album's final track listing. On May 1, 2012, the next single from the album, entitled "Daughters" and produced by No I.D., was released via iTunes, though an unfinished version had previously leaked on April 27, 2012. On June 21, 2012, a fourth single entitled "Accident Murderers" featuring rapper Rick Ross and produced by No I.D. was released officially via Nas' SoundCloud. The fifth and final single from the album, "Loco-Motive", was released on July 2, 2012 the song features Nas' longtime collaborator Large Professor, production was handled by No I.D..

Guests

Guest appearances on the album consist of longtime collaborators Mary J. Blige and Large Professor. British singer Amy Winehouse is featured on track number 13 with unreleased posthumous vocals. Nikki Flores U.S minor star, co writing and feauturing on track #17 "Roses". Other guests on the album include a rapping appearance by Rick Ross on the fourth single "Accident Murderers", and vocals provided by Anthony Hamilton, Miguel, Swizz Beatz and Victoria Monet. In addition to these, the group Cocaine 80s provides assistance on a bonus track in the deluxe edition of the album. Their appearance consists of guest verses by rappers Common and No I.D. with backing vocals from the rest of the group.

Although Nas was planning to have a collaboration with longtime rhyme partner AZ, he did not appear on the albums final tracklist. The two have not released a song together since 2004. Nas also planned to collaborate with Odd Future members Tyler, the Creator, Frank Ocean and Hodgy Beats, and Tyler confirmed in another interview that while they had indeed recorded a song, none of Odd Future's members appeared on the final tracklist.

Production

Salaam Remi, Heavy D, producer duo Da Internz, and No I.D. are so far the only confirmed producer for the album. Nas has called the album a "magic moment" in his rap career while mentioning that Swizz Beatz, DJ Premier, The Alchemist, Dr. Dre, Kanye West and RZA are possible producers on the LP. Producer Bangladesh revealed that he has produced some tracks for the album. Producer Kane Beatz revealed he has recently worked with Nas. Producer/DJ Statik Selektah has also said that he has produced a couple of tracks for the album. Illmatic collaborators Pete Rock and Large Professor are also rumored to have logged studio time or sent beats to Nas for the upcoming album. Pete Rock has confirmed that he is working with Nas via twitter and in a video interview with SB.TV. Speaking on possible producers for the album Nas also revealed: "It's all about who got it. I'm not reaching out to any specific person, really. I did reach out to No I.D. But other than that, people already know that we want to work together. Almost every producer in the game, I had a conversation with. We're just going to see what fits, what makes a marriage together." In an interview with magazine Complex, producer RZA revealed that he had provided Nas with ten productions, although it has not been announced how many of these have been used on the album.

Long-time producer Salaam Remi commented on his production on the album by saying, “If I’m going to do hip-hop, I want it to be something that a mumble-mouth rapper can’t rap on. You better have something to say and be speaking up.” On the whole, Nas' new music cuts against the grain. “I wanted to make a soundtrack that allowed Nas to be Nas,” says No I.D., the renowned rap producer and Def Jam executive who was the other major contributor to the new album. "I don’t have a calculation of what is going on now with the kids, but I just wanted Nas to do what he do."

Concept

The green dress which appears on the album's cover is the wedding dress worn by Kelis, Nas' ex-wife and fellow-musician, by whom he has a son. It was the only thing she had left in their house after her divorce with Nas, which had bothered him. Nas has stated the the album is "important" to him and has a more lighthearted feel to it, showing the transition from his old life to his new one. Nas told The Guardian: "I found [the dress] in my house and thought, 'It's going somewhere'. Either on the cover of my album, or burning in a garbage can. I was angry when I first found it. Hurt and angry - but I don't think she left it deliberately to hurt me. It's just part of the dress, so I don't know where the rest of it is. But it made all the sense in the world for me to hold on to that. I guess that's just my personality." Nas has compared the album to Marvin Gaye's classic Here, My Dear, which is famous for chronicling Gaye's first marriage to Anna Gordy.

Track listing

• The official track list was confirmed by Nas via his Twitter on June 22 via Rap Genius.

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"No Introduction"	N. Jones, Erik Ortiz, Kevin Crowe, Kenny Bartolomei	J.U.S.T.I.C.E. League	4:15
2.	"Loco-Motive" (featuring Large Professor)	N. Jones, William Paul Mitchell	No I.D.	3:40
3.	"A Queens Story"	N. Jones, Salaam Gibbs	Salaam Remi	4:35
4.	"Accident Murderers" (featuring Rick Ross)	N. Jones, William Leonard Roberts II	No I.D., Salaam Remi	4:27
5.	"Daughters"	N. Jones, Ernest D. Wilson, Patrick Adams, Gary DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, Paul Leka	No I.D.	3:20
6.	"Reach Out" (featuring Mary J. Blige)	N. Jones, Mary J. Blige	Salaam Remi, Rodney Jerkins, DJ Hot Day, Nas	3:46
7.	"World's An Addiction" (featuring Anthony Hamilton)	N. Jones, Anthony Hamilton, S. Gibbs	Salaam Remi	5:01
8.	"Summer On Smash" (featuring Miguel & Swizz Beatz)	N. Jones, Kasseem Dean, Miguel Pimentel	Swizz Beatz	4:19
9.	"You Wouldn't Understand" (featuring Victoria Monet)	N. Jones, Anthony Best	Buckwild	4:35
10.	"Back When"	N. Jones, E. Wilson	No I.D.	3:22
11.	"The Don"	N. Jones, Dwight Myers, S. Gibbs, Marcos Palacios, Ernest Clark, W. Maragh, Nkrumah 'Jah' Tho	Salaam Remi, Heavy D, Da Internz	3:02
12.	"Stay"	N. Jones, E. Wilson	No I.D.	3:45
13.	"Cherry Wine" (featuring Amy Winehouse)	N. Jones, Amy Winehouse, S. Gibbs	Salaam Remi	5:56
14.	"Bye Baby"	N. Jones, Aubrey Graham, S. Gibbs, Noah Shebib	Salaam Remi, Noah "40" Shebib	3:59
Total length:				57:53

Deluxe edition bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Nasty"	N. Jones, Gibbs	Salaam Remi	3:04
16.	"The Black Bond"	N. Jones, Gibbs	Salaam Remi	2:22
17.	"Roses" (featuring Nikki Flores)	N. Jones, Shux, N. Flores, Redd Stylez	Al Shux	3:31
18.	"Where's the Love" (featuring Cocaine 80s)	N. Jones, Wilson	No I.D.	4:27
Total length:				71:17

iTunes Store bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
19.	"Trust"	N. Jones, Matthew Samuels	Boi-1da

Japan bonus track

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
20.	"The Don (Don Dada Remix)"	N. Jones	Salaam Remi, Heavy D

Release dates

Region	Date
Germany	July 13, 2012
Australia
United Kingdom	July 16, 2012
France
United States	July 17, 2012
Canada
Japan