Source: Bernard Smalls / @PhotosByBeanz83
For Nas, his latest move has brought him back to familiar territory. The “It Ain’t Hard To Tell” rapper’s Mass Appeal Records has inked a deal with a subsidiary company of Sony Music according to a report from Music Business Worldwide.
Nas’ career began with the company via Columbia, which released his groundbreaking debut Illmatic along with It Was Written (1996) and I Am…(1999).
The entire Mass Appeal roster of recording artists (which also includes Run The Jewels, Dave East and Fashawn) will be working with Sony’s subsidiary company The Orchard, which boasts distribution, marketing and radio promotion among its array of services. The significance of the new partnership isn’t lost on the Grammy-winning artist.
“This is a full circle moment for me,” he said when contacted about the deal. “To come back to Sony Music with my own label is a major milestone.” Mass Appeal Records has been responsible for some excellent releases, with Nas’ own King’s Disease and NASIR and Run The Jewels’ RTJ2 among them. Nas plans to release all of his new material through this new partnership.
The new deal with The Orchard marks the end of a three-year global distribution deal with Universal Music Group as far as on the music end. But the entities are still connected in other production ventures, as UMG became a minority investor in Mass Appeal back in 2017. These include projects such as Mass Appeal India as well as the acclaimed documentary series Wu Tang Clan: Of Mics and Men with Showtime as well as the upcoming Hip Hop 50 documentary series that will be airing on the network in 2023. This latest news makes it undeniable that Nas is making the greatest of power moves as 2021 continues.
