Fri 13 Jul 2012
Take It Back: Examine Nas’ ‘Life Is Good’ CD Booklet Like It’s 1997
Posted by Mikey Fresh under Photos[13] Comments
(Art Direction and Design by Alex Haldi / Photos by Matthew Salacuse )
The late 90s and early 2000s were my favorite part of rap. I was just getting into high-school and into drinking, smoking and partying, with Wu-Tang, The LOX, Dipset, CNN, Clipse, etc as my soundtrack. Those days were so carefree and fun. I used to spend hours on Napster trying to piece together underground Outsidaz albums and things of that nature. One of my favorite parts of actually buying CDs, though, was examining and carefully reading through the album credits, shout-outs, production notes, and artwork. I was particularly interested in the ‘Thank You’ section. I’m not sure why but I got a kick out of seeing my favorite rappers shout out each other out. Wu-Tang members always had the best and most random ones.
“Peace to Man, Woman, Child and My Ol Earth. Shouts to Rod Strickland, too. Also, Big-Ups to the god Ron-D-the-OG-From-VA-with-the cheap-tech9s-that-would -meet-us-across-state-lines”-Wu-Tang-Forever”
Hahah! Anyway, take it back one time and examine Nas’ Life Is Good’s full album artwork…
Check out the art booklet in the photo gallery after the jump…
Related:
Nas & Swizz Beatz Perform ‘Life Is Good’ Tracks at 2012 ESPY Awards (Video)
July 13th, 2012 at 3:18 pm
I was and still am a big fan of Nas but i wont be purchasing this album after he made comments about gwenith paltrow being given a pass to say the N word i use to think he stood for more than that … sad
July 13th, 2012 at 4:42 pm
That’s the one thing I miss in this digital age, reading those CD booklets. I guess I kinda felt it brought me closer to the artist in a way just reading their thank yous & looking at the pictures they chose. It’s some straight music nerd sh*t but man did I love it.
July 13th, 2012 at 6:35 pm
really ?
sometimes you just need to keep think to yourself
July 13th, 2012 at 8:12 pm
A difference of opinion makes you skip perhaps one of his best albums in years? Something tells me you aren’t a Nas fan, you just wanted to make that statement. Congrats. I’ll buy two to cover you bud.
July 13th, 2012 at 8:26 pm
This is why I still buy albums (via Best Buy or Amazon) and then upload them onto the ipod. Got about 500 albums in the crib, but can’t give up actually opening the cd and reading the credits.
July 13th, 2012 at 8:35 pm
yea i’m good on seeing pics of these dudes staring in mirrors…
can’t wait to DL your album Nas!
July 13th, 2012 at 11:09 pm
This post took me back. The only thing left out was the smell of opening a CD booklet for the first time and feeling the texture of the pages…glossy vs. matte…smooth vs. grainy. More that anything I appreciated when the artist had the lyrics inside. “Thank you”s were the icing on the cake. This used to be our only way of knowing who supported who and I’m not talking about artists who were featured on the album. Album credits allowed us to peak into one’s mind and thoughts without knowing too much. I miss those days. Now artists reveal too much about themselves and a lot of fans are too involved.
July 14th, 2012 at 8:15 pm
um no an ignorant statement has me passing on buying it and give the extra copy to your mom I’m good
July 15th, 2012 at 3:38 am
The classic “thank you” credits were on Wu’s Enter The 36 Chambers. They had Nas in there twice, you could tell the admiration…
July 15th, 2012 at 12:02 pm
that’s particially part of the reason I collect digital booklets. Music nerd to tha fullest lol
July 15th, 2012 at 12:49 pm
lol … sad but true. its a great album though
July 15th, 2012 at 1:31 pm
This is what the music supporting experience truly was about. It was so much more then just hearing whats hot for a 2 week period. I really miss it.
May 20th, 2013 at 4:31 am
I watched Belly like 200 times. Throwbacks are great… Nas had some deep lyrics in his day – just a little bit ago it feels like.