Entertainment news and discussion on TalkFuse.
Nines Digs In To The Vaults For ‘Lost Tapes’
UK rapper Nines has released a new compilation, 'Lost Tapes', gathering unreleased material despite having previously retired from music. The rapper stepped back from recording following the release of his sixth and final album, 'Quit While You're Ahead', in 2024, but has continued to revisit archived material, choosing to give some fan-favourite unreleased tracks an official release rather than let them remain unheard.
The new collection draws on material written during and after sessions for his 2020 breakthrough record 'Crabs In A Bucket', regarded as a significant moment in the development of UK rap. Reviewers note the material is of notably high quality rather than mere off-cuts, citing tracks such as 'Milan', featuring Odeal and Skrapz, as strong enough to have featured on any of his previous albums.
In short
- Nines releases 'Lost Tapes', a compilation of unreleased material
- Comes despite his 2024 retirement from rap music
- Draws on sessions from his 2020 album 'Crabs In A Bucket'
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Nines has created genuinely high-quality unreleased work that reviewers consider worthy of inclusion in any of his previous albums. Rather than letting this finished material languish unheard, releasing it allows fans to experience legitimate artistic output from a significant creative period whilst the artist fully respects his retirement from active recording and new creation. The decision gives his legacy fuller expression without requiring any new work or compromising his statement about stepping away.
The case against
By declaring his final album 'Quit While You're Ahead' and stepping away, Nines made a deliberate artistic statement about closure and the right moment to retire. Releasing vault material afterwards undermines that finality and the integrity of that choice. If these tracks didn't feature on previous albums despite their quality, there may have been genuine artistic reasons for their exclusion, and the cleaner artistic statement comes from respecting the retirement and allowing his official discography to stand as his intended work.
Explained simply
Nines is a UK rapper who stopped making new music after releasing his final album, Quit While You're Ahead, in 2024. He has now released a compilation called Lost Tapes of previously unreleased material from his archives.
Nines became prominent with his 2020 album Crabs In A Bucket, which marked a significant moment in the development of UK rap and established him as an important figure in the genre. He subsequently released several more albums that built on this success and earned him a dedicated following.
The Lost Tapes collection draws from material recorded during sessions for those earlier albums, particularly around the time of his 2020 breakthrough. Reviewers have noted that the unreleased tracks are of notably high quality rather than mere off-cuts, with songs such as Milan regarded as strong enough to have featured on any of his previous albums.