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Say It Ain't So! Yasiin Bey Closes Out Career at D.C.'s Kennedy Center
Black Dante made sure his energy was high during this three-night performance. | Photo taken by Jati Lindsay/Kennedy Center for Okayplayer.
Photo Credit: Jati Lindsay/Kennedy Center for Okayplayer.

Busta Rhymes, Yasiin Bey & Common Also Had Material Lost In The 2008 Universal Studios Vault Fire

Mos Def Roots Picnic 2019 Photo Credit: Vickey Ford of Sneakshot for Okayplayer

The New York Times has updated its list of artists whose work was destroyed by the fire.

Following the release of its lengthy report on the 2008 fire at Universal Studios Hollywood that resulted in the destruction of countless single and album masters, the New York Times has updated its list of artists whose material was destroyed during the incident.

READ: A 2008 Universal Studios Fire Destroyed Masters From The Roots, Quincy Jones, Eric B. And Rakim & More

The Times had previously reported that an estimated 500,000 song titles were destroyed in the fire, including music from the Roots, Quincy Jones, Eric. B and Rakim, and Snoop Dogg. Now, material from artists Busta Rhymes, Yasiin Bey, Common, and others is believed to have been lost too, their names added to an already-extensive list in a new Times report titled, "Here Are Hundreds More Artists Whose Tapes Were Destroyed in the UMG Fire."

"Nevertheless, the names listed below come with several caveats. For the artists named below, it is not possible to assert definitively which masters were burned in the fire, nor can it be said categorically that all of these artists did in fact lose masters," the Times reports. "It also cannot be determined exactly how many of the destroyed masters were primary-source originals."

"What can be said with certainty is that these are artists whose material UMG believed had been lost in the fire and whose recordings the company spent tens of millions of dollars trying to replace," the report adds.

Black Thoughtspoke out on the fire following the Times report.

"We had a couple classics destroyed in the fire as well," the rapper told HipHopDX. "In short, that was the most depressing article ever. Not 'EVER,' but it was pretty heavy. I remember when it went down."

"Our first two classics — Do You Want More?!!!??! and Illadelph Halflife — were lost in the blaze. But I also strangely feel like … though things are often beyond our comprehension, still they happen as they should."

Source: New York Times