Def Jam Says Nas' N-Word Album Doesn't Exist
Like he did with Hip-Hop is Dead, Nas sparked controversy again by saying that his next album will be titled N*gga. Predictably, conservative media outlet Fox News lashed out at Nas for the move. But how did we get to this point? It all started when a concertgoer told MTV News that Nas had announced his new album title during a performance at New York's Roseland Ballroom. After MTV reported that Nas' next album will be titled N*gga, several news outlets, including Fox, snatched the story and ran with it.
After several futile attempts to reach Nas' label Def Jam to verify the reports, I turned to a friend who also attended the Roseland Ballroom concert where Nas supposedly announced his new album title. My friend said he never heard Nas say anything about an album title. Also, a source close to Def Jam has denied the claim, telling Foxnews.com that "there is no album release by Nas on the release schedule at this point."
Still, Allhiphop.com maintains that Nas confirmed the controversial album title to them. The likes of Jesse Jackson and the NAACP have spoken out against Nas' decision to name his album after the N-word."The title using the N-word is morally offensive and socially distasteful," said Jackson in a statement. "Nas has the right to degrade and denigrate in the name of free speech, but there is no honor in it."NAACP spokesman Richard McIntire also decried the use of the racial epithet.
"We will not support and we will not continually be assailed by other individuals who want to use that type of term in our presence," said McIntire. "This has gone on long enough."What do you think? Would you buy Nas' next album if he titles it N*gga? Images © Getty Images
Comments
i was at the roseland and i heard him say it. it wasnt a shocker cuz he had said the same thing before hhid album.
people like fox news or any of those other media outlets dont want him name his album that because they dont want to find their sons/daughers favorite album with the word NIGGA large enough for other people to see it, laying on the kicthen table. why all the fuss. i seen albums with worst names then that. think about it. he wouldn’t be the first to put nigga on the cover remember strictly for my niggas and niggasforlife. i am giong to buy the album no matter what he name it. Never.Ingorant.Get.Goals.Accomplished. if that make me a NIGGA then so be it
Instinctively, I’d lean much more towards buying the record if Nas named it Nigga because I’d want to listen what will he have to say in the album with a title like that. Stuff that’s denigrating or uplifting. Because I don’t think Nas does stuff like this without purpose. Look at HHID, everyone thought it was just for publicity but he had strong feelings about the topic actually. So, definitely hope Def Jam accepts it.
My mom won’t let me buy it if it’s titled that. Go ahead and laugh. But I’m a 14 year old boy at a Catholic School.
dont care what the name is ill buy any nas album
GOAT
So what if his album will be titled N****…if his album would be titled A Piece of S*** i would still buy it…its Nas,he is ill and thats it
I have to agree with 6th sense on this one. Similar to the Virginia Tech issue, Fox doesn’t look at the entirety of a rappers catalog when they make these harsh judgments or statements. They just have an issue with Hip Hop as a whole. Nas is on of the most thought provoking and intellectual artists in hip-hop and to paint him doing an album named Nigga in the same way you would paint someone like 50 Cents doing it is just wrong on the part of the media outlets. I am particularly disappointed in our so called black leaders who made these statements after reading this story; they of all people should know that to rush to judgment on this without ever hearing the album is just stupid. If Maya Angelou wrote a book called Nigga would they say these things about her, before they ever read the book? I think not. Knowing Nas’ catalog if he put out an album entitled Nigga I wouldn’t be surprised if this album is about the history of the N-word in hip hop and how current hip hop stars need to be more like there hip hop forefathers, if not banish the word all together. I mean that’s what he did in the Hip Hop is Dead album.
now i kinda hope that he does name the new album nigga
Jesse Jackson don’t represent me if nas a titled his album nigga he just might be attempting to voice the concerns of many young african americans
I agree with 6th and Cruse; got to hear the product before judging it, also NAS has yet to do something ignorant for ignorants sake. The FOX broadcast played a few clips completely out of context – pulled the most violent 5 to 10 sec. segments from about 4 songs. Really people are looking at him at face value, not trying to dig deeper and understand his words. There was no big deal when M-n-M had his first album cover with his girlfriend in the truck of a car dead, and his daughter. (not to be a black and white thing just comparison) I understand that some people are against the n-word, but they need to understand that others have grown up with it. Right or wrong, it’s like smoking can’t just stop at the drop of a dime. With Hip-hop as one of our last “free” outlets no one wants this censorship. It’s like saying “Be you, but don’t be you 100%”
If Nas said it, I really don’t think he would deny it. If true, I’m sure there will be alot of label meetings and beurocracy red tape before that title is allowed to come to fruition if at all. But it is irresponsible journalism to take the ball and run with it if you have yet to substantiate the facts. I would buy the lp because I know that Nas would put a message behind the word. Before Jesse Jackson and the NAACP jump on the ‘just another way to get media attention’ band wagon, they should do their research. They would find that Nas probably has more credibility with the audience they’re appealing to than they do! They would also find that Nas usually, but not always, has a positive message in his lyrics. I say not always because sometimes he just keeps it grimey. But so what? Like most of the other commenters said, it’s Nas!
I won’t buy it if it’s named anything but “N*gga”
^^LMAO!! Good one!
The only thing that matters is the albums content. Many times an artist will use terms like that for shock value, in order to get you thinking. The word is very controversial. I mean congress is holding hearings. Also, the word has become part of mainstream speech. I remember growing up I rarely heard the word. Now I hear people at my college say it, over hear someone say it at work, it has become part of our culture (unfortunately). Maybe it’s about time someone other than rich right-wing conservatives addressed it.
That’s society for you. They tell you not to judge a book by its cover, but they’ll judge an album by its title
i think the time it come to stop the users of that word , cause the are offending all the comunity i realize that word was already use before but that wanna mean we must continue to say and accept this word . come on people the is come to elimimate all the wrong things in your comunity like n-word and b-word for women .
topaz said it best, metaphorically
But it’s a cardinal rule which hasn’t been
repected
by others’
they frontin
until then
hip hop is dead
gota make it grimey
and
make it nasty
nas
over take ether or somethin
sort to speak
about evils
with an album
of that topic
cant never forget
the past
their isn’t
‘aint an army
that can’t rhyme’
the firm -