Nas decided to call his new album Nigger.
By now, you’ve read all the different takes on what could be the economical, social & cultural effects of using the word as the album title.
Fortunately, I haven’t read any of it. I didn’t want to cloud my take on it until I had a chance to write about it.
Nigger.
Say it as much as you want and it doesn’t really phase me. I’m not one of those that says “I’m taking the word back and taking away it’s power.”
Bullshit IMO. Let someone other than a Black person say it and you would probably hear me gasp & wince as if I just took a blow to the stomach.
I think those who grew up with N.W.A. are pretty much desensitized to it. Literally, N.W.A. totally changed both the connotation and denotation of the word for Generation X. The current generation, so far removed from the tension surrounding the word, is somewhat numb to it as well. But those of the Civil Rights generation aren’t, as the word still rings the shrillest of bells to them.
I’m numb to it, but I quickly regain a sense of feeling when I have to explain to a Asian teen why I prefer he didn’t say it. And I’m even more aware when I have to explain to my shorty why she’s not a “nigger” or a “nigga” when someone calls her that.
I’m a lifelong student of the liberal arts & love to see artists work & produce. I want to think that Nas has some greater purpose that will be unveiled during the course of the album. Perhaps he shot himself in the foot and hurt himself out the gate by letting the album name out so far in advance of its release. The arts should always work uninhibited because one of the first thoughts that came to me as this shit started stirring was “Imagine if someone had succeeded in convincing Dick Gregory not to name his autobiography Nigger?” For Nas, his art & message are being critiqued…and it’s not even out & available yet.
Nigger.
So as I try to come to terms with, I say let him name his album whatever he pleases. Let’s see what unfolds because I do believe Nas will do his best to his best to make audible what he had as his inspiration for naming the album Nigger. Perhaps it will have a similar impact as the song below had on me when I first heard it. And hopefully, like the song’s ending, one day “nigger” will die…so Black folks can take over.
Props to the homie Suave because it took us nearly half a day to find that song on mp3.
![[avatar]](http://p.uproxxcdn.com/global/images/default-avatar.jpg){kind=avatar}
![[image]](http://cdn.tss.uproxx.com/TSS/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2012/02/lloyd-banks-maino-150x123.jpg)
![[image]](http://cdn.tss.uproxx.com/TSS/wp-content/thumbnails/130/110/2012/01/Crew-Love-January-main-150x75.jpg)
It’s the uggliest word in our vocabulary. However with everything going on in the world and the criticism that Nas has been getting in the past year or so, is anyone really surprised that this is his album title? Thats how they’re making him feel. I’ma roll with Nasty regardless, I highly doubt he’s just doing it to do it.
I highly doubt he’s just doing it to do it.
=======================
Agreed.
Wasn’t he going to use this title before?
Well stated.
This is Nas we’re talking about, an MC that’s always put out thought provoking material. He’s one of the handful of MC’s that I’d give a pass upon hearing that album title. I think this title is similar to “Hip Hop Is Dead” in terms of the controversy that arose once people caught wind of it, but it takes it outside the realms of Hip Hop into mainstream America.
How best to put something to bed…take its power away…that’s exactly what Nas is doing…strippin that sh*thole of a word of its power by flippin it around on the folk that started it.
In other news…can someone relink the Chris Brown Exclusive retail please? Rapidshare keeps deading the links…which leads me to question for Gotty and others.
Most people gripe about rapidshare and the waiting and all that…if that’s the case, why does everyone use rapidshare over zshare or megaupload the majority of the time? Is it because you make money off rapid? Or does it better protect anonimity or somethin? Enlighten me.
-corporate thug
P.S.- Peep the inspiration for the skit at the start of Little Brother’s “After The Party”.
Go to YouTube .com & enter-
Jamie Foxx crucifies lame comic
Corporate Thug- Here’s the Chris Brown link, but get it quick, cause they’re shutting down every link out there
http://www6.evilshare.com/0ce60a8c-d8c3-102a-9309-00a0c993e9d6
I think this is just for attention, dude is so irrelevant IMO, riding on Illmatic fame. He constantly drops sub-par material and he contradicts himself so many times it ain’t even funny.
Just as with HHID, if it weren’t for the title no one would be talking about the album, cause honestly it was a terrible album (at least he tried hard to prove the title).
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co-signing…
Stop the hate. Please.
..and the fact that Nas DOES contradict himself from time to time makes him more ‘real’ (conflicted) to me than most.
but homie Millz did say IMO, so
it’s all Greums…
A confidential source has revealed the real reason behind Jay Z’s “concept” album “American Gangster”. The source who is close to Jay Z’s camp, said Jay Z was “hurt” and “disappointed” that he didn’t get the plum role of the Harlem numbers runner-turned-heroin dealer. The insider also said Jay Z felt slighted when the film’s producers nixed his offer to record the soundtrack for the movie.
“He was assed out,” said the insider. “They f*cked with his ego big time. Jay is not a man who can take no for an answer.” The source also said Jay Z called in favors and tried to pull rank by going to Denzel Washington, who was eventually given the role. “The truth has never been told: Jay Z wanted the role years ago when Universal Studios first purchased the rights to “The Return of Superfly,” said the insider, referring to the New York magazine article by Mark Jacobson.
The insider also claimed Jay Z entered into negotiations with then director Antoine Fuqua only to be turned away when Denzel expressed interest in the screen play. “Word gets around Hollywood fast when there’s a good script, and Denzel wanted in on that project. Jay wasn’t even taken seriously after Denzel’s name got mentioned, but they kept stringing him along.”
According to the insider, when Universal Studios cancelled production of “American Gangster” in 2004, Jay Z felt it was a sign from God. “He felt like if he wasn’t going to be in it the movie shouldn’t be made at all.”
When production on the movie began anew in 2005, Jay Z changed tactics. “By then they had spent so much money on this thing, Jay just wanted to be involved in any way he could cause he thought [the movie] was going to be a block buster,” said the source. Jay Z visited the set often and convinced his friend Denzel to talk to the producers on his behalf. “He wanted to do the soundtrack to the movie so bad, and initially everyone involved thought it was a great idea,” said the source. “But nothing ever got signed – just a lot of talk.
“Once Jay realized they were stroking him again, he went into the studio to record his own soundtrack. He was in a race against time cause he wanted [the album] to compete with the movie,” said the source. In September, Jay Z announced his new “concept” album “American Gangster” which he claimed was “inspired by” the movie. “Bullshit,” said the source, – “At this point he doesn’t want that movie to do well. Why you think all those clear studio copies of the movie are flooding the streets? This the first time a movie ever got bootlegged way before the movie was in the theaters. Only somebody with a studio copy could have done that.”
So he names his album “Nigger”. so fucking what.
Meanwhile, clowns posing as recording “artists” make “music” where they nigga nigga nigga bitch bitch bitch blah blah blah. And THEY don’t get chastised for the shit?
On my life, I swear to God (not Hova, he ain’t God), Nas says more profound and thought-provoking lyrics in a verse than most niggaz albums. real talk.
I actually would’ve preferred that Nas call his album “Cracker” if he was going for the shock value reaction. Because if you think about it, white people didn’t get all bent out of shape when word got out about what Nas is calling his new album. As long as you don’t say nothing bad about white people, they’re fine with the divide and conquer shit.
Far from the halls, all, one day perhaps, one will further go than the avenues which little reflect us. Further that our streets, just to find the exit, to change point of view, to escape from the walls, to see above.
^ yeah, but that word doesn’t have as much “power,” word to Plies. But I do get what you’re saying.
How best to put something to bed…take its power away…that’s exactly what Nas is doing…strippin that sh*thole of a word of its power by flippin it around on the folk that started it.
=============
I get that, but I don’t think Nas alone can strip the word of it’s power.
Rapidshare is just best b/c they generally hold links for longer, they give good organizational options and it’s fast. It’s commonly used by default I guess.
It’s not just RS that’s deadin any links you see to Chris Brown’s shit. They’re being deaded by the requests of labels who scan forums, msgboards, sites and search engines looking for the leaked mat’l. They know it’s there just as well as you do and they know where to find it, just like we do.
“The rap that goes further, it is my expression. That grows bigger in my veins, in me vibrations. That releases from my body the weight of frustrations. My ghetto music. My ghetto music.”.
Nah, Nas won’t single-handedly take power from the word (word to ‘Super N…’ Richard Pryor), but I will give the homey credit for starting discussions about it…. Saying hip-hop is dead theoretically meant nothing, but if it made artists step in the booth with renewed purpose to prove Nas wrong, then that’s a good thing….
If that’s called ‘hyping your album’ these days, I’ll take that over dumb beefs (ie, black on black crime in the media) every.single.day of the week…
nice read.
“it’s all Greums…”
lol
I find comment #12 interesting.
^ Yo, I just shot you two emails sir.
Agreed
@ quag
ouai, c’est pour dire que pour ton aim
ben je c pa tro utiliser aol, donc c pour savoir l’adresse exacte, ou comment deja l’utiliser car moi g msn, donc aol c pareil je pense, faut que j’installe un truc nah comme msn, mais sinan deja si on peut juste mail à mail discuter un peu, plus clairement apres j’aviserai pour installer le bordel, ou genre tu m’expliqueras, donc voila, c genre ce que tu ma donné @aol.com ou quoi ?
peace
really, deux enorme zik, toi meme tu c surement
http://www.zshare.net/audio/458518728c896e/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/458497351d8f54/
encore ptit liens, pour la route!
http://realtalkny.rawkus.com/2007/10/topic/topic/news/a-look-sales-for-recent-hip-hop-albums/
Great discussion.
The one thing that really gets me is when a public figure gets on TV and acts like there’s no difference in “nigger” and “nigga”. Even though I wasn’t there, I fully understand the sentiments stemming because of it. But if you look @ the times when the Civil Rights movement started to become an afterthought, look how the word slowly shifted its meaning (i.e. Cooley High). Now those who chose not to use it a cultural gap was formed. But for those on the side, they have no business jumping into the affairs of a culture they don’t relate to but they think they can dictate.
December is gonna be a hot month.
GREUMSOOGLE !
rapper called Buck 65, is good ???
Yo, Magesty Prince Paul
http://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=5&topic_id=1447146&mesg_id=1447146&page=
Greums Damnnn !
After American Greumster, A Success
you have, aww !
8 Diagreums
Big Greums Rehab
The Greumstest Story Never Told
The Greumstest Story Ever Told
Supa Greumster, Extraordinary Greumstleman
Niggreum
… pfff
To Hard,
They Work Hard For Me !
Greums lives !
out.
Cassidy-Christian Freestyle? Peep it =
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMFJ3R0ov5Y
It makes me laugh how these so-called “black leaders” jump on this whole “N-word” bullshit, gimme a fucking break! The racist whites were calling blacks “niggers” before hiphop and will probably still call blacks niggers after hiphop, so our music is not to blame. These so-called “black leaders” feel that if hiphop cleans up its act then white america will accept them, BULLSHIT!!! Do your history, when blacks were brought over as slaves we were hated for no reason other than for the fact that we were different, so to think that by not using the word NIGGER in hiphop that’s going to change things is futile. These “leaders” need to focus on helping the black community as opposed to trying to tear down a culture that has put food in the mouths of more blacks than they could ever do. Quit worrying about the fucking n-word, it’s a losing battle for real.
Nas originally was/wanted to call HHID Nigger. But for whatever reason, he didn’t. Probably because the music didn’t fit the title. If anyone but Nas were naming their title this, I’d be a little more skeptical. I’m not the biggest fan of the word, but like T.C. said, how the word is pronounced & who says it determines how the word is taken.
Nas has never been irrelevent & doesn’t need shock tactics to bring attention to his album. He could call it asian baby and it would probably go plat.
I’m mad Greums is talkin’ bout his two e-mail addresses in French. You never cease to amaze me.
I’m in agreement with most of the comments on here, but I still find the word offensive if it leaves the lips of a person who’s race is anything other than black. That world will still get somebody a beat down to the 3rd power. I think the more black people say that the word doesn’t mean anything, the more non blacks feel they can use it, which is not the case. I have plenty of white homies, but I’ll check em real quick if they were ever to refer to me that way. And that’s real talk.
Head over to http://www.missinfo.tv
She’s got a full interview wih Cam’ron
Check it out
Nas featuring Dog The Bounty Hunter
@ Flea…
“It makes me laugh how these so-called “black leaders” jump on this whole “N-word” bullshit”
I couldn’t agree w/ you more. Sharpton and the brigade look mad suspect when they basically side w/ ‘white media’ and sh*t on the artists work before they even hear it. So for as many hip-hop panels, and discussion groups as they sit in on, they’re basically expressing EXACTLY how they feel about the credibility of hip-hop with these staged ‘PRE-protests’…
Couldn’t find my copy of their first album, but for those who are interested in this kinda thing:
The Last Poets – This Is Madness (1971)
1. True Blues
2. Related To What Chant
3. Related To What
4. Black Is Chant
5. Black Is
6. Time
7. Mean Machine Chant
8. Mean Machine
9. White Man’s Got A God Complex
10. Opposites
11. Black People, What Y’all Gon’ Do Chant
12. Black People, What Y’all Gon’ Do
13. O.D.
14. This Is Madness Chant
15. This Is Madness
http://www.zshare.net/download/4601519ab0fd71/
^Big ups AmpGeez…thanks for spreading the love
Where that Jay-Z @ ? ….All links are dead.
LOL @ “8 Diagreums”
Greums,tu peux me mail sur quagsquire@gmail.com.
hmm.. Nas and this nigger thing. honestly, it’s obviously way bigger than the music. and at the end of the day, he probably wont release it under that name.
We had the honor of setting up a small symposium to discuss this name choice at this college I used to go to. It coincided with Lupe comin down there for a meet and greet and promo(anyone want a q-tip album signed by lu, get at me). anyway, we explored all possible reasons for naming it what he named it, and i realized that i quickly grew exhausted of the topic.
I will not however tire of the effect it’s having. I love it.
i wrote a blog about it. click the name.
dont have time to read all the comments so maybe someone already mentioned it but basically i think the title is up there with Hip Hop Is Dead. hes just trying to cause alittle controversary so ppl who normally wouldnt be paying attention for a Nas album might pay alittle attention.
I say the word 100 times every morning it keeps my teeth white! – Paul Mooney
I use the word because I feel like there is a movement to “whitewash” history, to make people forget about the atrocities of the african-american experience.
nas with dis name album can changes the face of the rap music !!!
but …
pêäce
Damn, whats up TSS, did anyone else peep this shit??
Subject: Nov. 2, 2007 Black Spending Blackout Calling Attention To White Hate
Crimes Across The Nation
–>
Good Morning,
Many people marched in Jena, LA last month in support of the 6 young men unjustly charged with attempted murder for a school yard
fight. There are many situations all over the nation that screams injustice and unfair treatment of people in this country. There is the woman in West Virginia who was raped and tortured for days with barely any national coverage. They called her the N word but as of this writing, they still had not confirmed they are treating this as a hate crime. We all know the young groom in NYC who was murdered by the NYPD on the eve of his wedding. There is the teenage girl in Texas who was
sentenced to jail time for an altercation with a school official. How about the teenage girl who was sprayed with mace for missing curfew. You can see her in the video restrained by a police officer twice her size. She was in handcuffs when she was sprayed. Maybe you heard of the California girl who had her arm broken by a school security official when she refused to pick up a piece of cake from the floor. It was filmed by a school mate and is all over You Tube. You may have heard of the young man in Georgia who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual sex with a young girl. He was 17, she was 15. There was also the young brother in Florida who died in the custody of the state when he was admitted to their boot camp. They said he had diabetes but they couldn’t explain his battered body. All of these stories happened within the last year or two.
Those are just a few instances where people in this country have been treated unfairly, while 4 young men in Raleigh, NC sue the state for 10 million dollars each because they were “falsely” accused of rape. There are people who spend YEARS in prison and are exonerated that don’t get nearly that much coin. By the way, who else is tired of the Princess Diana wrongful death inquiry? I mean, come on, it’s very sad how she died but does her death need to be the top news story 10 years and 2
months after her death?
On Friday, November 2, 2007, Warren Ballentine, Reverend Al Sharpton and other civil rights leaders are calling for a national boycott. Black people alone spend 2 billion dollars a day in the United
States and we are only approximately 12% of the population. TWO billion dollars a day, lining the pockets of companies that have shown no interest in our interests. We ARE living in the new civil rights
movement. We cannot allow the march in Jena to be only an event. It MUST be a movement. In the 1950s, the bus boycott was only supposed to be for
a few days or weeks. It ended up being over a year. The goal was for fair treatment and bus integration. Our parents and grandparents sacrificed and showed that with faith and strength, they could show
corporate America the power of the community and demanded fair treatment. As we know, those buses were integrated. This is not about color. This is about class. The middle class and poor people in this country are not treated as the Declaration of Independance says we should be treated. It states that “all men are created equal”. Clearly the governing class of the United States disagrees with their document.
Join us on Friday, November 2, 2007 and don’t spend ANY money. If you have to shop, do it the day before or the day after. If you need gas, get it the day before or the day after. We have to join together as a community. You may be thinking, it’s only one day, what difference will it make? I had the same thought at first, but just think about it. If we all save our money that day, it WILL make a difference. That day may become a weekend. That weekend may become a week and that week a month. As we showed in the 1950s, we can make a difference if we do this together. If you can pass the many dumb jokes and forwards we all get, you most certainly can pass this important email to all your friends and
family.
Thank you
Brother Robb Carter
We Are The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For…Do What You Can
My advisor from the Universtiy of Pennslyvania sent me this e-mail please, TSS respond & REACT!!
Firstly, I don’t like the word being used at all. I understand why our people use it & i’m not nearly the dude to challenge whether we should or shouldn’t use it… the problem with Nas using it as a title is we will have lots of non black folk asking for & using the title. All blacks get aggy when someone who is not black uses the word… I got images of young white dudes who are genuinely into HipHop & having to ask over the counter for the new Nas album ‘n@#ga’… how we supposed to react in a shop if we hear that? Damn near start a riot up in HMV!!
Fact: Nas {or any emcee for that matter} will not take the emphasis of that word away… Even if the album is brilliant, thought provoking & a damn near master piece. cos the people who need to know the truth about that word & why NOT to use it would not be listening to a Nas album!
I think he’s lost it a lot, but he’s still a better emcee than most of the rubbish pumping thru the airwaves masquerading as real HipHop. IMO i think it’s a an ignorant move to use that word as an album name. so he better make sure he brings it!!
Stay Blessed
Log!c
Is it that an album is being titled Nigger? What about “shake yo ass hoe”, “bend over, show me what you working with”? Women today are so much loose puppets, that they have no sence of morals or boundaries.
When someone use such derogatory word such as Nigger instead of Nigga, it alerts people. Nas was always positive. Wondering what’s up this time.
By the way, do you think a woman has lost her soul if she sticks a baseball bat up her ass? Telling you, she is just thrown away. Wake up!!! (but she was white though).
As far as the N word is concerned, it is all about the context of the word or any word. I think that since Afro Americans seem to have taken ownership over that word, everyone other than Afro Americans seems offended because they cannot say it. (Well they can but just not in front of me.) This is the land of free speech.
By the way, do you think a woman has lost her soul if she sticks a baseball bat up her ass?
=========================
Aiyo!
YIZZO!!
get over it. who the fuck cares. the only reason the “N” word keeps cominng up is shit like this. why do i(being white) have to be reminded of how white assholes a fucking century ago had black slaves. if the black folk really wanted to get rid of this word, they would quit fucking saying it themselves. good job perpetuating the racism that everyone else is trying to end
nas iz a fuckin genius! he iz the greatest rapper alive (besides me) fuck weezy high ass! nigger iz pure genius!