Legendary MC Nas has just released an album (Untitled) that shot to number one on the charts
Nas dropped his new album today, and in promotion for the event he teamed up with Alife to make
To commemorate the release of NaS’ new album on Tuesday, July 15th 2008, ALIFE has come
Hip Hop has always been a lightning rod for controversy in the mainstream media which never
As the release date of Nas’ new untitled album draws closer, the anticipation is intensified.
There is a certain word that is the reigning king of epithets in the lexicon of offensive language. It’s a word so complex and entrenched in a unique history that it can either be a polarizing term of endearment or a powder keg of repugnance depending on the surroundings, circumstances and who you ask. The word is such an uncomfortable and delicate subject that a meeting of the minds with the administration of HYPEBEAST had to occur to discuss if this video should even be shown here. I’m positive these were the thoughts that were floating around in the ambitious mind of Nas, who has courted controversy of the political breed since the beginning of his legendary career. Since Nas announced the title of his new album will be called “N***er” (self censoring) a tidal wave of controversy engulfed the project with civil rights activists up in arms and Hip Hop fans in a frenzy.
Although some of the mystique surrounding the album may have faded with the decision to change the album title to simply “Nas”, the constant conversation is sure to return once the viewing public gets an eyeful of the incendiary clip for the single “Be a N***er Too”. The seemingly omnipresent internet video director Rik Cordero, attempts to accomplish in a seven minute clip what Spike Lee does in an entire film in terms of powerful visuals. The video is a stark, brutal piece of cinematic imagery that juxtaposes between modern prejudice and slavery’s viral racism. The song was already floating around the net for a few weeks with all signs pointing to the fact that Nas is at his most poignant and poetic. He attempts to discuss how much the word has been overused and bastardized to a point that it has become a monolithic term that all races use to describe both endearment and ignorance. The message of the song is powerful enough, but the bone chilling ending of the video puts it all in perspective.
No matter whom your candidate of choice is in the 2008 election, the reverberations of change and history could be felt a few nights ago when Barack Obama took the stage in St. Paul and announced that he is the presumptive nominee for the democratic party. Since the beginning of hip hop music MCs have used beats and rhymes as a platform to voice descent, opinion and protest. However, the actual political process of conducting a campaign for a candidate has been few and far in-between. There has always been a pervasive feeling amongst the urban community that politicians are non-responsive to their problems or concerns. Therefore, advocating for a president seemed useless or even counterproductive.
However, this seemed to all wash away since Obama, the first African American democratic nominee, first announced his candidacy as several MCs took to the studio to pen rhymes as inspirational as the man himself. The most notable pro Obama song so far is Will I Am’s “Yes We Can” which was actually featured at several Obama rallies. Now one of the most outspoken MCs on the political front, Nas takes on the subject matter with his release “Black President”. The DJ Green Lantern Produced track splices parts of Obama’s speeches as Nas lends his poetical prose to a thoughtful track about the possibility of the first black president.
Listen to the track [HERE]
Nas could have easily looked at his enduring legacy in hip hop, sat back, relaxed and gave himself a congratulatory pat on the back. He could have easily gone the way of several legendary MCs whose flow got lethargic and stale and decided instead of deciding to push forward took a long deep look into the past. No one would have blamed him either. He would easily go down as one of the most poetic influential important street poets to ever lay his voice on wax not just in Hip Hop but in music in general. But as Nas stated on the intro to his Stillmatic album “They thought I’ll make another Illmatic/but it’s always forward I’m moving stupid never backwards here’s another classic.” This is the feeling that has summed up the later part of Nas’ career.
Just about every album he has dropped in the new millennium has either been thoughtfully penned beautifully tragic pieces like the slightly somber “God’s Son” penned in the wake of his mother’s death, or an affirmation of his hardcore gritty NY rap roots with the double album “Streets Disciple”, or the intentionally controversial titled semi concept album “Hip Hop is Dead”. Just the titles alone shows an artist hell bent on leaving a huge dent in hip hop before he bows out. His new album was to be titled the most offensive racial epithet ever uttered (yes that one). Although Nas changed the album title to simply “Nas” he assured the fans that the content will be just as politically charged and incendiary as the former album title conveys. One look at the cover of the new album the viewer gets an incredibly powerful statement that an entire music career or volumes of books for that matter couldn’t convey. If the new album dropping July 1st is half as powerful as the album cover, we’re in for another classic.
