Nas’ untitled Nigger

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Lil Wayne raised the bar recently in the wake of his #1 album in the country, Tha Carter III, which sold 1 million copies in the first-week. In order to exceed Wayne’s achievement more and more artist will continue to revise their marketing strategy to surpass the 1 million copies sale in the first-week.

With his recently released album, Nas appears to want to surpass Wayne’s record sale with a controversial and unusual marketing strategy. Nas’s latest album is more controversial than ever. On his new “untitled” Def Jam release and 9th studio album, he brought an extra dimension of racial and political consciousness to his latest album which is reflective in songs such as “One Mic” and “My Country.” Nas appeared to have studied and lyrically dissected some of the most divisive issues such as race, inequality, poverty, and power. The Queens, NY native, and a hip hop trend setter is a brilliant and intelligent young man whose goal is apparently set on breaking album sales by ever means necessary. The original and first name choice for Nas’ latest album “untitled” album was “Nigger”. “Untitled,” explores black America ups and downs, pros and cons, stereotypes and culture.

While the record executives kept the controversial word off the album cover, they couldn’t stop Nas from naming a song “Nigger,” and it’s certainly the centerpiece of the album, a stark depiction of the perils and paradoxes of black America that touches on the past, present and future as he sees it.

Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman Antonio “L.A. Reid said: “We support everything our artists do, everything!” he added. “We stand firmly behind and beside our artists with pride and with pleasure. Anything Nas wants to do, I completely stand beside him. Nas is prolific, he’s prophetic, he’s a genius, an amazing artist of respect. So, while I’m not sure exactly all that [the title] entails, I know it’s smart, so I stand behind him. That’s real.”

On the other hand, Nas drew scornful criticism and much press from the likes of Rev. Al Sharpton and 50 Cent. Rev. Al Sharpton is quoted as saying: “As we’re fighting to make it [the word 'nigger'] a hate crime, they’re making it not a hate crime, which is helping out the racists. You don’t see [people from] any other race trying to take the power out of names being called to them. People [who use the term in their music] wouldn’t put out a record against whites or cops or Jews because they ain’t got the guts to do that. They only got the guts to beat up on their own.”

50 Cent expressed much stronger opinions about Nas’ album title. “Nas sucks,” 50 Cent scoffed. “It’s nonsense, man. That’s a stupid name. It doesn’t make sense. Why would you title it that?” 50 Cent further added: “He just wants to make basic conversation,” “You helped him out because you asked me [about it], and people who are interested in me would like to hear the answer. But other than that, there’s nothing interesting in that. It’s just for shock value.”

Unlike Rev. Sharpton or 50-Cent, Akon had a different take on the album title, “That’s intelligent,” Akon remarked. ” … If you teach our new generation that it don’t mean nothing, then it won’t be nothing. It’s just a word. That’s all it is. You create the power for that word when you support it in a negative way. It’s just a f—in’ word, like the word ‘f—in’.’ That’s why I can put out a song with [the word] ‘f—in’ ‘ in it and it becomes a hit.”

Below is “Untitle” track list:

01. Queens Get The Money (Produced by Jay Electronica)
02. You Can’t Stop Us Now (Featuring Eban Thomas of The Stylistics & The Last Poets) (Produced by Salaam Remi)
03. Breathe (Produced by J. Myers & Dustin Moore)
04. Make The World Go Round (Featuring Chris Brown & The Game) (Co-produced by Cool & Dre & The Game)
05. Hero (Featuring Keri Hilson) (Produced by Polow Da Don)
06. America (Produced by Stargate)
07. Sly Fox (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
08. Testify (Produced by Mark Batson)
09. N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave And The Master) (Produced by DJ Toomp)
10. Untitled (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
11. Fried Chicken (Featuring Busta Rhymes) (Produced by Mark Ronson)
12. Project Roach (Featuring The Last Poets) (Produced by Eric Hudson)
13. Ya’ll My Niggas (Produced by J. Myers)
14. We’re Not Alone (Featuring Mykel) (Produced by stic.man of Dead Prez)
15. Black President (Featuring Johnny Polygon) (Produced by DJ Green Lantern)

Do you agree with Nas that we have given an unnecessary attention to the word nigger or do you share Rev. Sharpton’s view that the usage of the word nigger should be a hate crime?