Comments on: BE A NIGGA TOO

By: nativenotes

nativenotes — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 21:00:37 +0000

Mizart,

Hmm I’m on the fence like Stacks. I don’t think Nas is a publicity whore like other outlets are claiming him to be. However I have listened to all of his interviews on this topic and I think often we give Nas more credit than he may deserve. So I will wait to see how this pans out; If done in the right way it could be very clever. I am not one for making outrageous comments just to spark conversation. I prefer purpose driven comments, I have faith that Nas will come through with something potent.

However Nas worries me sometimes, he has been put on the pedestal as the conscious rapper which sometimes he accepts and sometimes he rejects. I just find that some of his statements can lack forward thinking and progressive thought.

Take for instance the time Bill O’ Reilly came at nas for being a performer for the Virginia Tech Concert because Nas has violent lyrics in some of his songs. Bill O’Reilly is a dick but it was a valid criticism which could have been met with an articulate response.

Instead Nas starts talking about eating his kids and all types of nonsense, I was disappointed in the random statements he made because I know that he is intelligent and at that point he could have used that platform to showcase members of Hip-Hop as intelligent, articulate human beings. something Bill O’Reilly continuously tries to say that we are not.

By: Mizart

Mizart — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:37:10 +0000

I think Nas knows exactly what he is doing. When he came out with “Hip-Hop is Dead” every rapper, fan, etc.. was offended by that notion. The effect was not only Nas catching a huge amount of heat but it also caused a spike in raps/songs by other artist/rappers old and new defending their positions why it wasn’t. Nas may have sold many more records because of the title, but he also caused others to fight/defend vocally our “Hip-Hop” culture.

Now you have Nas with album title “N.GG.R”. and everyone is having a fit! The song “Be a nggr too” does not have the substance that everyone would expect Nas to have in a track about the “N” word, do you really think he is not capable of having a better position on the word? He is presenting a product in the manner that he believes a “nggr” would do it in. Since everyone expects the opposite of him, he is causing all the listeners to disagree or agree, but most importantly react to his song!

How many times have you heard someone on tv or in the street use the “N” word? How many have used it to show love, or hate? Yeah, some of you may have never been down with it, but I’m pretty sure a lot of you never did anything to change that, now, Nas is doing to something to get all of us to think about the “N” word and the majority of you think he is total fool? You’ve missed the point!

By: "Stacks"

"Stacks" — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 21:45:16 +0000

You know we talked about Nas not being as deep or intellectual as we gave him credit for. I think your doing a much better job at articulating reasons he could have had for calling this album “nigger” but at the very least Nas definitely has me thinking about my using of the word and analyzing the repercussions of the word. his first single also did a better job of explaining his stance for me. I’m still a fan in the fence I guess i will have to wait til the album comes out

By: Crazy cousin

Crazy cousin — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 16:01:25 +0000

Interesting post Ced, I have not heard the song, nor have I seen the grammy’s but I have always had the utmost respect for Nas for having “something” to say. He hardly ever spits lyrics just because, instead he has a message, a lesson , a voice. He is one of the few rappers that uses the media to his advantage . I would hate to doubt his intentions now but in a society where rappers are not making money when they make conscious songs, I can understand doing something outrageous to get folks attention. But before I share any more of my opinions, I need to see exactly what is going on here.. Im off to youtube to see the grammy’s and hopefull the shirt and the song will be there too.. Thanks again for invoking thought!

By: 27thfloor

27thfloor — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 02:12:51 +0000

Yea, this is a deep topic and I agree with Osay. I anticipate a backlash against Nas for this. But what does he care… this is publicity for him.

By: Osay

Osay — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 21:32:42 +0000

I’m commenting on the song & not your piece Ced……. (for now)

While I don’t doubt Nas’ intentions or purpose for this song….. yea he went too far. Honestly, at this point I don’t even care to voice my opinion about the infamous “N-word”, because I don’t think it matters. Everyone has their own definition and opinion of the word and that’s why we have all the debate surrounding it. I will say this though….

“He’s gonna get it HARD for this one. I just hope he’s ready with his deep, emotional responses & he’s leaning on the cross when the single drops or gets widespread attention on YouTube. He’s going to need God, his wife, and his momma to get through this one. LOL…and just wait till Jesse n’em hear this… I see heart attacks and protests in the near future….”

Now at the first few listens (I had to get over the shock of listening to it the first time), I see where he’s going and I can respect & appreciate it. I think he went too far for this reason: While we have discerning opinions on the definition and use of the “N-word” in our community, this is not the same situation in other communities. Other ethnic groups find their “American nicknames” to be highly offensive and he’s just throwing them around. So I think he’s going to get a lot of backlash for that.

Overall, what can you say/do? We all knew this was coming….

~Osay