Another Hip-Hop artist falls victim to Cultural Conditioning
In this country we have been culturally conditioned to underestimate, undervalue and marginalize black people; and far too often black people do it to themselves……
While most of the hip-hop artist sported tailored made suits which actually looked classy, Nas and his wife Kelis decided to wear this:
And then CNN interviewed this idiot!! Did you hear his explanation on why is doing this? He make no sense. Black people need to protest this. Anyone who was outraged over the Don Imus comments, should be even more offended by this.
So I wonder what it says on the back of Nas’s shirt; maybe Coon? Sambo? Stepin Fetchit?
Wow what a great way to start out the first week of Black History Month. What a great way to honor the black artist who showed up at the Grammys like Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner other black artist who had to fight during a time where they were considered less then human because of the color of their skin.
I use to have so much respect for Nas, but that has changed. I don’t care what kind of lyrical content Nas is going to have on his new CD, I will not buy it. Nas claims that his new CD will have serious knowledge for all to experience. But naming your CD this racially offensive word takes away from whatever content you are going to have on your CD.
Black folk are the only group of people who assist in keeping alive a racially offensive word that is rooted in hate towards their ancestors.
You call a gay person a faggot; it’s hate speech (and it is)
You call a Jewish person a kike; it’s Anti-Semitic (and it is)
You call a black person a nigger; it’s freedom of speech??????
WAKE UP BLACK PEOPLE!!!
Here is a blog post that speaks truth to power about this issue.
Nas Sporting Ni**er Down The Red Carpet; Is It Artistic Expression or Social Irresponsibility?
Here is a portion of an MTV article which talked about the cool and not so cool moments of the Grammys. Guess what made the cool list…
Cool: Seal wearing YSL was OK, Rihanna in Zac Posen was great, but Nas wearing a promo T-shirt for his controversially titled upcoming album, Nigger, on the red carpet was next-level cool. And his wife, Kelis, wearing a matching jacket was even cooler.
So MTV thought Nas and Kelis’s racilly offensive outfits were “cool.” This is why I don’t watch MTV
But this is what really pissed me off; here is a picture of Nas and Kelis at the after party
Let me get this straight. While on the red carpet with TV stations broadcasting their images across the country, Nas and Kelis want to be niggers, but at the Sony/BMG Grammy after party, they flip the scrip. Why? They should let all the music executives and big wigs at the industry parties know how ignorant they are. They knew if they wore those shirts at the after parties, they wouldn’t be able to look at all of the black artists who paved the way for their asses and give them a legitimate answer as to why they were wearing those outfits.
Filed under: News | Tagged: Entertainment news, grammy awards, hip-hop music, Kelis, Music, Nas |
NATIVE SON 
a shme. i though this was a black history post. chk out this when u can and let me know what u think The father of Jim Crow
Michael said it on HIStory vol. 1 album: “anything for money… lied for you, die for you…even sell my soul to the Devil.” And perhaps it isn’t has much for the money as it is for attention, which would lead to increased record sales- at least Nas probably reasons.
Actions such as this will only lead to more Jena’s and Jasper’s. -Because if we don’t respect ourselves, who else will?
I think Randall Kennedy’s 2002 book more or less provides a great literary platform for the word. I wonder how many people read that book. I may re-read it soon.
I don’t support Nas decision to use the word as a title for his project but I am not against it either. I’ll wait till the project is released then I’ll form my own opinion, that is if I purchase the product.
But let it be known that he is not the first prominent entertainer to use the word in his art. In one form or another many hip-hop recording acts from have repeatedly used the word in their catalog. Tupac Shakur used the word in a title for his CD a while back. I recently played Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s infamous song for my cousin and he was very offended but he has no problem with the majority of pop records and media that marginalizes African-Americans with one word.
I guess due to the socio-political climate the reaction to a CD that is not even available in stores is seriously strong. I just wonder if people are aware of the fact that one, Nas is not the first to use the word as a title, nor in a song. And as far as his theatrics are concerned, it seems a little cheap but then again I’m not expecting much with a title like that.
I am against anyone who uses it. I keep hearing people say that John Lennon used it as well as other rappers. Hell half of Hip-Hop uses it; it still doesn’t make it right.
If Nas was Jewish and wore a T-shirt that said Kike, there would be no discussion; the Jewish community would have pulled him to the side and no CD would not be made.
Black people are the only group of people who will attempt to justify demeaining themselves…..
Other groups behave the same way, maybe not on the large scale and in the public eye. Orthodox or unorthodox, take your pick? I’ve witnessed it often.
For the record, I don’t use it, and cringe when anyone uses the word, especially in public. But what happens when the word is discussed and analyzed as explained in Kennedy’s aforementioned book? Just a thought.
I don’t put too much stock into what Nas says because like most artists, they’re contradictory and can not put forth a clear-cut cohesive argument, but the reaction to his title is kind of weird because on a large scale it did not exist in Hip Hop. I guess times have changed.
Respectfully, Vee
Thanks for posting on my page Vee:
I do understand where you are coming from. I read that Kennedy’s book along with his testimony was used in a trial where a white kid beat a black kid up with a baseball bat while calling him a nigger; and Kennedy’s testimony almost got this kid acquitted.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/188/188_freedom_rider_randall_kennedy_racist_violence.html
I’m reading through some of your archived posts at the moment.
I’m a hip hop fan and all, but the banality of the music and its inability to mature has lead me to seek out new artist outside of the mainstream and the genre. There’s so much out there to explore. I tend to largely ignore half the crap coming out of the mouths of so-and-so artist from Common to Nas, to 50, to Jay-Z, and of course Soulja Boy. Then again I do feel that people unfairly hold these artists to exalted positions as if they were indeed the Talented Tenth, as explained by GoZack. That’s television for you.
Nas and Kelis verify and validate the reasons that I’ve never bought any of their music. I go to bed at night confident that I’ve not contributed to Nas’s, Kelis’s or Amy Winehouse’s income.
Also, please note the silence from the black community. Specifically, note the silence from Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Then, the next time a white person is accused of using the term, and Al and Jesse come ouf of the woodwork, please refer to this post.
ME AS A POET AND REBEL AT MIND IM BEHIND NAS 100% BECAUSE THAT MAN HAS BEEN THE ONLY RAPPER BORN IN A CERTAIN LIFE STYLE WITH ENOUGH PRIDE TO BE DIFFERENT SONGS LIKE “I KNOW I CAN” A RAPPER FROM THE HOOD WOULDNT RISK PUTTING NAS MIND IS SO FAR AHEAD THAT YOU CAN ONLY LET HIM LEAD AND HAVE TRUST JUST READ HIS LYRICS FROM HIS START TO NOW AND SEE THE INCREASE IN KNOWLEDGE THIS MAN HOLDS FROM 16 YEARS OLD……COMING FROM A AFRICAN AMERICAN
Thats the problem with the word nigger, its not talked about the only way to take power fom the word is to make it your own. You see if we simply just stopped using the word, which will never happen if you actually be realistic, the power it had over a people is still there blacks are the only people to embrace the word and steal from whites, just as they have stole our identities and culture, their control over it with various forms most common being nigga, all in all think about stop being such suckers to the passive agressive racism that is implanted in your subconcious. Blacks dont want any special treatment or any superior rights ALL WE WANT IS TO BE EQUAL
How dare you call NaS the legend an idiot! He was promoting his album and attacking the ignorants like the people who wrote this article.
LOL ..ok thats it
The word NIGGER HAS CROSSED COLOR LINES. MANY RACES USE THE WORD FROM WHITE TO ASIAN. SO I UNDERSTAND WHEN NAS IS SAYING HE IS TAKING THE WORD AND RELATEING IT TO ALL PEOPLE….I LOVE CONTROVERSIAL THINGS LIKE THIS BECAUSE THIS IS A PRIME EXAMPLE OF OUR WONDERFUL 1ST AMENDMENT RIGHT OF FREEDOM OF SPEECH. YOU CAN’T BE MAD AT NAS FOR USING THE SPOT LIGHT TO GET A MESSAGE ACROSS. AND TO SAY THIS IS REMOTELY SIMILAR TO THE DON IMUS SITUATION IS TOTALLY LUDACRIS. DON IMUS CALLED ATHELETIC SCHOLARS “NAPPY HEADED HOES” NAS IS NAMEING HIS CD NIGGER . HE IS NOT CALLING ANYONE A DEROGATORY NAME BUT, HE IS SIMPLY TRYING TO CHANGE THE WAY SOCIETY VIEWS THE WORD NIGGER…. I EMBRACE IT……SO DEAL!!!!
It’s the name of his new album…..free promotion….oh okay
of course you wouldn’t buy his new cd, because you are too close minded to even try to experience, or hear what this legend is trying to say. whoever wrote this shit is just afraid.
Having heard the album myself, which by the way was eventually named “Untitled,” I respectfully ask everyone to listen to it before judging him. Listen to it, and listen to every song, and then you will begin to understand where he is coming from, and why he wore what he did at the Red Carpet
I am not a huge NAS fan (although he did rock the Rock the Bells concert!) but I support his right to wear that shirt whole heartedly. If we keep giving a word that kind of power over us we will never be free. It’s a WORD. It can’t enslave us if we don’t allow it to. Who cares what others call you. Do you know who you are? If you do then what others say about you won’t matter. I say props to Nas and Kelis.
It amazes me that some people who commented believe that we give that word too much power over us, or like Klysha, who commented that you have to know who you are.
I know who I am and more importantly, I know the history of my ancestors in this country who were called that word while being held captive as slaves. They were hung from trees and denied freedom. Which is why I refuse to use that word or embrace it out of respect for those millions who didn’t have the right to do so.
I know where I come from, the question is do you know where you come from? It is not about giving that word power or not letting it bother you, it is about giving respect to your ancestors!!! Wake up black people!!! It’s bigger than you!!!
Wearing the shirt might have been too much, but he is simply dissecting the word and it’s meaning. This is a very powerful album that takes racism head on and indeed challenges black people (and other races) to wake up.
listen, what Nas is saying is that everyone is now a nigger in the original meaning of the word which is ignorant Why? Because everyone is marginalized and enslaved by the government. Lied to and cheated every day by the feds, in this day and age everyone is a slave. You completely misinterpret the message and he says it plain and clear in the interview.
Nas is a lyrical and touching lyricist that know one will ever understand. I point this out to the Native son who wrote this story on nas and Kelis, this ordinary man who speaks his mind on what he’s seen and been through is well spoken as yourself.
The meaning of the word nigger is offensive, but to an extent of his past and on his respect of his career as well. He is a great person to listen to from where I came up from, and now it’s even huge of a deal to ever see him where a shirt like that. I say to all people in United states “well you would of never excpected to see a man named Obama run for president let alone, and let alone when this election”
I can’t say I know’s what he was thinking when he changed his shirt, but however I do know he didnt point the finger to just whites. Change is a hard thing to come by, especially the days our mother’s and father’s and there mother’s and father’s lived in.
FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS FOR ALL AND HOWEVER JUDGING THE WRONG THOUGHTS, BEFORE NAS QUOTES WERE EVEN MADE LIVE, AND TAKING YOUR OWN CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL BECAUSE OF A PRESIDENTIAL EDUCATION SPEECH. Is as ignorant as this world gets……..I here you nas
I respect nas that much because he’s more then a idol to me, he’s a HIP HOP icon who never got in any trouble with the law. I know he changed his shirt after the red Carpet and that’s more then respect, that’s understanding. It’s our time to be heard and the time is WORLD…..this isn’t A COLOR issue unless you make it that way. I’m well spoken myself and Strongly agree with NAS shirt, what they going to do band a Color of our shirt, because some are offended. #1 NAS FAN