Nas changes controversial album title

NAS.............Is he even relevant anymore? He should call his album, "Unsold, unheard and uneventful".

Nas is very relevant. I listen to illmatic to this day. He is a legend in the rap game, and as a matter of fact I pay attention to alot of what is going on with him.

CHICKEN!!!

The album may be 'untitled' but everyone will still refer to it by it's first given name.

Whatever! I do agree that this is 'chicken' of him. Who cares what his album is called.

Controversy sells. If you say you're going to do it, and you get all the free publicity from it, at least follow through.

haha! i don't care what anybody says NAS is the SHIT!

I am assuming he was pressured into this...

He should call it nigger. Thats what he wanted to call it. Its his record.

I agree with you Spiral and your hot by the way. Nas is one of the best emcees ever. Illmatic is one of the best albums of all time, hands down!

I mean you can call this man a chicken but at the end of the day he still has to stay with his label and do what they do. Thats a part of being a music artist. That is some bull shit though. Nigger is the perfect title of this album if anyone has heard it. Dope.

I agree with the notion that he was probably pressured into doing this by other people who are scared of the power of that word. I don't think he should have to change the title of his album for any reason.

I don't think the title will negatively affect sales either due to the controversy that is building around it. Some people who wouldn't normally buy a Nas album might purchase this one just to see what all the fuss is about. Now the wait for the "unnamed" CD's release is also the wait for the album's title.

...yeah , given the present political climate and the possibly offensive implications of NAS calling his album you're hot by the way Spiral and whatnot , and taking into consideration the prevalence of wal-mart style censorship you're pretty fine Spiral it's a shame that any guy in the music biz trying to keep his game real would have to Spiral i want you to bear my kids , i'm all for "integrity" and freedom of speech as protected by the 2nd amendment Spiral what's your phone no. but that's just my opinion .
( sorry bytes, i couldn't help myself )

It's a bold title and it gets people talking. I don't know why he chose it, but I think he should have kept it.

controversial album name + Media hungry market = FREE PR!!!

good thing he planned for the variable of changing it, or was that in the plan all along?

First, Nas is relevant. Illmatic, It Was Written, Lost Tapes and so on.

Secondly, I am sure he has a reason that he titled it. Maybe his reason is for people to hear what he has to say and hopefully what he has to say is important which lacks in today's spin off the culture of Hip Hop.

Third, what is a record store, do they still exist? Who cares what they think. Record stores aren't needed; This internet thing is something ferocious.

Keep the title, Nas. If it holds weight I'll buy it.

I just think it is a stupid title in the first place. If someone says to you "Put in Illmatic", that makes sense, but "Put in Nigger"? Doesn't work

Just a bad title to begin with.

Shouldn't have backed down. Re-release Illmatic again, please.

Pussy.

I'm guessing he was never going to do this, he was just trying to get a bit of press.

So if he can say it can I?

CalPerr: imagine Metallica's problem with the untitled Black album! "Dude, just put in that album with the snake on it. Whatever it's called."

after Jay Z completely degraded the mother of his child and his daughter and he then decided to work for him, I haven't been able to look at Nas the same since.

The album should be called "I lost"

Could have been a very firm step from him against record companies and corporate America. Maybe he will change his mind...

A very firm step against corporate America or white America?

I'm certain he faces a lot of politics in the crazy music industry. Sometimes you gotta bite your tongue. I respect him regardless. He's doing his thing. Can't please everybody!

like he says "you can hate me now" keep hatin haterss!!

Knowing the record biz, NAS probably didnt really have all that much marketing control as he would wish he could. Once the creative aspect is done, the real players and money makers begin thier magic and work that voodoo they know how to doo-doo and you know once that part of the machine is in motion you can only just sit back and enjoy the ride....for whatever its worth!

Hey Spira!

if you want to hear "N.I.G.G.E.R (The slave and the master)," check out hotnewhiphop.com. It's the first song under Ushers album from 5/20. The website also has "Be a Nigger too" under 4/21

All of you guys make my point, Illmatic was in 1994, 14 years ago, yeah that's when the Shawshank Redemption was released. NAS was a great MC but today he needs gimics like "Hip Hop is Dead" and "Nigger" in order to get noticed. Les't see how many people buy this junk.

NAS and rap overall is like a child who never got any attention, and does ANY AND EVERYTHING to get attention. and people flock to it, cause it's so flashy. i grew up on cypress hill and bone thugs n harmony. i love hip hop culture, but i prefer drum 'n' bass as an intelligent adult. the negativity in "rap" is like a snowball, making people nasty and negative. most of it sends wrong messages to the masses. everyone wants to be a hoe, pimp, or rapper, carry a gun and have attitude. ghetto geeks.

popular opinion and corporations (Mtv) shove rap (and rock) down our throats, there is no real choice (i love drum 'n' bass, breaks, techno, classical, even blue grass). i'm not down with the double meaning lyrics of violence, dissing females, and drugs. and NAS ain't different. i'm sure he's a cool cat in life, but i'm not down with his art. i ain't no hater, i'm just telling it like it is. when i listen to music, i want to hear beats, bass, and melodies, not some guy bitching about his rims, bitches, or blazing guns. it's played out, annoying, and boring.

rap is mostly rhyming/talking and little music, where as drum 'n' bass is the opposite, mostly music, with a little mcing to enhance the flow.

I'm not a big fan of the rap you talk about Wessagusset_Oracle. I prefer to listen to Kweli and Lupe Fiasco but like you said, I dont want to hear about cars, girls and violence. There are hiphop and rap artists out there that actually talk about real issues.

That's my point. It may have been 14 years ago but his music is still timeless. He made classics that people listen to till this day.

Its amazing that 14 years later he has still maintained his career. Has anyone listened to One Mic? Made you look? "Nas is like.." I think he will regain his momentum in the industry. It's only a matter of time.

Nas is a great lyricist/story teller..its a shame people down play his worth as an artist...



Since he is with a major labor he faces all kinds of politics in the industry. That does not make him a "Child that doesn't get attention." Has anyone taken Music Business 101?

observer2121
Nas will always be relevant . in the community where Hip Hop originated ( the Black community) before it was commercialized,and where it is still authenticated, Nas will always be revelant and revered. Nas is an Icon. Icons don't gain respect by record sales,they're aclnowledged by the work that they put in and most of it may never reach the plastic, mainstream listeners. To try to say that Nas is no longer relevant in the world of Hip Hop is like trying to say that some one like David Bowie, or John Mellencamp is no longer relevant to Rockn' Roll. Nas is a Hall of Famer. You've got the man confused with some one like that guy, Justin Timberlake, or other Pop idol.The only thing not relevant to this conversation is an uninformed comment like the one that you're making......Vanilla Ice is not relevant to Hip Hop.To not like Nas is one thing,..cool,...but to say that he's not relevant. Not Cool. "Teach Respect" and get Respected.

I thought he would call it "THE N WORD"
double edge

I agree, no matter what he changes it to now, people are still going to call it the Nigger album. And I agree that he should've stood by his decision and not caved in.

Keith Ponder, no one ever said NAS was not an Icon or was not deserving of a place in Hip Hop history, of course he does, so does Rakim, so does Public Enemy, so does MC Hammer, all of these acts are Icons in hip hop, like them or not, but the question is are they relevant in 2008? The Answer is no, NAS is as relevant as a typewriter. Hip Hop and rap is not static, when you ask people who the most relevant artist out there today they will name guys like Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Kanye West, Lupe Fiasco, Jay Z, NOT NAS. When is the last time NAS had a hit? I can't even name one hit song off his last album. Hip Hop is dead???? Nah, NAS's career is dead.

He should call his next album "NAStalgia".

observer2121
Those guys you mention,probably with the exception of Jay Z, are really not even Hip Hop artist, as much as they are Pop artist. If you're not a true Hip Hop artist, you'll never be relevant to that true genre of music.
Tell you what? Ask Rahkim, P.E. and the masses that followed the beat tback then, as to whether Nas is and wil always be relevant to the game ? Just because some one calls themselvesa Hip Hop artist and sells crap in this industry today, does not qualify to be true to this.Any real listener knows that the industry has gone to hell.
JFK has nbeen dead for over 45 years, yet he will always be relevant ,whwere as politics are concerned. Lil' Wayne will never be able to make that claim in Hip Hop. Tupac can, and so can Nas.They put their work in.
Show your face and stop hiding behind that jive icon.Let's see if you're relevant. What do I mean by that ? Taco Bell is not relevant to real Mexican food. Or people want real Chinese food cooked by Chinese people. Hip Hop's the same way.

( agrees with keithponder , and recommends Nelson George's " Hip Hop America" to anyone who wants a good book on the topic )

observer2121
they're relevant always because they set the standards.By the way wou don't measure greatest in Hip Hop by way of record sales(payola) or madia coverage. As a culture,it's always given best credit to it's own artist by way of underground credibilty and the only one that brought up being relevant in 2008 was you.What I'm saying is that, it is impossible to take the great one out and say that they're not not relevant in this year our any other,just because they're not on the radio anymore.What true music lover gives a shit about radio or music awards anymore, when we all know that all of that crap is controlled by the big labels.It ain't got a damn thing to do with the artist anymore, and since the artist don't have any control at all in thier production ordirection of their own careers.THAT'S WHAT THIS WHOLE ALBUM IS ABOUT. Nas is saying that, we're all just NIGGERS(Masters and Slaves). Young man, whoever you are,and with all due respect,...if you don't recognize that.....then maybe you really ain't Hip Hpo at all yourself. Nigger and the N-word ain't the same thing. Those boys that your talking about, don't have the guts to try to pull something of like this.Their managers would be to worried about offending the industry,the magazine and there phony ass fan base,and that ain't Hip Hop. If it ain't telling the Truth, it ain't Hip Hop. People are criticizing Nas before they've even heard a word of off this CD.

QUESTION; Just because you haven't seen Jesus,Moses,Muhammed,or Buddha lately does not mean that there never comes a time(2008 or whenever) when their message is not relevant., if you're talking about Religion. The same is true for Hip Hop.
I rest my case. No offense by the way.Just a paaionate debate.

Amen...Keith Ponder!! Thanks for reading my mind...!

Keith Ponder you are like every generation of old fogies who profess that only their generations stars were legit and all newcomers are pop fads. Let me remind you that when hip hop first began old people had the same attitudes towards people like LL Cool J, Run DMC etc etc. you are guilty of the same thing, to suggest that todays Hip Hop stars do not have the same impact or importance as the older generation of hip Hop stars is simply ridiculous. Ask any 15 year old out there who they are listening to and I guarantee it will include the artists I mentioned.

Are you seriously comparing hip hop to religion? Ha ha. Please. I will say that when a new messiah comes along then the old Jesus will be less relevant. isn't that what Christians did with the old testement? Jesus came along and made the old stuff less relevant. right?

Your mistake is that you cannot separate "Great Rapper" from currently relevant. NAS was a great rapper and holds a lofty position in the history of rap music but today he is like windows 3.1, the youth have already moved onto Windows vista while old heads like you are still daydreaming about the days when you got your hands on windows 95.

Let me put it in another way so you might understand. The walkman was a huge step forward and historically significant in the way we listened to music, cassettes ruled the day. Ask anyone out their old enough how many hours they listened to Straight Outta Compton on their walkman. I know that's what I did. Today the walkman is history, I have my Ipod with all my classic NWA. The walkman was the forefather of all these mobile music devices but it's not relevant today.

I think you are probably sticking to the idea that NAS is relevant because as you age you are becoming less relevant as well, all we see in the media are stories about Gen Y or these millenials coming into the workforce. Old folks like you are becoming less relevant as well. What do we hear about boomers? RETIREMENT, something NAS needs to do.

I will ignore the more racial overtones to your pathetic argument, if my skin is black, white, yellow or brown simply does not matter, the beauty of this type of forum is that anonimity allows us to avoid prejudices and we can discuss ideas without other isms getting in the way.

No offense by the way. Just a passionate debate.