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Remember last December? Overlord An was celebrating the release of (Cult)ure's "White Issue"; Reza Kazemi was offending readers with his open disdain for bar patrons; and I told you about Nas's plans to ruin Christmas by releasing an album entitled Nigger. 
So what's happened since? Well, Reza's still a DJ and Nas sparked outrage from respected members of the black community - including Al Sharpton - with his intentions. (Cult)ure subscribers debated the Nas issue online, wondering whether he was about to make a positive contribution to social dialogue, or if he had merely found a dumb way to sell records and garner publicity.
After all the talk, the album never came out.
Eight months have since passed and speculation continues to grow. Did Nas get cold feet and scrap the recordings? Is he planning some sort of Chris Gaines-like transformation? Did Buckethead leave the band again, delaying the album another six months? Def Jam has consistently supported the album's title and planned release in public. Something is amiss…. Somebody's not telling the truth.
On June 19th, the silence was officially broken. That day, Def Jam said that Nas had decided to change the album's title from Nigger to Nas, and it would be out July 1. Later that day, MTV News reported that Nas would release the album untitled. They even had a statement from the man himself:
"It's important to me that this album gets to the fans, I want [them] to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it."
His website does not give a definitive title, but said to expect the album on July 15.
Is he blowing more smoke up our collective asses? After wasting everyone's time writing about this eight months ago, I can finally put Nas's money where his mouth is. Three of his songs have appeared on YouTube under the umbrella moniker of "The Nigger Mixtape". 
Here are the links, and my initial impressions:
"Hero"
Hmmm, maybe Nas was full of shit, or is too afraid to put out the Nigger material. The only message here is how Nas is such a big hero, and that "the game needs him". The lesson learned: If you're going to write a song about how great you are, and it's just not quite as asinine as you'd hoped, pen the chorus in third person and get someone else to sing it.
The last verse does provide us a hint of what could be in store. Nas raps, "I'm hog-tied, the corporate side / Blocking y'all from going to stores and buying it", and then argues, "try telling Bob Dylan, Bruce, or Billy Joel / They can't sing what's in their soul".
"Be A Nigga Too"
Here we go. This one hits hard, with some of the punches squarely aimed at Sharpton: "Why we fight each other in public in front of these arrogant fascists? / They love it; puttin' the old niggaz vs. the youngest / Most of our elders failed us, how could they judge us?"
Nas's braying tone swings wildly, noting the murder of artist Lucky Dube, lifting ideas from Easy-E, and he even gives Eminem props: "I'm not mad 'cause Eminem said nigga, 'cause he my nigga / Wigga, cracker, friend - we all black within, okay?"
At last, some of the fog around Nas's intentions has cleared. "Be A Nigga Too" initiates what could be described as an attempt to strip the N-word of it's African-slave heritage, re-applying it to the disenfranchised of all races and creeds. Nas calls on them to stand up, the "kike niggers, spic niggers, guinea niggers", and finally - I can't believe I'm writing this - "chink niggers".
"Black President"
This one begins in spoken-word: "They said this day would never come…". It's Barack Obama, and his, "They said…" speech is sampled throughout the song.
Nas raps, "America surprised us / And let a black man guide us", says that Obama "provides hope", and later quips "You ain't right, Jeremiah Wrong pastor". This is obviously pretty lame. And no more artistic than if Bob Dylan were to write a pro-Joe Lieberman song at campaign time.
And yet, the track moves me. Nas samples Tupac's "And though it seems heaven sent / We ain't ready to have a Black President" from the song "Changes", and brazenly modifies the line to say "We get ready to have a Black President". I immediately forget all the cynicism of race politics, and am reminded of how exciting it actually would be to have a black man in the Oval Office. And, after dropping the N-bomb on everything that walks in the previous track, Nas is careful not to label Obama as one. Nas makes allusions to JFK, rapping "niggas ain't hippies again", and lays down his most pointed statement so far: "If he dies, we die too."
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Say what you want about Nas, you'll never hear him put out a song like "Candyshop". Nas seems concerned with more than how "sprung" he'll get you, and he has proved 'Fitty' wrong by releasing content that shows there's more depth to his concept than a mere publicity stunt.
You may also have noticed from the topical lyrical content that these songs clearly have been cut post-December. It appears that Nas has used the controversy surrounding his album title as motivation to produce a more compelling work.
We'll never know the exact reasons behind Nas's decision to change the Nigger title, but it looks like he decided to censor himself. Whether you love or hate his title choice, you have to admit it's an unfortunate day for freedom of speech, and another indicator of an American society where the bounds of reasonable discourse seem to shrink by the second, an environment where the surprisingly-popular allegations of Rev. Jeremiah Wright do not even qualify for public debate.
Nas recently tried to justify his decision, stating publicly: "Everybody is trying to stop the title. … Record stores are gonna have a problem in this day and time selling a record with that title."
H ow this conclusion wasn't the first thing that came to him last October is beyond me. There is, however, an undertone to his statement that suggests more than concern over record sales. If it is Nas's intention to make a grand declaration on race relations in the United States, to diffuse the power of a hurtful word, he knows the record must achieve some level of mainstream success. Art may influence the way we look at the world, but not if nobody buys it.
Sadly, the ultimate impact of Nas's project will rely on popularity. Will the kids like it? You may not like him, but on July 15, I urge you to check out, or possibly even buy, Nas's Untitled.
Post Script: "I have a lot of respect for Nas. We have a fundamental disagreement on this. He can rap against me. I'll preach against them. We're still friends." - Rev. Al Sharpton
© 2008 Kris Millet; licensee (Cult)ure Magazine.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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