NAS "UNTITLED" ALBUM LYRICS / INFO

 
NAS "UNTITLED" ALBUM INFO:
Nas released his ninth album "Untitled" on July 15th 2008 in the US by Def Jam and Columbia Records. The album was Nas' forth album to debut at number 1 on the Billboard 200 album charts selling an impressive 187,078 copies in the first week of its release.

The original title for the album, however, was "Nigger". This was mentioned by Nas several times, as well as on a performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City on October 12th, 2007 where he announced the title as "Nigger" and the release date, Def Jam Recordings would not comment on the title. This was similar to Nas' attempts to name his 2006 album, which was eventually titled Hip Hop Is Dead, both Nigga and Hip Hop Is Dead... The N. On May 19th, 2008, it was confirmed that Nas had changed the name of the album to be untitled, stating that "the people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it." The cover of the album shows a picture of Nas' topless back with flagellation scars forming the shape of the letter N, which is a reference to the racial slur and how slaves were tortured.

After Nas' had announced that he was to name the album "Nigger", this was met with great dispute and saw Hakeem Jeffries (Fort Greene, Brooklyn assemblyman) requesting New York's Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to withdraw $84 million from the state pension fund that had been invested into Universal and its parent company, Vivendi, if Nas' album's title was not changed immediately. Universal did not respond to the threat. The title also came under fire from Reverend Jesse Jackson and the NAACP.

L.A. Reid, chairman of Def Jam Records, confirmed that Def Jam fully backed Nas and his decision on naming his album "Nigger". In a July interview with Angie Martinez, hostess of the New York radio station Hot 97, Nas stated that the government had expressed concern about the original album title saying: "Somebody called L.A. [Reid] [About the former title of forthcoming album], the White House called!... Yeah the 'White House', 'White House'!... I mean Congress... [called Def Jam], they're concerned!"

The album's original title also received support from many major artists within Hip Hop and Urban music, including Ice Cube, Jay-Z, Bishop Lamont, Alicia Keys, LL Cool J, Rev Run (of Run DMC), Common, Akon, Method Man, Lupe Fiasco, David Banner, GZA, and Melle Mel.

Prior to the release of Untitled, Nas released a music video for the track "Be a Nigger Too", a song which was rumored to be the albums first single. In late June, however, Nas told Billboard magazine that "Be a Nigger Too" would not even be on the album because of sample clearance issues. During the same week, Nas released "Hero", as the album's first official single. The song features a chorus sung by Keri Hilson, a beat produced by Polow da Don and lyrics about the music industry's stranglehold on artistry. After claiming that hip hop had died in his previous album, "Hero" contains raps about Nas' heroic status to step up and bring it back. Nas also addresses the controversy surrounding the albums original title on the track. The music video for "Hero" premiered on BET on July 7th, 2008. A video for the track "Sly Fox", a scathing attack on Fox Interactive Media, was released on July 10, but its single has yet to surface.

Production credits for the album include stic.man of dead prez, DJ Green Lantern, Polow da Don, Salaam Remi, DJ Toomp, Stargate, Cool & Dre, The Game, Mark Ronson, Mark Batson, Jay Electronica, J. Myers, Dustin Moore, Calvin McDaniel and Eric Hudson. Guest artists featured on the album are Busta Rhymes, Keri Hilson, The Game, Chris Brown, The Last Poets, Eban Thomas, and Mykel.

Overall, the album was received very well by critics, both rap based and otherwise. Entertainment Weekly credited the album for its maturity as well as the album's ability to keep the listeners guessing. Andy Greenwald credits Nas, saying "In a summer of 'Lollipop', it's good to hear a complicated record that doesn't shy from grown-up ambition."You can read the RapCentral album review of Nas' UNTITLED by clicking here

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