Nas “Be A Nigga Too” Poster
I have mixed feelings about Nas and this album name change. Like the message could have been dope and it still can be, but all of the controversy is drowning out the substance. Like the reasoning behind the name change was so obvious. I mean before you decided to name your album something as controversial as “Nigger” you didn’t think that record labels and the media would condemn such a title. Was it not forseeable that there would be a large amount of backlash and possible boycotts of such a derogatory, divisive term. Of course these obstacles were there, however a well thought out plan would have found strategic ways to circumvent these concerns and bring a powerful message to those who may have otherwise not been privy to it.
Such a politically incorrect title filled with substance could have broken new barriers and opened up an intelligent discourse surrounding race relations, racial slurs and the institutionalized hegemony faced by people of different ethnicities and socio-economic backgrounds. Instead now it is labeled as a publicity stunt and the energy is lost, but i have hopes that the art and the message behind the art will save the day. Call it wishful thinking, BE A NIGGA TOO!
“theres on thing about NIGGERS I do not love, NIGGERS ARE SCARED OF A REVOLUTION”
Tags: Abel, art, bar, be, be a nigga too, broke, change, cia, controversy, hope, k, kg, king, love, media, nas, nigga, nigger, NY, O, race, Race Relations, racial slurs, reason, res, revolution, rik cordero, sin, us
CLC
He lost me a long time ago with this one. Where was the forward thinking on this? Did he really think the labels were going to put that album out with that title to begin with? He couldn’t have thought that. Doesn’t he know who his audience is? I mean his “other real” audience. What would they look like at the checkout with an album titled as such? Furthermore, if it was a publicity stunt, it was a bad one. Nobody seems to “really” care. Or maybe I’m just out of the loop. Well, even if I am out fo the loop, it was niggerish to title the album as such. Even more niggerish to think the label was going to let that fly. Niggerish again to be so prolific and not exercise your vocabulary and such. And then to invite other folks to, “be a nigger, too?” Not so much. I’m going to need (yes, I just said it like that) for somebody to rescind every invitation he sent out to be a nigger. I guess that makes me a nigger too, huh? Yeah, not so much!
Yvonne
Not only are you out of the proverbial loop, you are out of touch with the world at large. The controversy, the discomfort, the “labelling”, that was the whole damn point. There can be no real discourse on race relations in American until we can begin to discuss the existence of words like Nigger. It’s not dead, and its not a publicity stunt, and I don’t even think it was to appeal to any fan demographic (though really, that is the point of an album), I think Nas was reaching for something deeper, trying to make a statement that many, Black and White, simply won’t understand. Why wouldn’t the label let it fly? Because the label is controlled by the reception of the fans. Why would the fans be uncomfortable? Because race the most taboo American construct in existence. Why is race taboo? Because when we realize that it’s something that Americans made up, that it doesn’t ACTUALLY exist, then we might unify, and revolt. Is revolt good for the status quo? Of course not, the status quo is self preserving above all else. When you make connections to why people want to be Nigga’s and why no one wants to be a NIGGER, perhaps you can begin to make your way towards the “loop”. Maybe you should take another listen, and if you still don’t get it…. well then I guess you are just as in the dark as the rest of us….and THAT, my friend, is what make you and me and everyone, NIGGERS.
native
yvonne please check out http://nativenotes.net/2008/07/15/nigger-album-released/
thats all i will say