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Who favorited?Aint Havin It: Universal May Lose Millions Over Nas' "Nigger"
by on October 27th, 2007
Unmoved by the opposition, Nas has stated that he won’t be changing the album’s title. Furthermore, he claimed that Def Jam, a subsidiary of Universal, was not opposed to the title.
As reported by The Brooklyn Paper, Fort Greene assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries has asked New York’s Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, “to withdraw the $84 million that the state pension fund has invested in Universal and its parent company, Vivendi”.
“[They are] profiting from a racial slur that has been used to dehumanize people of color for centuries,” Jeffries said. He added, “It is time for Nas and other hip-hop artists to clean up their act and stop flooding the airwaves with the N-word.”
According to The Brooklyn Paper, a recent report proved ‘the New York State Pension Fund has $2.8 billion invested in 16 major entertainment companies, including Time Warner and Disney. That number does not include the state’s investment in Vivendi.’ Jefferies (who was an assistant general counsel at CBS as well as a lawyer for Viacom prior to being elected to into office last year) said, “It’s a staggering amount of money, which at least justifies a review of the appropriateness of the content that is flooding the public,” A DiNapoli spokesmen who oversees the pension fund, stated that the comptroller “is concerned about this issue and is intending tocontact [Universal] and urge them to halt the release of the album.
Earlier this year, The New York City Council voted to ban the use of the word “nigger”.
“The [Council made] an important symbolic step, but I’m more interested in the substantive approach of reviewing themulti-billion-dollar investment that the New York State pension fund makes in the entertainment industry,” Jeffries said.
When contacted for a comment, Universal did not respond. NIGGER is slated for release on December 11th.
Reply to this Article
Second of all, Meek IS right. Just no one wants to admit it. Black people get mad when White people use the word nigga, cause of “slavery this, slavery that, blah blah blah..” That already makes your guys’ argument faulty. They don’t say it as a way of bringing up the past, neither are they thinking about that. What they see is a word in pop culture that’s is being used frequently to mean “bro.” THAT’S IT. I would donate money to the charity of any race or group that successfully stops a specific group of people from saying a word, like “cool” “bro” that is known to be popular.
That’s the reason why wetback, chink, and kyke aren’t used by everyone. White people are the reason why the word “nigger” existed, but Black people are the reason why the word “nigger” is still alive. And it’s ARBITRARY. Have any one of us complained when our parents told us not to swear by saying “but stopping us from saying it is giving power to that word and blah blah blah?” No. Have women started using the word “ho” excessively to “take out the word’s teeth?” No. Do gay people say the word “fag” to an extreme amount? No. So why this word? STUBBORNESS. Either everyone can say this word or no one can. PERIOD.
All of us have to start leading by example, for real.
Nas is one of 4 or so good lyricists left in rap..if he’s naming his album this he’s got something to say, this album will be dope
i’m white and i don’t think this is a dumb album title..and i won’t be calling any blacks ‘nigga’ that ain’t my friends..buy the fucking album..sit down..and learn something
Nas – GREATEST RAPPER/LYRICIST OF ALL TIME… PERIOD.
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Albums I’ve PURCHASED in the last 365-day fiscal cycle and the order in which I like them:
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1. [The Score – The Fugees (I KNOW, NOT FAIR!)]; TOP 5 Greatest Rap Albums of ALL Time… PERIOD.
2. Hip-Hop Is Dead – Nas; Nas came HARD with the BEST RAP ALBUM OF ‘O6, in December.
3. Back to Black – Amy Winehouse; if she STOP drinking, she’ll be a LEGEND! Gotta LOVE the Rehab Remix with Jay-Z and the You Know I’m No Good joint with Ghostface.
4. Corinne Bailey Rae – Corinne Bailey Rae; quietly platinum, Corinne is that ISH!
5. I Am – Chrisette Michele; yet another genius/legend in the making, if she continues to go hard! She’s a lyrical and vocal BEAST!
6. Rapp-Murr-Phobia (The Fear of Real Hip Hop) – Keith Murray; best rap album that I’ve HEARD that dropped IN ‘07
7. Red Gone Wild – Redman; this album was FIRE, but it was a bit too long and got a lil’ weak @ the end…
8. T.I. vs. T.I.P. – T.I.; VERY ENERGETIC ALBUM! T.I. really impressed me! Hot collabos!
9. The Format – AZ; there were 4 or 5 tracks on this joint that were FIRE… if only he could do it for an ENTIRE ALBUM!
10. Finding Forever – Common; boring ass album… Track 3, For The People, is the HARDEST JOINT!
11. Eardrum – Talib Kweli; boring ass album… Talib NEVER switches up his flow… Track 3, Deliver Us, is the HARDEST JOINT!
12. Just Like You – Keyshia Cole; NOT better than her 1st effort, which let me down… a couple hard joints, though.
13. Luvanmusiq – Musiq Soulchild; again, he didn’t keep up to par with his past efforts… Musiq’s first two joints were classics, man…
14. From Nothin’ To Somethin’ – Fabolous; I was actually impressed by Fab! I was expecting some bullish but the album was “alright”… I can’t wait to hear his next effort…
15. The Real Thing: Words and Sounds Vol. 3 – Jill Scott; WORDS CANNOT EXPRESS HOW MUCH I AM LET DOWN.
P.S. Sometimes when these kids say dumb ish, just… consider the source… I usually ask for credentials before I really decide to get into it with someone.
hes a idiot that tries to hard to be great
han
ask yourself
I just wanna stomp his fuckin head in
The N word is freely used among our people because its meaning has changed. It’s been made ordinary usage, and it really only has it’s sting when other races use it against us, whether or not they were meaning any harm at all. So I suppose Nas wants to somewhat neutralize the word, well I commend his attempt, but either way you slice it, we still have a long way to go before we can hear the N word from another race and not want to lay them out, and it’s going to take more than a cd to get us there.
I find it funny that black people have a problem with the word “nigga”, but we go calling each other “nigga” and I’m not speaking in a derogatory sense.his CD will spit “STRAIGHT KNOWLEDGE”. That’s the reason NAS is upset in the first place. People are sooo quick to judge.Fuck all ya
Why? Because they are secure in themselves as a people. We should be secure in ourselves and not trip so much off a word.
White people call us niggers people. Get over it. People are talking about the white people who are gonna go around saying nigger because of the album. GOOD!! These are the ones who have been saying it behind your dumb ass back anyway. Arent you glad now you know who they are?
PPl don’t see that nas is trying to take all the power aways from racist white people who still use the word in a derogitory manner?? DUMB FUX…
If the word NIGGER not NIGGA becomes openly used in a non-derogitory manner, racists whites in alabama won’t be able to phase anyone of color by calling them that…
I mean these niggas have made a fucking career out of the ‘civil rights’ movenment…
Get me…They made a career outta it…
The people who were really fighting for our race are dead right now because they were a REAL THREAT to the whites of this country..(Martin, Malcom, Black Panthers, PAC..etc)
Get the fuck outta here…
Phony ass reverands Al “Mr. TV” Sharpton and Jesse “Infidelity” Jackson do NOT speak 4 me.
After listening to most of the recent albums, including those from Kanye, 50, and a stolen version of Jay… I would like to announce to the entire Hip Hop community and all of its affiliates that as of now I am turning in my letter of resignation. I fought through what I first considered a temporary lull in good music; taking shelter in sparsely released “decent” albums but DAMMIT…. NO MORE!!! 50 is cliche, Kanye is “off” and Jay is (sigh)…Hova is….(sigh)THE KING IS DEAD!!! I refuse to listen to weirdo, reject rap like Brother Ali and dead Prez. The South is not an option because I’m educated. Talib and his bohemian buddy Common attract too many white people. Nas never bounced back from his emasculation. And most of all Dr. Dre will NEVER release Detox. The future shows no promise. Wayne, Lupe, Saigon, Papoose….WHATEVER
For these reasons, and many others I must leave you all to seek better music. I will always remember the great times we had:
Death Certificate, Midnight Mauraders, Ready to Die, The Blueprint, The Chronic, Reasonable Doubt, The Diary, Liquid Swords, Late Registration, Uptown Saturday Night, It Was Written, The Infamous, Southernplayalistic… but what have you done for me lately?
So, like we used to say before everybody got so fly and cute and homo-friendly….Peace
Nas never bounced back from his emasculation.
- What??
man betta change dat shit
wha he tryna pull pac strictly 4 all ma niggaz
Jay exposed Nas & killed him, With the sales that shit was bought up by Def Jam.
Regardless of what i think of Jay you gott admit Nas fell off big..He wasnt there for
His clicks Braveheart,Firm.. he left them niggaz in the background.
Him doing “Hip Hop Is Dead” shows he dont got no passion for the genre..he changed.
Either way this nigga back in 1993 was one of the illest but then he selled out.
Him calling his album “Nigger” though i dont think thats gonna happend.Would
Only be promoting racisme and its not gonna end that word only promote it.
Thats real talk and either way a african american shouldnt tolerate being called
A “Nigger” there is a difference between word that Uncle Tom dudes
Never can understand.“Nigga” is a word for black unity but “Nigger” was
Created by the devils that brough the people over too America as slaves.
Nas aint even living even in Queens no more,
That nigga moved too Atlanta!!…he selled himself
As a slave for the commercial corporations for a buck of dollars.
Fuck dat nigga period & the lyrics biting,Iluminati
Jay-Z i can give fuck about them satanic worshippers fuck all dem niggaz.
Keep it real
The only reason that word has power is because we GIVE it so much power, once we take it away the racist whites of the world will have to find a new way to bring us down…
BUT AS FAR AS NAS BEING JAY’S BITCH…AND JAY DESTROYING NAS ETC…
YOU MUST HAVE NEVER HEARD OF EITHER??? SOME CALL IT THE GREATEST DISS EVER…(CHECK THE REVIEWS)
you know mustache havin with wiskers like a rat COMPARED TO BEANS YOU WHACK!!!!!!!!!
GET REAL…
YOU CAN’T END SOMETHING BY PRETENDING IT NEVER HAPPENED DUDE…
YOU CAN’T “PUT IT TO REST” BY JUS IGNORING THE SITUATION…
YOU CAN’T RESOLVE A PROBLEM WITHOUT CONFRONTING IT…YOU CANT RUN ALL YOUR LIFE DUDE…
THE ONLY WAY THAT WORD WILL DIE IS IF WE TAKE THE POWER OF IT AND KILL IT ONCE AND FOR ALL…
that’s just asking for trouble from the media and news.
And Rongata got it right, white people are the ones who mostly buy these albums. Somebody please tell me how much sense it’s going to make when some black person inevitably gets mad at a white person for saying the word “Nigger,” because he’s asking about the album. This is stupid.
Nas should be more responsible. This is just going to send a HUGE mixed message to EVERYONE. Before, the peoples’ consensus was , “Nigger is bad, Nigga is okay.” But now this album is saying, “Nigga is good, Nigger is bad UNLESS…” What the f*** is that?
And to everyone who keeps saying ‘Wait until it comes out before you judge it,’ by then it’s too late. Even if the message is actually good, NONE of you can honestly tell me that more people will learn from it than misunderstand it. The cons outweigh the goods of his decision. That alone tells you this is a bad idea.
Also, I honestly don’t think that his message will be thoughtful enough to justify this. Come on, his last album was “Hip-Hop Is Dead” and did that album sound different enough to revive hip hop? Nope, it lyrically didn’t sound revolutionary at all. He couldn’t even top “Stillmatic.” He can’t meet his own expectations, so he sure as hell shouldn’t be the one to do this.
If anyone could pull this off, it would be Lupe Fiasco, but only after he blows up, cause the mainstream hasn’t caught on to him yet. Still, even that would be a bad idea.
1
BUT I’M NOT SURE IF THIS IS GOING TO BE AS DUMB A MOVE AS PEOPLE THINK…I DON’T THINK HE’S DOING ANYTHING WITHOUT THINKING IT THRUOGH 110% YA KNOW…
MAYBE ITS A STRATEGY MOVE…WE’LL JUS HAVE TO WAIT AND SEE..