Last week, an "industry insider" claimed Def Jam records was preparing to drop Nas if he didn't change the name of his forthcoming LP, Nigger, to something more politically correct.
However, according to recent reports, the label is standing behind the controversial rapper in full force.
"That is absolutely ridiculous and untrue," an Island Def Jam spokesperson told AllHipHop of the rumors.
Nas, who has one more album left with the label (Nigger), says he is satisfied with the way things are being handled.
In a recent interview with XXL Magazine, Nas says that though many artists aren't happy with the Def Jam, the problem lies on the industry as a whole and hopes that that the recession will bring the best out of everyone.
"I can’t find too many people that’s happy anywhere in the state of the business right now."
In other news…
"The marketplace is bad right now. If you want to do big, real business, you’ll wait ’til the market gets better. That’s not my mission right now… Since I said “hip-hop is dead,” I think a lot of niggas is starting to take this shit serious. It ain’t about sales no more. When Kanye killed 50, it was to show you this shit is about something real now. No diss to no rappers I’m talking about right now, but it ain’t about just selling no more. I said hip-hop is dead, and if that helped, then I’m a bad muthafucka. You can’t take that from me. And I feel like this record is the next chapter, going into something bigger. It’s a recession… People are going back to being humble again. Because everybody is not gonna get a big multimillion-dollar advance." Said Nas.
"People do what they do. I ain’t knocking nobody. But I know one thing: This recession that’s going on—everywhere, not just hip-hop—is gonna produce better artists." He continued.
You can check out the entire feature in the latest issue of XXL Magazine on news stands everywhere.
COMMENTS
hip hop aint dead but with the shit alot of these artist are puttin out, they need to be charged with attempted murder. they gettin hiphop fucked up with pop. if you wanna dance and sing then go make some pop music and stay the fuck away from hip hop, ya'll killin the game.
These niggas cant say no, to a Legend and especially to the people. Nas wants this, WE WANT THIS, so in instance DEF JAM needs this. HIP-HOP revival.. 1
Hip Hop IS dead. Why the fuck else would SOULJA BOY get song of the year??
Soulja boy getting song of the year is just the spark Hip-Hop needs to revive itself. By seeing him get that award, real MC's get that motivation like "BOOOM I had enough" and next year Soulja Toy is never heard of again. Just the re-birth of a New-Aged Hip-Hop Renaissance to come, beleive that...
hell yeah!!!! cant wait to buy it
as long as ringtone rap continues,hiphop will continue slipping
Das Kool defjam are behind this nigga cuz they woulda lost out big time, Its an insult to even have thought nas doin nigger for record sales, not at all son cuz he is one of the most humble mcees to ever do it, he about music, he a millionaire but still he stays loyal to his love for hiphop, he dont dumb down nutin, if u cant understand what he saying, smarten up, best rapper alive no doubt, aint dissin lil wayne but nas set a platform niggas have yet to reach, best competitors would be em and jay, period!!!
Nas=The Best Rapper alive
WORD.....
Cool.....
im glad to hear this cus this woulda been the biggest mistake of def jams whole career if they dropped the best rapper alive man cant wait on the album its gone be fire man and i think he right about the recession producing better artists too
Nas gets madd respect for that there. Everything he said is the truth!
co-sign
God bless Nas for that! He's absolutely right. And I hope this "recession" caused by fake ass rappers and bootleggers... DOES produce better artists.. Imagine a world where nobody bought bullshit music or music from the store... they'd have to buy it straight from YOU!...giving full power back to the artists just like when Beethoven was here!
Waiting for the next episode...
How come when I go to the defjam website, they don't have "Nigger" listed on their upcoming albums chart? It's January 28th, WHEN is the actual release date for February? Anybody???
I noticed that also...
~Be Eazy!
there blacklisting the brother because they dont want him to have the right to free speach like everyone else has. The wigs at def jam are afraid of what its going to do to their already tarnished image.
He clearly dosnt give a shit. Once again, nas is sacrificing album sales to spread a message.
When it drops Im buying 2 of em and giving one to a lil nigga.
I think it's all part of the grand design, to make the article more controversial, more anticipated. The infamous Nas album. It's definetly fueling interst, and keeps people talking about it. Genius. As for the article, Nas breaks it down logically, hip hop and music in general has always been a reflection of the state of the world. The one thing I find strange is that, Nas, the millionaire, the mansio, the Yacht....Nas Escobar, is talking about humility. He's one of the cockiest cats ever in the game! Read his baby momma's book. Look at his body of work. Take nothing away from him, he is one of the greatest to ever do it, and can afford to be aarogant but, why is he of all people speaking on humility? The Game is missing that Tribe Called Quest vibe, when cats weren't on the dough braggadoccio hard, but Nas has always been one of the cats who has been.(barring Illmatic)
Nas has always been humble. These artist need to go hard and put their hearts into this now and stop the bullshit.
www.myspace.com/axisgettincash
This brother is a breath of fresh air to the hip hop generation. Unfortunately not all are taking it in.
I KNEW THAT BULL WASNT TURE<I WOULD HAVE BEEN HEATED!
Good music is hard to find Right, So here yall Go. Enjoy Yourselfs!!!
It's The Brothers "BeatBrothers"
Hit us up http://www.myspace.com/beatbrothersproduction
http://www.myspace.com/hollyrockhood
New Era of Music***
hip hop aint dead.....it jus hasn't 2 many (good)signed rappersor mcs out dere....im talkin bout mcs with actual talent like a nigga like m3.......i support ma nigga nas all da way.....
That's some realtalk...everything thing he's saying seems tru...
n how sum1 gon trash CarelesslikeDC'z comment on Lupe getting up there as a legend wit time? have u heard Lupe?
dudes fire...def underrated as an MC
First of all, Lupe' MAY NOT be able to DO a couple more albums because he DOESN'T SELL. I copped The Cool, but I think it went WOOD.
"The album has sold 268,283 copies in the US so far." That's TERRIBLE. Sales DO matter to the extent that a label isn't going to continue to back you if you don't sell.
Damn thats it? Cats Need To Stop Bootlegging Quality Music
This is the truth, people are going to stet their game up, that means no more bullshit coming from artists people are going to have to be creative in order to capture the attention of the fans.
kgumz.blogspot.com/
I cosign nas to the fullest everything he said was politically correct
"The marketplace is bad right now. If you want to do big, real business, you’ll wait ’til the market gets better. That’s not my mission right now..." right on nasir
I'm with Nas and he's with me.^^^
We're all together.
Def jam would b crazy 4 not droppin this. think of the sales. they should re-new his contract coz they losin out if Nas goes.
Today's a good day for Hip-Hop
music goes in cycles, every genre goes thru a bad stint every so often, hip hop will rise again, and then fall again, it's normal
2 ablums and a 10 million dollar contract. How can you not re-sign?
I agree with Nas,
Yes the music industry as a whole is suffering, not just hip-hop. I think downloads & ring tones has a lot to do with it, but also the Quality of music. Real talk, do you think if Soulja Boy came out in 96 (when I believe Hip Hop was at its finest) he would sell? Hell nah, he’ll be lucky to push 2 copies. I’m a 80s baby, i fux with Nas heavy, the Nigger will be a good album. I think he will go all out, he will touch on the state of hip-hop & the nation,…ooowie I can’t wait.
…OH And Def Jam better give him at least 2 videos this time around.
yea, enough about these clowns rappin about "a hundred million billion gazillion dollars" people are sold up on some bullshit and real recognize real.
obviously def jam aint guna drop him, this dude is the only rapper tryin 2 sort out the state hip hop is in, he is the only one apart from fans actually doing anythin about it
...it's a recession cuz WE DON'T WANNA HEAR THAT WACK SHIT NO MOOOOOOOOORE!!!! niggas need to start makin better music cuz people is slowly get tired of this watered down bullshit!!! now we gon see who the REAL artist are.
lol i predict at least -24 props
sign, co-sign, and tangent
as much as I want it to but I don't think the bubble gum rap won't be dead for a while, it's all about the money and with rings tones that makes sales that is what alot of people listen like your average music listener. Alot of the people that listen to the real hip hop and are hip hop heads usually download the music, I mean the only reason why people are buying rap cds these days is to support the artist other wise your just going to download it. So with real hip hop not making sales then the bubble rap game will still be around because at the end of the day all they care about is the benjamins.
I don't know about y'all because I live in asia, but back in the days (90s) Hip hop videos would only come half an hour on MTV per week, which was a hip hop count down. I use to wait for an entire week to see straight hip hop videos back to back. Now that hip hop is as big as it is, I'm happy about it and I don't want to moan about it.
The beauty of hip hop is that it can become anything. Hip Hop can be fun, Hip Hop can be serious, Hip Hop can be controversial, Hip Hop can be deep, Hip Hop can make u dance or it can tell you a story, it can touch you and affect your life. I'm just happy it has made it this big that it's worldwide now. Hip Hop is even mainstream in my country which is Myanmar!
As far as Nas is concerned, I think all his albums are classics, I'm a loyal fan since day one and the thing that seperates Nas is that no matter what he puts out, he has a loyal fanbase and everyone gonna cop his album. It doesn't matter if he calls it "N!gger" or "Don't buy my album", it's still gonna sell. I like the album title, he's smart, it's gonna attach attention, it's controversial and he starts a debate. It's a good look for Nas. Spit that ether!
Nas couldn't ask 4 more from def jam as far as baccing him up. real good look. in anotha aspect of it tha shyt gon b history in tha making . now lets see how humble u can b livin in this day and tyme wit all tha bullshyt circulating around. SCREAM AT ME 1. I'm pretty sure he ain't gon let me down.
I love that he said kanye killed 50. This nigga fears no MC. Hats off to the best rapper alive.
Yea he was saying some real shit. I bet you 50 is gonna catch feelings for that TRUE statement by Nas: "Kanye killed 50". Sales and quality wise, Graduation>>>>>Curtis, so yea Kanye did kill 50.
Nas shouldn't fear any rapper. I mean who can actually fuck wit Nas on that lyrical level??? 50?? Get the fuck outta here.
I noticed that too, and lol'd but I didn't wanna be the one who pointed it out... Funny ish... lol... Now, WE ALL KNOW 50 is gonna come back and start talkin' ish, which will FURTHER push Nigger sales.
yo 50 aint dumb enough to go at nas right? 50 is a smart dude i dont think hed go at nas
yes yes i agree ... real talk in this article/
oh you know 50 gonna have something to say. clearly it will be some dumb shit like he said last time in piggy bank. 50 probably gets pissed cuz he knows nas aint no rapper with a small fan base like jada & fat joe. Or popcorn like ja rule. when he diss nas he know its a chance his ass could get ethered and see a spike in g-unit hooded sweatshirt sales! 50 knows. It aint hard to tell.
im copping this off top
DOES ANYONE, ANYONE I TELL YOU, KNOW THE NIGGER RELEASE DATE? ANY OFFICIAL SINGLE DROP YET??
Im buyin the "Nigger" album...and nope its not certain when it will drop. I think he's in the 2nd quarter......^^
nas is a legend but he wasnt the only one to say hiphop is dead though if u watch the getto boys video bushwick had on a hiphop is dead shirt before nas came out with it and ima cop this shit
MY TOP TEN DISS TRACKS OF ALL-TIME IN MY OPINION
1.ICE CUBE-NO VASELINE (NWA DISS)
2.NASTY NAS-ETHER (JAY Z DISS)
3.CANIBUS-2ND ROUND KNOCKOUT (LL COOL J DISS)
4.2PAC-HIT EM UP BIGGIE,JUNIOR MAFIA DISS
5.TIM DOG-FUCK COMPTON LOL FUCK COMPTON
6.JAY Z -THE TAKEOVER NAS,MOBB DEEP DISS
7.EMINEM-NAIL IN THE COFFIN BENZINO DISS
8.SNOOP DOGG-PIMP SLAPPED SUGE KNIGHT DISS
9.THE GAME-300 BARS GUNIT DISS
10.CANIBUS-RIP THE JACKER LL COOL J DISS
This is a good diss list. However, you are missing some quality disses:
BDP - South Bronx
BDP - The Bridge Is Over
The Juice Crew - Kill That Noise
The Juice Crew - The Bridge
MC Shan - Beat Biter
Roxanne Shante' - Have A Nice Day (NASTY)
Beanie Sigel - Fuck Jadakiss
Jadakiss - Fuck Beanie
Jadakiss - Checkmate!!!!!
STILLMATIC. so ill it got a quoteable.
I SHOT YA (remix). prodigy when he was a beast. LL ripped.
DO YOU. dmx shitting on jarule.
DROP A GEM ON EM. kick em while hes down.
LIVE NIGGA RAP. read between the lines.
WHO SHOT YA? nuff said.
These are all indirect diss songs. If you knew hip-hop though you knew who they was aimed at.
Good list but you forgot...
Back Down/50 Cent...Ja Rule diss
Ether/Nas...Jay-Z diss
im coppin this and def jam smart for backin NAS cuz he smart and he got a good reason for everything he do
Nas dont care ...He Savin Hip Hop....
His ablums is a story....and i think alot of niggas sleep on him.....
everybody and they moms cousins aunts uncles grandma go out and buy this album!!!
Nas is so over everybody else's head it's not even funny.
the recession is only part of the problem. The problem is the lack of creativity in hip hop as a whole. This shit has become too watered down. Everyone got a gimmick now days. Too many fake muthafuckas got into hip hop.
since some ppl be talkin numbers
@ da god...
curtis did 2 mill worldwide in comparison to kanye's 1.3 mill first week (just thought you should know)
@ nas' comments on the industry...
the entertainment industry as a whole is the best reflection of how the economy is doing. clearly people don't have as much expendable income to throw at whole albums hence the decline in sales. it doesn't help album sales that itunes exists but its what the labels and artists have used to help keep the money rolling in (otherwise you'd be seeing more layoffs at music labels than you are now).
the economy runs through its cycles and phases and will eventually even itself out. I think the main thing that we will see is indie labels running like the majors (labels that will make moves like koch has been seemingly doing).
as far as what nas says too... I got to agree in the sense that artists will have to make a whole quality piece in order to see those sales in cds increase again. I don't think though it'll ever be the same as it used to where artists would sell 9 million records as those times are long gone.
Def Jam knows that when his album comes out that the title will sell itself just like the album Hip Hop is Dead. But The Nigger will reach out because everyone is going to wonder what he is talking about in the album. And that mean more $ from people who would have never bought a rap album before. I heard the controversy on the news a while back that is good record promotion. Def Jam is not stupid. They don't care who is a good rapper, look at the shit they are doing to the other artist on the label. Theyjust care about the bread....
the realest nigga in it...you already know....
oldest adage ever... controversy sells
and to get the mainstream media to talk about your release regardless in what light...
saves the label money on marketing dollars
wow i never looked at record sales that way nas is on some real shit maybe people will get more humble
i kno the comment is old but i didnt see it....
Lupe may not have selled good but that has nothing 2 do with his lyrical talent and his potential to b as great of an MC and even becoming an legend like those of Biggie,Nas,Pac,Jay-Z...the list goes on...
U gotta remember some of the best MC's are often slept on without recognition of their talent because it's so far ahead of their time...
Cannibus-he was one of the sickest MC's n the 90's in my oppinion he beat LL...but he didn't sell....
Talib Kweli--Still one of the realest cat's out..im not sure on how much he sells but he is also most def slept on...
who else...
BigL-- great Mc, didn't really get what he deserved...and his career cut sort...
--AZ--in my top 10 Mc's...but go ahead and ask the common persoon who he is..most never even kno who he is...
And as far as Nas and Def Jam doing this for controversy....
it's a possiblity...
but i think the shear announcement of another album was enough to gain publicity 4 a legend such as NAS
Yo Record Sales never = Hip Hop. You young Cats get it twisted. If you wanna talk about whats selling, and use that as your reasoning for it being dope, then just look back to Vanilla Ice - He sold 7 Million singles of Ice Ice Baby!?! I dont hear anyone shouting about his album sales. or about him being "HIP HOP"
Hip Hop will never Die, But it will be dead for the Mainstream. If all you do is watch BET, MTV, and listen to your radios, then YES Hip Hop is dead. But in 2007 we Had mad Classics.
If you want the culture go BUY, or Download these 5 albums:
Talib Kweli - Eardrum
Brother Ali- The Undisputed Truth
Saigon - The Moral of the Story
Blu and Exile - Beneath the Heavens
Jedi Mind Tricks - Kings in Heaven Servants in Hell.
Support the real Ish!!
Dont let a bunch of cornballs in suits tell us what Hip Hop is! They are deciding who gets signed, who gets marketed and who doesnt. Thats why you heard Pop Lock and Drop it all day long on the radio while it was getting outsold by Commons Finding forever(compare what you heard more of and tell me its because its "making money" common made way more money and got alot less airplay) and Talib's Eardrum sold more its first week than Swiss Beatz. But you wouldnt know that listening to the radio or wathcing videos on tv. People this is clear ITS NOT ALL ABOUT THE MONEY! Its alot deeper than that, its about content.
Now you go and think about why "they" push all these materialistic, sexist, and just plain ignorant rappers, while The Roots, Method Man, Redman, Talib Kweli, Brother Ali, get barley any (NO AIRPLAY) airplay or marketing dollars... Yes they all dropped new bangin albums last year... go listen to them... they all could have made money... shoot, I actually like Young Buck, but his album never even went gold and we all heard and saw his videos... why not these other artists? why are they Limiting the uplifting music, or REAL music from our kids and us??? Especially during some of the Worst years in U.S. History under G.W.?
I may not have expressed myself as clearing and precisely as I may have liked... but I think my point gets across.
Go check
http://okayplayer.com/index.php?start_from=8&ucat=&archive=&subaction=&id=&
scroll down and read Rhymefest "I have a Dream"
Peace
lol not on some racist type stuf for nothing but can't you picture the lil white kids asking their moms for the "nigger" album lol..or hearing someone say "excuse me,where can i find that "Nigger" album? lol
If hip hop is a Genre or a way of life how can it die or be dead? Can someone explain that to me?
Nas must be respected for all that he has accomplished. Record sales are not the ultimate judge of greatness. Its the quality of the material and in this respect, Nas has earned his stripes. He is a legend!
Hip Hop is dead is a stateme