Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Rev. Al Sharpton is cheered to hear Nas has given up on calling his new CD "N-."
The Queens rapper just announced that he was abandoning the N-word title - mostly, we hear, because he feared the big chains wouldn't sell the CD.
"I see this as a partial victory," says Sharpton, who has been among those calling for hip-hoppers to stop using the racist epithet. "The record companies have to consider the downside of using it, businesswise. That would not have happened if we hadn't protested."
Execs at Island Def Jam couldn't believe it when we informed them, in February 2006, that Nas had told us he planned to slap the slur on his next album. "I don't care about sales," he said at the time.
After those execs bugged out, the provocateur claimed he "was being facetious." Only he wasn't. He later informed label chief L.A. Reid that he really did want to call his album "N-." Though Nas told MTV that he was getting pressure to change the title, Reid insisted, "Anything Nas wants to do, I completely stand beside him."
One insider says Reid did advise Nas that Wal-Mart was unlikely to carry the record with the N-word on the cover. That, apparently, got his attention. The album, now untitled, is due out July 1.
"He doesn't want to hurt sales," says the source. "He's an artist, but he's also a smart businessman."
The source, who's heard the CD, says it's still filled with the N-word: "Every song talks about the word. It's a political manifesto about the hypocrisy of a vocal minority, which wants to censor lyrics but doesn't mind 200 people getting killed and maimed in a Quentin Tarantino movie."
"I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages," Nas said in a statement. "The streets have been waiting for this for a long time. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it."
Adds Sharpton: "I have a lot of respect for Nas. I liked what he said about [police shooting victim] Sean Bell. We have a fundamental disagreement on this. He can rap against me. I'll preach against them. We're still friends."
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