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Posts Tagged “Nas”

lineups

Nas, Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde To Rock The Bells This Summer

This summer's edition of the Rock The Bells tour—which will make stops in 10 cities including Chicago, Philadelphia, and Vancouver—will be headlined by A Tribe Called Quest, Nas, Rakim, and the reunited Pharcyde; each of the shows will be hosted by Supernatural and B-Real. The lineup will change from city to city, with artists on the ever-rotating undercard including Santogold, Method Man & Redman, Wale, Dead Prez, and Kid Sister. Confirmed lineup after the jump. More »

con-tro-ver-sy

New Nas Single Is Racial Slur-Tastic

Nas makes his bid for Lenny Bruce-hood on "Be A N—-— Too," the first single from his upcoming album, N—-—. The music has the familiar grandiosity of most late-era Nas, and the verses are a familiar grab bag of media disses, cultural refs and "shaking my third leg in the toilet" boasts. Not that anyone's going to talk much about either of those aspects after hearing the chorus. More »

rebuttals

Maxim Writer Says Those Infamous Two-And-A-Half Circles Were Added To His Previews After The Fact

As week one of Crowesgate draws to a close, we've heard from a lot of people regarding Maxim's decision to run "previews" of upcoming Black Crowes and Nas albums as actual reviews despite those albums being unavailable to critics and just plain unfinished, respectively. We've read the Crowes' initial irate reaction to Maxim's journalistic gaffe and Maxim's lame mea culpa. Nas weighed in, wondering who gives credence to a review in Maxim in the first place, and even the neologism-challenged CNN newsroom added their own half-cocked commentary. But one party we've yet to hear from until now is David Peisner, who wrote the previews/reviews/who-the-hell-even-knows-anymore in question. Going on record with the LA Times, Peisner claims his Maxim higher-ups did assign him to write previews, and he only found out they had been bumped to the reviews section when the issue hit the stands. More »

yay, journalism! redux

Nas Is The Latest Artist To Feel The 2 1/2-Star Sting Of Maxim's "Educated-Guess Previews"

After being caught reviewing the new Black Crowes album without reviewer David Peisner actually possessing a copy of said album and claiming the bogus critique as an "educated-guess preview," Maxim has gone one better and awarded another mediocre review to an album that doesn't actually exist yet. Last we heard, Nas' Title That Certain Bloggers Take Great Delight In Printing Whenever Possible had been delayed until late spring. Turns out the rapper has possibly yet to even deliver the tapes to Def Jam; Nas tells the New York Post that he's "finishing the album now" and talking up a new April 22 release date. Perhaps in deference to those long magazine lead times, the educated guessers at Maxim went ahead and gave Nas' unfinished album 2 1/2 circles (out of a perfect five). That's the same score that so incensed the Crowes, but Nas is much more sanguine about the whole affair. More »

delays

Will Nas' New Album Hit Stores With Its Title Intact?

Nas has been running into problems thanks to the proposed title for his upcoming album—you may have heard about it; it's the N-word—since it was announced in October. But with the (rumored) album cover circulating 'round the Web since December, Nas and Mrs. Nas showing up to the Grammys in promotional N-word jackets, and Nas putting up his dukes on high-profile hip-hop magazine covers as he brandishes the album's controversial slur, it looked as if Def Jam was going to let the rapper's shit-stirring title stand unedited. But the album was initially announced as having a (highly unrealistic) December release date before being pushed back to February, and with February almost gone, it seems Def Jam's L.A. Reid is still wary about shipping the record before it's "ready." More »


sticks and stones

Nas Goes On Nose-Tweaking Rampage As He Drops More "Provacative" Hints About His Upcoming Album

After teasing the media for months with the racial slur-based title of his forthcoming album, all while withholding any other pertinent info, you can almost see the grin on nasty Nasir's face as he discusses the album's "myriad of racial slurs" with MTV. At least now no one can say he's not an equal opportunity offender, and he's certainly come up with at least one pretty ballsy song title. More »

Perhaps to maximize the manufactured shock over its infamous racial slur title when it finally drops, Nas' new album will now be released in February, which MTV was quick to point out is Black History Month, because Nas' promotional team is apparently just that cheeky. [MTV]

investment portfolios

Nas' Freedom Of Speech/Def Jam's Pockets Threatened By State Boycott

Unless Nas rethinks his decision to call his next album the N-word—a decision which has already been denied by his record label and pillioried in the press—a Brooklyn politico is demanding that the state of New York yank a heft sum that it has sunk into the rapper's record label, lest it look like taxpayers are actually supporting the work of a known rapper. More »

what's in a name

Nas To Fox News: Shut It

Refuting the claims of those clowns at Fox News, Nas has told MTV that he's not backing down from the controversial—and press-attracting!—title of his upcoming album, although he has decided to give it a bit of copyediting: More »

Def Jam Claims No Knowledge Of Album With N-Word Title Or This "Nas" Person The Idolator crystal ball was obviously working overtime when it had a vision of a major retailer having certain... problems with the title of the forthcoming Nas album.

Nas' New Album Will Probably Not Be Prominently Racked In Wal-Mart That nutty Nasir has decided on the title of his next album, and it will delight Congress, parents, and conservative radio d-bags alike.

fava beans dept.

Nas Wants To Chew Bill O'Reilly's Ear Off (Possibly Literally)

MTV has published further excerpts from the interview where Nas aired his feelings on his newfound nemesis Bill O'Reilly. Remember when I said the newly self-described "American psycho" was acting "levelheaded" about O'Reilly's attempt to demonize his performance at the Virginia Tech memorial concert and that Nas, unlike O'Reilly, wasn't interested in stirring up pointless controversy? Well, uh, yeah: More »

real talk

Nas Brushes Bill O'Reilly Off His Shoulder

MTV sat down with Mr. Jones to talk Big Bill and the muck he tried to rake when it was announced that Nas would be performing at today's concert for the victims of Virginia Tech. And once again, a rapper proves to be more levelheaded and less interested in stirring up pointless controversy than TV's most hateable moral crusading douchebag. Well, except for the part where Nas calls O'Reilly a racist: More »

lower education

Nasty Nas Can't Catch A Break On The International College Circuit

Except this time it's in Canada and there's no Bill O'Reilly or Virginia Tech-related furor, just a bunch of mixed messages and no comments. XXL reports that a group of Ottawa college students putting on a "Rock The Vote" event featuring Mr. Jones summarily had the rug pulled out from under them when the venue said "no way" upon learning who their headliner was: More »

this fuckin' guy

Bill O'Reilly Makes Us Want To Attach Our Eyelids To Our Chins With A Nail Gun

Nah Right has further shenanigans from Biill O'Reilly's week-long smear campaign against Nasir Jones; O'Reilly has appointed himself guardian angel in charge of warning America about Nasty Nas' scheduled performance at a Virginia Tech memorial concert. You should only watch if there are no sharp implements nearby. More »

controversy

Nas' Presence On Virginia Tech Memorial Concert's Lineup Causing Friction

So on Sept. 9 there's a concert at Virginia Tech as a way to rally the community after last April's shooting spree that killed 33 people, and the lineup is scheduled to include the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, and Nas. The only problem: Family members of the victims aren't happy with one of the acts on the bill, thanks to violent lyrics cherry-picked from said artist's catalog over the years. (Hint: The artist in question isn't Dave Matthews or John Mayer, despite their violence to listeners' ears.) More »

concerts

Prince Proves That Even Thugs Have Pride

Over the weekend, the Los Angeles Times reviewed the first night of Prince's stint at Hollywood's Roosevelt Hotel; in addition to performing two full sets and hugging Penelope Cruz, Prince managed to drive away some of hip-hop's biggest names: More »