Nas vintage

Well as you’ve probably heard, Nas has reconsidered his previous album title and decided to just name his album Nas. In one fell swoop, we’ve gone from one of the most controversial album titles of all time, to one of the most overused banal uninspired titles of all time (the eponymous title).

Wow, well that sure does lessen the pressure on an album to be great. Now, lowered expectations can be a great thing. It leaves room for us to be impressed**. But after all that talk of disarming the word, and not caring about the effect on sales, and the mission to spark debate…its hard not to feel a bit scammed. “Hey, lets talk about race and class and generation gaps! But….uh…there’s a timer on that debate, and it runs out about a month before my album release. Alrighty?”

Hey, it’s good to be realistic about the financial repercussions of your title, but weren’t there ways to get around that? Packaging for Walmart and Target that just say “N”? Limited edition copies with the full slur for the collectors?

Last week, I heard from an insider that Nas was changing his album title from N—-r to ___. As in, the album would be completely untitled. Which would probably be confusing, for alphabetical purposes. But I liked that idea better because at least it makes the title into a kind of racist in the room. We all know what the album is really called, but its nowhere to be found on the cover.

Instead, its now called Nas. Just like that first Ashanti album. Or that only Diamond Shell album. (And for the record, new artists have a better excuse ’cause they need to brand themselves. Anything after that and you’re just being lazy.)

Ok, now that I’ve vented, I’m still looking forward to Nas’s Nas (ugh), and I’m pretty sure there will be flashes of brilliance there. I’m also really looking forward to seeing the upcoming “Be a N—- too” video. So, lemme shut up, here’s that new Nas song….

Nas “N.-.-.-.-.R (The slave and the master)”

(thanks to Marvin and Legend for the links)

UPDATE:

Well, now Nas has released a statement about the album title change, and there are reports that, as I mention above, the real new title is no title at all. Untitled.

“It’s important to me that this album gets to the fans,” Nas told AllHipHop.com in a statement. “It’s been a long time coming. I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. It’s that important. 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.”

And just to add one more curveball into the mix….TMZ is reporting that they saw Nas in LA last night and he insisted, the album title is still “N—-r.”

hmmm…..fuzzy math.

**(I use this tactic before walking into the theater to watch any big budget film. Never works with anything by that Shamalyan guy though. There’s no expectation low enough not to get pissed off by his crap.)