Comments on: Nas Loses the ‘Nigger’ Battle

By: The Rap Up » 10 More Rejected Hip-Hop Album Titles

The Rap Up » 10 More Rejected Hip-Hop Album Titles — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 19:14:46 +0000

[...] announced that his 9th album would be titled Nigger. After retailers threatened to boycott the CD, he caved to pressure and decided to release it without a title. Turns out Nas isn’t alone in his plight. Here are [...]

By: ProHipHop: Hip Hop Business

ProHipHop: Hip Hop Business — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:09:35 +0000

Hip Hop Bloggers Critique Nas’ Album Title Switch…

I previously mentioned that Nah Right’s Eskay was rather disappointed by Nas’ bait-and-switch tactics regarding the title of his upcoming album but it looks like a lot of bloggers are reacting so let’s what they have to say! Nah Right: It’s not re…

By: J to the AAP

J to the AAP — Tue, 20 May 2008 18:07:17 +0000

@moneda: Weren’t there organizations threatening to sue Def Jam for racism or defamation or something to that degree? I don’t think they could possibly win but anybody can file a lawsuit, and with high profile people and race issues involved? There have been courtcases for way less.
As far as marketability, with all the free press it’s gotten it looks pretty damn marketable to me. Istant headlines, controversy sells. You might be right on account of stores refusing to stock an album with such a title though. Maybe Def Jam decided to ride out the controversy/hype as long as they could and back out at the last moment. You know, a have the cake and eat it too kinda situation.

By: moneda

moneda — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:58:22 +0000

Who could possibly bring a lawsuit against Def Jam pertaining to the name of this album that would even see a day in court? It’s about marketability, just like everything else in music. “Nigger” is not as marketable as “NaS,” so they probably told him they’d push the release again (and again) until he folded. He wants the album out, I assume, she he caved on the title.

By: J to the AAP

J to the AAP — Tue, 20 May 2008 10:16:20 +0000

“ok. I doubted nas one time and he dropped stillmatic.”

Stillmatic is way overrated imho, God’s Son was better, alongside certified banger ‘Made You Look’ it had personal ish to say and some dramatic weight besides beefing with other dudes.

Anyway, Sorry to see Nas losing his absolute creative control like that. It’s probably just Def Jam backing out of all those potential lawsuits. They could win ‘em but it would take an incredibly long time to make a profit of the album with all those legal fees. They’re still a company after all.