Good news for all the Nas stans out there. His new album may not have a title but it will have a spot at No.1 next week. Or so says Billboard. Untitled has already registered 113,000 copies as of Friday. Expect that number to double by the time Wednesday (chart day) rolls by.

Nas’ last chart-topping release was 2006’s Hip-Hop Is Dead which scanned 354,000 in its debut week. Congrats to Esco in advance. He made one of the year’s best rap albums, so a No.1 spot is well-deserved.

Lyrical hip-hop lives.

This was so raw it made me dust off my copy of Illmatic. Too bad we’ll never see him return to that form again. He got rich and stopped trying.

I keed! I keed!!

Nas - “Like Me”

“Like Me” is one of two bonus tracks on the iTunes version of Untitled. Actually, this sounds more like a leftover than bonus anything.

On another note, I wonder how much success Apple’s had with their “iTunes Bonus” campaign, since everyone can easily find those same songs online and make them available to others at no cost.

Nas has a point. This issue is mostly about the old guard vs the new guard. What Jesse Jackson and his irk fail to understand (or understand but choose to ignore) is that the struggles of yesterday are not necessarily the same challenges that face black people today.

There’s no doubt that racial bias is still embedded in the fabric of our society. Long-held perceptions don’t change overnight, after all. But it’s almost myopic to stay fixated on the issue of race when we’re not doing enough to lift ourselves up.

Besides, the bigger sin of Jackson’s remarks lies in the fact that he said this about Obama who represents the new face of not just Black America, but of American politics in the 21st century. Let’s face it, if Jackson had said “I want to cut Karl Rove’s nuts off,” we’d be having a blast right now.

Related Posts:
Who cares about Jesse Jackson’s Remarks?
Shots Fired: Lil Wayne vs. Al Sharpton

Directed by: Rik Cordero

Nasir and Mr. Cordero went all the way in on this one. This also features Jay Smooth and his camcorder.

Part 2 | Part 3

Taj Mahal did a great job of directing the “Hero video.” He kept the concept simple yet imaginative.

Nas Related Posts:
Nas (Feat. Keri Hilson) - “Hero” Video
Nas - “Be a N*gger Too” Video
Nas: “I missed my mark with Hip-Hop Is Dead“

Speaking of Nas, here’s the music video for “Hero” (featuring Keri Hilson).

Am I the only one feeling this song or what?

“Hey what’s up y’all, it’s Nas. I know we gettin’ leaked…I know I’m gon’ get leaked forever. And it’s so f*cking exciting.”

You totally rock, dude!