I'm a white man. Not really, but pretty much. I am part Native American, Scottish, Irish and Italian. That really means nothing to me. I consider myself American. I don't particular ally claim it in a "super patriotic 'God Bless America' way" but I was born and raised in the metro Detroit Michigan area and have been here for the past 30 years. The thing is, this country was founded off of some bad, bad karma. I'm not looking to get all political and worked up about something that most of us already know, but on his latest and ninth studio release...Nas is!
 
The album is shown in most catalogs as a 'self titled' or 'untitled' l.p. The original title was to be simply 'Nigger'. After one listen to the song "N.I.G.G.E.R." (They say we n-i-double g-e-r/we are/much more/still we choose to ignore/the obvious/man this history don’t acknowledge us/we was scholars long before colleges) I truly feel his message. For so long I've listened to the struggles and frustrations that kept hip hop music fierce for even the MC's that've achieved multi-million dollar deals and social status. The past remains. The fact they are here from something that happened to their ancestors against their will is a haunting feeling I can't even imagine carrying in my mind. Nas is not bashing America on this release. He's not whining about racism or un-fairness. What he is doing, is speaking from a very grown-up perspective about some serious issues.
 
"We are not alone" show cases some tricky word play on government conspiracies while on "Black President" and "Sly Fox" he discusses the agendas of major cable networks intentions. All the while keeping that street style groove that only the kid from Queensbridge, NY that popped up with some "illmatic" shit 14 years ago can do. If you wanna dance, go cop some "T-Pain". If you wanna fit in with the 'in-crowd', peep your boy "Lil' Wayne" and if your lookin' for some comedic dopeness try "Kidz in the Hall". But, if you wanna learn from good perspective and slick word play from one of the greatest 16 bar authors of our generation, go get that new Nas l.p., untitled or whatever the mass market is calling it.