I generally do not get involved in these sorts of discussions, however, they did use not only one of the weakest songs Nas ever penned, they ignore the fact that this country was founded on violence. Can you SERIOUSLY blame rap for violence in 21st Century?! C'mon people, keep in mind we had some of the MOST violent movies glorifying crime, mob life and white collar politricks.
However, in a 5min, 30 sec clip, this guy tries to get Nas to atone for a song he made damn near 10 years ago? So, in 10 years, no one can change? Have you bothered to even listen to Nas' past two albums. Notice you failed to mention his song "I Can", which was widely panned by Vibe and Rolling Stones album reviewers as a "gimmick" song, however, if you cared to listen to the song, there was a boat load of truth (check the 3rd verse, again!!). Yet, movies like The Godfather, French Connection and Scarface are hailed as classics!! GTFOH!!!
me and my wife had a 30 minute discussion (i.e. i ranted for 25 minutes and she responded for 5 LOL!) about this after i wrote this blog post...
watching any episode of batman the animated series will teach you to ask "who profits" . and while investigating the problem of "inner-city" violence may lead you to look into violence in the media, it couldn't end there.
what NEEDS to be asked is who are the people who make money off of death, gangs, drugs, etc. use your investigative journalism to find out who they are, and start saying THOSE names on teevee. ask THEM the tough questions.
unless you are suggesting (which no one is) that Nas is a drug kingpin or something, you are wasting time grilling him repeatedly about his music. Is HE killing people, or giving the order to kill? is he making money as a result of crimes being committed? cause SOMEONE is, and you are diverting attention AWAY from them.
in fact, you are actually DISCOURAGING other rappers from speaking out in the mass media by treating Nas like a hypocrite for doing so.
the funny thing was when he asked nas what kanye and common were going to do about the problems in chicago, as if nas, common and kanye live in a dorm room together and chop it up every morning about their upcoming political plans.
i was told that "shoot em up" was the same song fox news quoted to villify nas, so nas really should have been prepared for that line of attack. he should have had lines to quote at the ready of different aspects of his discography. but nas has never been very good at interviews. this might help him live a long life, since this country has a pretty good track record of eliminating articulate black men in the public eye.
i'm not personally fond of violent rap, but if it actually caused people to behave like the killers of derrion albert just from heavy exposure to it, every gangsta rap concert in america would end in a rwanda-style bloodbath.
the interviewer had poorly thought out questions. nas gave mundane answers. all in all, a complete waste of time.
would have been nice if nas challenged the report to come down with him to the south side of chicago to work with youth there and to have the camera crew tutor kids instead of filming the aftermath of yet another killing, as they often do.
3 comments:
I generally do not get involved in these sorts of discussions, however, they did use not only one of the weakest songs Nas ever penned, they ignore the fact that this country was founded on violence. Can you SERIOUSLY blame rap for violence in 21st Century?! C'mon people, keep in mind we had some of the MOST violent movies glorifying crime, mob life and white collar politricks.
However, in a 5min, 30 sec clip, this guy tries to get Nas to atone for a song he made damn near 10 years ago? So, in 10 years, no one can change? Have you bothered to even listen to Nas' past two albums. Notice you failed to mention his song "I Can", which was widely panned by Vibe and Rolling Stones album reviewers as a "gimmick" song, however, if you cared to listen to the song, there was a boat load of truth (check the 3rd verse, again!!). Yet, movies like The Godfather, French Connection and Scarface are hailed as classics!! GTFOH!!!
thanks for the comment BK.
me and my wife had a 30 minute discussion (i.e. i ranted for 25 minutes and she responded for 5 LOL!) about this after i wrote this blog post...
watching any episode of batman the animated series will teach you to ask "who profits" . and while investigating the problem of "inner-city" violence may lead you to look into violence in the media, it couldn't end there.
what NEEDS to be asked is who are the people who make money off of death, gangs, drugs, etc. use your investigative journalism to find out who they are, and start saying THOSE names on teevee. ask THEM the tough questions.
unless you are suggesting (which no one is) that Nas is a drug kingpin or something, you are wasting time grilling him repeatedly about his music. Is HE killing people, or giving the order to kill? is he making money as a result of crimes being committed? cause SOMEONE is, and you are diverting attention AWAY from them.
in fact, you are actually DISCOURAGING other rappers from speaking out in the mass media by treating Nas like a hypocrite for doing so.
the funny thing was when he asked nas what kanye and common were going to do about the problems in chicago, as if nas, common and kanye live in a dorm room together and chop it up every morning about their upcoming political plans.
i was told that "shoot em up" was the same song fox news quoted to villify nas, so nas really should have been prepared for that line of attack. he should have had lines to quote at the ready of different aspects of his discography. but nas has never been very good at interviews. this might help him live a long life, since this country has a pretty good track record of eliminating articulate black men in the public eye.
i'm not personally fond of violent rap, but if it actually caused people to behave like the killers of derrion albert just from heavy exposure to it, every gangsta rap concert in america would end in a rwanda-style bloodbath.
the interviewer had poorly thought out questions. nas gave mundane answers. all in all, a complete waste of time.
would have been nice if nas challenged the report to come down with him to the south side of chicago to work with youth there and to have the camera crew tutor kids instead of filming the aftermath of yet another killing, as they often do.
- spirit
newgoldenera.com
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