Nas on CNN speaking about his music and the open letter he wrote in reaction to youth violence in Chicago...people focus on what they want to focus on. Nas writes about as much conscious uplifting music as he does gangster stuff. while i think Nas is downplaying the effects such art and music can have on an individual, i still think it is childish for people to go to a rapper and plead with them to change, as if it will make a difference. does this dude really believe there are no positive role models or music in hip hop? "Change the game, Nas! do it for the babies!"
c'mon, dude... imploring a rapper to change his music is like going to a baseball player and asking him to stop taking 'roids 'for the love of the game' without demanding that the league (that benefits from his inflated stats) crack down on it. a man is not going to do something that goes against how he makes his money. what you need to do is ask WHY does this violence happen, WHO benefits from the violence, and WHAT changes can we make to the conditions that contribute to violence. Nas does not benefit from violence, so stop questioning him. he actually is trying to USE his influence to curb the violence. and if they must focus on a Nas song, do they have to pick the WACKEST song he ever made? what is this, Fox News? so i injected a couple better songs, just in case you never listened to him, so you would know better!
anyways, as you can tell, i have a pretty strong and developed opinion about it... but what do ya'll think?
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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