Author: Jena Lowe

Niggaz With Attitude, otherwise known as NWA , Strictly for My N.I.G.G.A.Z., and Nas's tentative 9th album, Nigger all hit a nerve in the realm of hip hop controversy and cut open a scar that has yet to heal for many Americans. Whether he is trying to spark controversy for the purpose of progression or if he is using the controversial topic for album sales is what fans and critics alike are questioning, and with good reason. After all, "not everybody in our culture cares to have a conversation or comment on a blog about this. Some would rather whoop on somebody" as one blogger commented. But Nas is not the first to use the "n-word" in music.

2Pac taught us that controversy sales when Strictly for My Niggaz went platinum and became his first album to experience serious commercial success in 1993. Ol' Dirty Bastard came out with the song "Nigga Please" in 1999. Even John Lennon of the Beatles believed it was okay to make a song called "Woman is the Nigger of the World" in 1972. Hip hop music especially has been infiltrated with the word and many ways it has been accepted as a part of the culture; so why is it a big deal that Nas's album might be called a word that so frequently floats through the airwaves?

One blogger expressed the sentiment of many people on one side of the argument who believe that by Nas using the word in his album he "is helping to defuse its power and divisiveness." Freedom of speech guarantees him the right to use the word and he's attempting to make something positive out of it. Others believe that "Nas might have bitten off more than he can chew" by carelessly naming his album Nigger without the means to go beyond an album title with its content. Regardless of which side you're on, its hard to overlook the fact that he is calling his album "Nigger" and not "Nigga"-the word that is more frequently used to change the word into a positive.

He is hitting hard with the much more racially and politically charged "er" at the end of the word, and we hope that he hits hard with a message to back it up. He and his wife Kelis walked the red carpet at the Grammy's with matching t-shirts bearing the word "Nigger" across the front. According to dictionary.com "nigger" is defined as "a black person, a member of any dark-skinned people, a person of any race or origin regarded as contemptible inferior, ignorant etc." The responsibility that comes with the exploitation of a word that carries so many years of hatred behind it is major, and could put Nas's credibility in danger along with the race he is attempting to awaken through his message. While his move in titling his album the word is brave in an effort towards progression, he has yet to comment extensively on the word he is putting out. He has loose ends that will hopefully be answered by the album itself.

L.A. Reid wants fans to know that we should plan to be "enlightened" by this album, and I'll definitely be waiting for my light bulb to shine. The risks that he's taking with the word extend beyond commercial success, beyond his personal credibility, and branch into the power and right of just about anyone who wants to use the word to prove a point. As a New Yorker stated "after Nas garners mass media exposure over this shirt who's to say that some redneck in Tennessee, or hell even right here in NYC, wont use this as their plight to start using this word which ultimately attacks one for their skin color?" I look forward to the album with great expectations for this conscious artist. I only hope the delivery is as meaningful as the hype.