if you have been reading this blog for a while, y'all already know how i feel about Nas. If not, read this, then let me know your thoughts about the vid.
i'm looking forward to the conversations we'll spark off this.
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Wow! I have to admit, Nasir did it for me back in the day too. This was before I moved out East and could here hear him on the radio all day long.
Besides the love of the beat and the cinematography of this video I love the meaning. Could it be possible that we live in a world of rap that used the word nigger every day and (for me) has never had any meaning until viewing this video? I am sure there are many videos that have used the word to get "the point" out there, but maybe I have never been at this age to understand and feel the meaning.
Nas is the best at making me think, feel, regret and remember through beats. He is the reason that no matter- how far I get away, how much older I get, how much less time I have in life- I always come back "home" to listen to Nas, it's always going to be worth it.
:)
i love nas
just think he lost his way
My grandmother asked me as young girl never to use that word. I do not. Ohter folks can use and meke itinto something positive, loively even. For me it will alwyas be rooted in hate. I could never use it as a term of endearment.
I do not no NAS or his music. I respect artists and their right to express themselves.
Wow, that is awesome!
hmmm, rap is sometimes hard for me to take seriously... he makes some strong points (u the question & the answer) - then he throws in his ability to purchase aston martins & i'm like: Huh?
i need to go back & re-read Dick Gregory's book: "Nigger" that was written YEARS ago!
I go back & forth on the usage of the word - sometimes i get indignant - then i'm like: i don't have time to be trippin' over ANY thing including an "offensive" word. I like Dave Chapelle's skit about the invention of the word.
Xtina: you already know how i feel. i love Nasir Jones. i feel that a lot of what he says relates to me. i spent all of 94 listening to illmatic & it completely changed my life. gave me a voice.
i totally understand what you're saying about living in a world of rap that overuses the word, which in turn strips almost any meaning.
i view this video & i'm torn. i wasn't raised to say "nigga" or "nigger". when my grandmother said it, it was ALWAYS a negative. like..."these Niggas out here acting up!" she never used it to refer to ALL black folks, just the stupid/ignorant/no-home-training-having ones. as an 80s baby i came up in an era when we because almost totally decenitized to the word. it showed up in almost every popular song, movies, comedy shows, everywhere. so i have a different experience than older folks. but even still...i don't use the word in conversation. oddly enough, only when singing or rapping along with a song.
when my students say it, i tell them not to. i try to remind them that it isn't a term of enderment. perhaps i am quick to correct them because they don't give it any sort of thought as to what they're saying. they're just saying something they've heard in millions of songs (and by their parents). so i'm torn. i appreciate what Nas is doing, but at the same time...i know kids like my students will just be running around singing, "i'm a nigga too!" and not give it the thought it deserves.
Torrance: in what way, folk?
LoveBabzi feel you. i wasn't raised to use it either & on very RARE occasions that it's crossed my lips (and i wasn't rapping along with a song), i've felt VERY funny about it.
Charisse: hey girl. thanks for stopping by again. it was very interesting. i just hope people take the time to have actual conversations about it.
CapCity: the paradox of the serious + materalistic is what we deal with today. as people, esp black folk, we tend to or seem to get caught up in our ability to have access to money. maybe even in this song where Nas is trying to deal with the seriousness of the word, he still succumbs to playing into the same ol..."i'm not YOUR nigga" because i have monetary freedom. what do you think?
"he still succumbs to playing into the same ol...." yea, it's definitely a paradox that we live in & a challenge not to succumb...
U inspired my latest BTR segment, TPW. Come by my A'musing Side for the link when u get a minute, Sis;-)
CapCity: i will definitely check it out!
the word was used as i was coming up that and koon...but i decided not to use the word at all...i like the song and video if for no other reason than it totally MAKES you look at the word, exame it and see how, when, why you use it...i too need to read Dick Gregory's "Nigger" again...