Dans l'édition du New York Times d'hier (dimanche 22 juin), il y avait un petit article sur Nas qui parlait de la censure artistique qu'il a subit avec le titre de son nouvel album et qui revenait sur les lyrics de son single "Hero" où Nas y fait allusion.
What’s in a name? Ask Nas, the grimly serious New York rapper who has spent much of the last year battling his label, Def Jam — and assorted umbrage takers ranging from the Rev. Al Sharpton to Bill O’Reilly — over the intended title of his ninth album. That title was to be a racial epithet of flexible usage and much recent debate. But Nas relented; the album, due out in a few weeks on Def Jam, will be untitled.
Of course the skirmish with censorship has sparked new rhymes. Like these on “Hero,” his lead single, produced by Polow Da Don:
"My lawyers only see the Billboard charts as winning
Forgetting Nas the only true rebel since the beginning
Still in musical prison, and jail for the flow
Try telling Bob Dylan, Bruce or Billy Joel
They can’t sing what’s in they soul" *
The logic is iffy (“musical prison” seems a stretch), as is the taste. (Billy Joel?) But Nas sounds genuinely fired up, which can only be good news for his fans and foes. And he isn’t strictly disgruntled, judging by “Black President,” a new track produced by Green Lantern, in which Nas not only rhymes politics with “parlor tricks” but also offers an atypically sanguine line: “I’m thinking I can trust this brother.”
* Mes avocats ont choisi le Billboard comme vainqueur
Oubliant que Nas est le seul vraie rebelle depuis le début
Toujours dans une prison musicale, et enfermé pour ce qu'il dit
Essayer de dire à Bob Dylan, Bruce ou Billy Joel
Qu'ils ne peuvent pas chanter ce qu'ils ont dans leur âme
