[edit] Early life

Nas, whose given name Nasir means "helper and protector" in Arabic, spent the first years of his life in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn.^[3] His father Olu Dara was a jazz trumpeter and his mother Fannie Ann Jones was a Postal Service worker. He has one sibling, a brother named Jabari who assumes the alias Jungle. While in Brooklyn, Nas would listen to his father's trumpet in his house's stoop at age four.^[4] The family soon after moved to the Queensbridge Houses, the largest public housing project in the United States. Olu Dara left the household in 1986, when Nas was 13, and Ann Jones raised her two boys on her own. Nas soon dropped out of school in the eighth grade and started participating in the drug trade.^[5] He educated himself, reading about African culture and civilization, 120° Lessons, the Bible,^[6] and the Qur'an.^[7] He also studied the origin of hip hop music, taping records that played on his local radio station. Nas interests moved away from playing the trumpet as a child to being a comic book hero artist.^[8]

2008: Untitled

Main article: Untitled (Nas album)

On May 24, 2008 at a Toronto Concert Nas announced that his new album will be released July 1, 2008. It is currently scheduled to be released on July 15, 2008. On May 19, 2008, it was confirmed that Nas changed the name of the album and it would no longer be Nigger .^[37] The album was originally scheduled for a February release. The Nigger album will be Nas' second album with Def Jam, in conjunction with his own imprint, The Jones Experience. In response to the former album's title, Nigger, many of the most famous names in the entertainment industry have expressed a sense of trust in Nas using the controversial term for his next full-length LP. It has since been released as a pre-order on iTunes under the name "Nas".

Def Jam was rumored to be considering dropping Nas if he doesn't switch the title of his upcoming album but later went on to deny this.^[38]

During an interview at the 50th Grammy Awards on February 10, 2008, while promoting his new album, Nas was asked which candidate he would be supporting in the upcoming presidential election. Nas responded, "Whoever can abolish this thing that doesn't allow black people to vote after twenty three years."^[39] Bloggers and other fans speculated that Nas was referring to the expiration of the temporary provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965^[40] and various internet urban legends surrounding their expiration.

A track titled "Be a Nigger Too" was leaked to the internet on April 21, 2008.^[41]

On June 5 2008, Nas released a track titled "Black President", in which he addressed Barack Obama and various issues surrounding his campaign, as well as the artist's own cynicism over the whole process. ^[42] This song would be on " The Nigger Tape", with Nas and DJ Green Lantern. On May 19, 2008 a new song leaked titled "N.I.G.G.E.R."^[43]

On the 6th of June the official single off of Nas' Ninth Studio Album titled Hero" was released the song features R&B singer Keri Hilson and is produced by Polow Da Don . On June 10, 2008 Nas has called the album Untitled.^[44]

Nas went on to say in a statement: "It's important to me that this album gets to the fans. It's been a long time coming. I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it.^[45]

In a recent interview with Angie Martinez; a hostess of the New York radio station Hot 97; which is posted on Nas's official website ( NasIndependenceDay.com[3] ); Nas made several controversial statements : "Somebody called L.A. (Reid) (About the former title of forthcoming album), the White House called! ......Yeah the " White House " " White House "! ..... I mean Congress... (called Def Jam ) they're concerned!"^[46]

On July 2nd, 2008, Fila announced that Nas was signed to a shoe deal. Nas will promote the sneakers in magazines and wear them at concerts. Fila also plans on having Nas release a second sneaker with 1980's oriented style during the 2008 holiday season. ^[47]