S. Samuel
The N-Word debate continues to heat up as rap veteran Nas, who infamously tried naming his last solo album N*gger, has come to Hollywood star Gwyneth Paltrow's defense.
Unfazed by Paltrow publicly referencing “N*ggas In Paris” at last week’s Watch the Throne concert in France, Nas stood by the movie star.
“I would slap the s*** out of somebody for Gwyneth Paltrow,” Nas told CBS Local exclusively. “She’s the homie, she’s cool. Gwyneth gets a pass. Real people get a pass. We know what this s*** is. We don’t interrupt Italians when they say ‘Wop’ to each other. They gonna punch you in the mouth if you interrupt that. Don’t interrupt us. We pick and choose.” Nas acknowledged that other black people might feel differently, but still stood by his statement. “Some might not feel the same way,” he said. “Some of us will get angrier about it than others; but some people get a pass. The people that I know who are cool and real n****s, Gwyneth Paltrow is a real n****, that’s my homie. That’s how I’m on it. Some people get a pass.” (CBS Local)
This week, R&B singer The-Dream finally came clean on trying to take the heat for Paltrow.
The-Dream knew the type of hate that Gwyneth Paltrow would receive after her now-infamous ‘N—as in Paris’ tweet, so the Love King figured he’d take the fall for his friend. It’s not that the singer/songwriter feels that Paltrow did anything wrong, he just could predict how things would play out.”Well, we were there, of course. We were Patron’d out of our minds, number one. Number two, I was moreso trying to take the heat for a friend because I knew that the reaction was going to be silly,” The-Dream admitted to MTV News on the carpet for Vitamin Water’s Fader concert series in Hollywood on Thursday night. “I know what she meant; I know what she didn’t mean.” (RapFix)
Last weekend, Dream tried to help Paltrow out by claiming he made the controversial tweet.
“@Jenny_Tonic Fyi Sorry for the Confu I typed Ni**as in paris for real from Gwens Phone my bad I was Fkd up please excuse it! We were lit!,” he tweeted June 2nd.
“@honeysweetlife blame Me! F*ck off. Find a actual Fight that can move us forward. Don’t target someone u know want hurt a fly! Bully!” (The-Dream’s Twitter)
Prior to changing the album to Untitled, Nas initially announced plans to name his 2008 LP N*gger.
Never averse to getting the pants of others in a twist, Nas said in 2006 that what developed into this self-titled album was, at the time, titled the six-letter version of the “N” word. The following year, the NAACP buried the five-letter version (along with each variant, as the obituary states) at a Detroit ceremony, replete with a horse-drawn carriage, a casket, and the presence of “hip-hop legend Curtis Blow” [sic], according to the NAACP press release. Whether it is believed that the word was truly placed six feet deep or merely swept beneath the proverbial rug, the word, regardless of its last syllable or the context in which it is placed, still carries a lot of power. Millions of Def Jam marketing dollars could not have ensured as bright a spotlight on their artist. All he had to do was mention the one word as an album title. And from that moment until the album’s release, through each leaked track, mixtape, and article tracking the status of the album, more attention was paid to the MC’s moves than in the recent past. An album with a proposed title of, say, East Coasta Nastra, would not have been anticipated with nearly as much scrutiny or speculation. (All Music)
Check out Nas’ interview below:
