Nas: “Trayvon was Hip Hop. He Was One Of Us.”

Written By S. Samuel

Queens MC Nas expanded his thoughts on the Trayvon Martin shooting during a media conference held earlier today.

Nas
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Taking a moment from discussing his upcoming album, Life is Good, Esco said that Trayvon represented Hip Hop and Hip Hop should be willing to represent him as well. (SOHH)

This has been going on since the beginning of America. So it’s just amazing that this young man’s life has become something to pull us all together to try to protest against racism. It’s sad that someone this young had to come to that kind of cowardice violence, you know what I’m saying. Does Hip Hop have a responsibility [to speak out]? Of course. Hip Hop has many responsibilities. Does Hip Hop as a whole? No. There’s too much going on for Hip Hop as a whole to focus on one thing, but yeah. Trayvon was Hip Hop. He was one of us. So of course we have a responsibility to do something. Something. (SOHH)

Last week, the Illmatic artist expressed his disgust with the Martin killing.

“You never wanna hear that kind of news. When it happens, you remember how many Trayvon incidents happen every day all over the world and have been happening. It doesn’t seem like the race problem will ever get solved. There’s a sickness that needs healing that this guy [George] Zimmerman is dealing with. And all the Zimmermans around the world, they’re dealing with hatred, ignorance, sickness, and they’re living in fear so I’m rocking my hoodie for my man.” (Hot 97)

West Coast rapper Game has also spoken out on the Florida shooting.

“I think that from the beginning of mankind, we as a people have always been targeted,” Game said in an interview. “For some, reason people don’t think that they need any excuse to kill us, beat us, hit us, run us over, disrespect us or anything like that,” Game said of the country’s history of racial tension and violence. I’m far from racist — I’m very educated and intellectual and I understand how life works and how people of all colors exist under the sun, but it just seems like more than not black people are, I don’t know, there’s always some negative occurrence that goes on in our existence. This is just another reminder that stupidity still exists.”(MTV)

According to Atlanta rapper, Jeezy, if Trayvon’s killing goes unpunished, the urban community will continue to lose its voice.

“My son is a good kid. Does he do stuff? Of course, that’s what kids do. But nobody’s child should be shot in cold blood for anything, especially if they didn’t harm or hurt another individual,” he said. The fact that Martin is black and George Zimmerman is Hispanic has added a racial sting to the killing, but Jeezy downplayed the racial element and called for unity. “I feel the racial line and the tension of it, I get it, but we’re gonna stand strong on the black and the brown side on this one,” he said. “We’re gonna stand together. I betcha that.” The Snowman urges that everyone lend their voice because there is a bigger societal issue at hand. “This is real, I understand that there are a lot of things goin’ on in the world and times are hard for everybody right now, but when you start having adults kill children for any reason, then we’re on our way to something we don’t want to be at,” he said. “The minute we accept that, we stand for nothing.” (RapFix)blockquote>(Hot 97)

Check out the Nas track, “The Don” below:

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Written by S. Samuel

Steven Samuel is the co-founder of SOHH.com.

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