Video SoulBounce
Love It Or Hate It: 'Be A Nigger Too' Video Debuts
From the news that Nas' upcoming album would be called Nigger then not, to the release of the "Be A Nigger Too" track, all the way to the disappointment of the release of the album's official single "Hero," comes the as-yet-unnamed album's first official video. The video for "Be A Nigger Too" cements what I like to call the "MTV phenomenon": a single you initially hear doesn't quite move you, but set the same music to moving images, and it becomes something so much more tolerable. Those who are anti-Nigger may not care (but still watch it anyway), while those who are on "Team Nas" will appreciate the quotes from Malcolm X and comedian Paul Mooney, as well as director Rick Cordero's ability to translate Nas' words into images of powerful simplicity. Stylistically, the video resembles "One Mic" to me. Overall, I still can't wait for the album, although I just want to forget about that "Hero" track altogether.Tags: malcolm x, nas, paul mooney, rick cordero
Comments
I wasn't feeling the whole nigger thing at first...until i heard the song and saw the video....pure genius. But i still think the nigger gear him and his wifey wore on the red carpet was uncalled for. Somethings just don't come off well...and nigger gear is one of those things.
Love | June 11, 2008 10:07 AM | PermalinkI was aggravated by the song, now with the addition of the video I'm just confused.
Everywhere else I've seen this video posted, people are falling over themselves to praise Nas' vision and boldness to make a statement.
WTF is the statement?!?
The best I can discern is that we're all n***ers in the eyes of the white power structure, and that synopsis is a stretch. Thematically the song is all over the place. I was just trying to link any common images and themes I could find.
shocking ≠ profound.
DJStylus | June 11, 2008 9:22 AM | PermalinkNo educated, self respecting black person wants to be bombarded with nigger, this nigger that for almost 4 minutes. Be it in a video or a song. Here we are on the verge of a black man becoming president and this fool Nas decides it's his mission to "educate" the masses. My beef to be honest, is Nas trying to pass on a message or create controversy to sell albums.....................I vote for the latter, we are our own worse enemy sometimes.
"I loves me some black people, but I HATES me some niggers" ~ Chris Rock
stoneyisland | June 10, 2008 12:26 PM | Permalink