I don’t usually get heavy into my opinion on this blog so this post is a little out of the ordinary for me but this is my blog and I feel a certain way so I felt I should address it. Last night Nas did a CNN interview with Don Lemon to discuss the Derrion Albert tragedy. First, Nas is 1 of the few celebrity’s who has openly expressed his thoughts on the Derrion Albert tragedy along with openly addressing the youth of the world. Nas has been doing interviews this last week where he speaks to the children of the world with an open letter about violence and staying on the right path….im sure when he took this CNN interview he was only trying to continue that. Instead of focusing on Nas’s positive message and applauding him for trying to help the first thing the CNN reporter does is points violent lyrics from one of Nas’s records. Not just violent lyrics but they made an obvious attempt to pick out the most violent content he ever wrote. What the reporter did right there was sabotage the interview and the general publics idea of Nas right before he was able to address the Derrion Albert situation. You have to understand what I mean….the “general” public may have no idea who Nas was before that point so immediately that’s what CNN gave them to judge him off of. What they are doing is wreckless and I was shocked to see even people who are familiar with Nas’s musical catalog fall right into that trap and begin persecuting him. At some point we have to hold ourselves accountable for what goes on in our households, family’s, and neighborhoods. We can’t keep looking at the next man and pointing the finger and playing the blame game because we will continue to get nowhere. What you saw first hand is the media’s tactics in brainwashing us to believe what they want us to believe. Question: Why didn’t they use Nas’s “I Can”(featured below) track to introduce him? Also the kids where fighting in the streets with boards why didn’t the media mention Rockstar Games(makers of Grand Theft Auto) as an influence since they are playing the blame game? Just food for though…..you do the dishes…..
I Can Video
Almost 1.5 million views on Youtube hows that for influence!
October 4, 2009 at 10:31 pm
That was not cool! They painted him as the stereotypical rapper, and that's not who Nas is. They picked a snippet from a 10 year old song. I can almost guarantee he had NO clue he was gonna get on this show to be blamed as the source of teen violence. Not to mention this jack ass couldn't even read the effin letter. I AM PISSED!
October 4, 2009 at 10:39 pm
You make a very valid point. It seems that the CNN reporter knew what he wanted to do here and that Nas ended up with the short end of the stick. – @anabelly_ae
October 5, 2009 at 12:09 am
I am surprised that Nas wasnt more prepared. Every media outlet is controlled and has an agenda of its owners. After watching how the major media outlets operate he should have been able to be a few steps ahead of them. His intents actions are nobel & good hearted he just let his guard down & caught in the so called “free media” world. Sorry it had to go down like that for him.
October 5, 2009 at 12:28 am
Personally I don't see how some of these people sleep at night knowing that they are being used as pawns for the companys personal agenda or ratings. I can't see that I expected more from Don Lemon but I can say that even though I come to expect this from the media it's still disturbing and unsettling every time it happens. I know it's wishful thinking but I would kind like to see an apology from Don(yeah right) and maybe for him to play the “I Can” video live on CNN(yeah right) on his next show. I applaud Nas for STILL calling this man his brother even after he did him greasy…..kudos Nas.
October 5, 2009 at 11:01 am
He wasn't done dirty. Anyone with common sense should know that this topic would come up. If Nas was surprised by the line of questioning he's not too smart. Nas handled it well and they moved on. I don't see a problem with anything. The reporter was doing his job. If he didn't ask him about it people would have said that he was going easy on Nas.
October 5, 2009 at 12:09 pm
^ I think we can all give our opinions on a subject with taking a jab at the next man/women's common sense but since that's where it was taken…
Any person with common sense who read my post can clearly see my point was not that he brought up Nas's violent lyrics BUT how he introduced the world to Nas with them. I don't expect everybody to get it.
October 5, 2009 at 10:52 am
[...] CNN does Nas Dirty | The Hood Nerd [...]
October 5, 2009 at 1:41 pm
That wasn't a shot at your common sense. I was speaking in general. It was definitely a very clunky intro, but nothing really surprises me with interviews with rappers on this topic.
October 5, 2009 at 3:59 pm
I feel you…we're good man. I always respect everyones opinion agree or disagree I always treat everyone with respect. Thanks 4 giving your views that's much appreciated!
October 6, 2009 at 8:11 am
I'm an aspiring TV journalist. I put in my work trying to come up like Mr. Lemon one day. I see him a bit different after watching that though, he's always represented a black man that got where “I” was coming from, I guess I was wrong.
It's reminds me of Tavis Smiley a little bit. Smiley goes at his guest sometimes and really tries to ask the tough questions but he always rounds it off with the other side of the story. Basically, Tavis doesn't play himself, Lemon apparently does sometimes.
October 6, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I hope that works out for you MDubb. We need more Journalist's that are truly interested in helping to solve a know problem versus doing whatever to raise ratings.
October 7, 2009 at 12:21 pm
[...] (Props to The Hood Nerd for his original post.) [...]
October 8, 2009 at 6:18 am
There was a clearly lack of balance when CNN presented Nas' music. It was wrong, but it is also, unfortunately to be expected. I wrote about the interview myself. I think Nas made some excellent points about America and her history of violence. I think he made a point when he talked about how rappers are simply reciting their reality. The issue I had with Nas is his dishonesty about rap music influencing violence. Just as it has the capability and the history of inspiring generations of young people to rap and get off the streets, it has also inspired people to continue to be violent, to continue to glorify violence and poverty in our communities. If music didn't influence and inspire I doubt people would even be interested in listening to it or making it. That's my two cents brotha.
February 2, 2010 at 1:49 am
[...] been rocking with the blog for sometime then you might remember the post I did back in October when Nas was on CNN after the Derrion Albert tragedy. “They” basically throw around the blame on all [...]
May 24, 2010 at 2:41 pm
[...] delivers a message to the youth of the world so pay attention! That includes you media outlets like CNN. Anyway Levi’s will have all of the tracks from their “Pioneer Sessions” [...]