NY Oil Criticizes Nas For "Nigger" Album In Speech

Jake Paine

Veteran New York emcee NY Oil [click to read] spoke to HipHopDX just over a month ago. In promotion for his deluxe edition 2CD release of Hood Treason [click to read], the controversial lyricist was outspoken about fellow rap veteran Nas releasing Untitled [click to read], also referred to as the "Nigger" album.

"When you start talking that conscious shit, there’s an expectation that you [will] have the capacity and ability to articulate your position in a discussion," said NY Oil in July, referring to Nas. The artist added that he had witnessed Green Lantern admit that the hype surrounding Nas' controversial album title was viewed as a marketing tool.

Speaking recently at Harlem's Harriett Tubman School, NY Oil furthered his criticism of the Def Jam star. Telling the audience, "There's no one in this room right now that can claim none of the stripes that go with the word 'nigger,'" he said. "None of you. And I don't even know y'all. If you ain't been blown over by a water-hose, if you haven't been beaten over the head with billy-clubs in the name of marching for your peoples' freedom [chanting] 'We shall overcome,' scared out your ass while doing it, if you haven't had the experience of seeing your people get snatched away and never coming back [...] so forgive me if I have the audacity to expect that if you have the unmitigated goal to name your album Nigger and wear a shirt that says 'Nigger,' with your wife, [Kelis], who has a jacket with 'Nigger' across the back, and you bring a white girl, an Asian girl and a Latina girl to wear the same 'Nigger' shirts on the Grammy's, that you would at least respect the people who really, really went through this! That when the blonde-haired white woman from CNN puts a microphone in your face, that you can articulate a cohesive [argument] to why you've put 'Nigger' on your shirt."

The emcee added, "Whether I agree with Nas or not, that's my brother! And it's my right to call that brother out. And the day that we stop doin' that, we in a world of trouble. So what he made a good song? So what he made a classic album? So-the-fuck-what? Yeah I love the album, but I love my people more."

NY Oil made national headlines when his self-released 2007 song "Y'all Should All Get Lynched" was banned from YouTube, and open letter of criticism to various mainstream rap stars.

hiphopdx.com