What up Nation…Allow me to apologize for my diminished activity this week.  Its been busy.  But before the week is out I wanted to address one story that broke on Wednesday that I didn’t have an opportunity to address.

AllHipHop.com reported Dr. Michael Eric Dyson has penned a book on about Nas’ April 1994 debut album “Illmatic.” Dyson, a professor and self proclaimed fan of the rapper’s “intellectual genius,” hopes to dissect the album in effort to exalt the project for its educational value.

“Every song on Illmatic will be analyzed, interpreted and then re-articulated in a kind of intellectual sense from his own base in Hip-Hop and we’re trying to deal with that seriously,” Dyson stated.Dyson continued to ride Nas’ sack during an interview sucking him for his “intellectual philosophy and the political relevance” in terms of “speaking truth to power in these post modern, post industrial urban spaces where truth is being squeezed out.  This brother is rising up with a rebellion and a kind of serious, serious political power that is necessary.”

Is it me or does Nas get too much credit for being some great philosophical, political Ghandi type?  At times he kind of reminds me of that “Oswald Bates” skit that Damon Wayne’s used to do on In Living Color 

Don’t get me wrong I respect Nas for keeping it positive and speaking a message through his music but lets not get carried away here.  Need I remind you of his interview on the red carpet when E! asked him about his Nigger Album/ T-shirt.  He’s an entertainer who knows controversy sells.  People think he’s stirring the political pot no he’s the equivalent of a homeless man shaking the change cup.  Its one thing to speak about what going on but when you’re asked about it don’t sound like a babbling fool.  See the problem is that his intellectual capacity is on a higher threshold than most of his audience so when the hear him talking that sh*t they say “whoaa Nas went in…that’s deep.” When in fact the reason why they didn’t understand it is because in most cases it didn’t make sense.

Nas’ Illmatic was an important piece in the Hip Hop diaspora that goes without saying.  Its art, its entertaining but I’m going to have to pull Dr. Dyson’s card. I could be wrong but he’s coming across as some affluent groupie.  According to AllHipHop.com, Dyson has a brother Everett who is currently serving a life sentence for a murder he says Everett didn’t commit. Dyson whose never met Nas, wants to build with him face-to-face to discuss one of the albums songs “One Love.”  The track holds a special place for the brothers give their story which was recently profiled on CNN’s “Black in America. ”

So what you’re saying is the music touched you?!  WELCOME TO HIP HOP!  That’s what the sh*t is supposed to do.  Maybe you need to listen to a few more tracks…a few more artists.  I’ll get off my soapbox and make sure I read the book before a pass further judgment but lets not get it twisted.  The beauty in hip hop occurs when the message is there and gets through.  Unfortunately that’s few and far between in today’s version of the art form.  Yeah I might be acting slightly argumentative but someones gotta pull coat tails.