Nas penned a letter to the young folks in Chicago (and any youth that will listen read) after hearing of the killing of Derrion Albert. Hit the jump to take a read…
Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong wars! Killing each other is definitely played out. Being hurt from the lost of a love one was never cool.
Dear Young Warriors fighting the wrong war! I know that feeling, that frustration with life and needing to take it out on someone, any one. But….
We chose the dumbest things to go the hardest for. I remember seeing deaths over 8 ball jackets, Fila sneakers, and name plate chains. Deaths over “he say, she say”!!!!! “I’m from this block or I’m from that block”, or “my moms n pops is f*cked up now the whole world gotta pay”!!!
I remember feeling like I was the hardest “n*gga” breathing. And I couldn’t wait to prove it. But let’s think. What are we really proving?? And proving what to who?? Everybody knows Chicago breeds the strongest of the strong but I just feel, me, being ya brother from another state feels your pain as if I grew up with you in ya very own household.
You have the ability and mindpower to change they way we are looked at. Look who’s watching us young warriors, look who’s throwing us in jail constantly, look at the ignorance in the world. Look at the racist dogs who love to see us down. Loving to bury us in the ground or in jail where we continue this worthless war on one another.
Young warriors…. We are WASTING more and more time. We gotta get on our jobs and take over the world. Cuz this movie left the theaters years ago, Juice, Menace, Boys n the Hood , Blood n Blood Out, Belly!
When we see each other why do we see hatred? Why were we born in a storm, born soldiers, WARRIORS….and instead of building each other up we are at war with each other.. May the soul of this young person find peace with the almighty. I’m with you young warriors. You’re me and I’m you. But trust me! you are fighting the wrong war.
This sh*t sucks !!
-Nas (via GlobalGrind)
That’s what’s up.
Props
damn
Another reason why Nas won and continues to win.
Preach…
THE REALIST SHIT HE EVER WROTE.
Good shit Nas…
and lol at him throwin Belly in there…
greatest mc ever
me & a couple of friends were talking about the shxt just last week before he passed..shxt really does suck
yeah i bet they got the internet in the hood
Word
I remember feeling like I was the hardest “n*gga” breathing. And I couldn’t wait to prove it.
word
Those animals that were fighting in Chicago deserve the gas chambers.
And this is why Nas is the greatest voice of our generation and always has been.
Much props to this brother! Always in tune with the wiles of social problems in society.
STEP UP UNITE AND TAKE ACTION. BEFORE WE ALL KILL ONE ANOTHER.
^^ I 2nd that.
sounds like more racist propaganda … good points, just makes it seem like its still the end of the world for african americans… when they have so much more than they used to.. granted they should have had it from the start, just seems if we need to start “building each other up” then stop point f*cking fingers… just love. live simply. be aware…
That’s real talk right there..I was sad when I heard about that yesterday, and to see the video made it even worse. Kids fighting over land and territory that they don’t own and never will. I remember fighting ovet the same thing in High School because of the hood I grew up in, but my family moved me away and when I located to another school and saw them doing the same thing but knowing that I didnt have to take part because I didn’t belong or owe anybody nothing, I sat back and realized how stupid I had behaved and acted in the past. I hope all these kids can find peace in something else besides fighting the fight that’s not theirs to win
“I’m with you young warriors”
Nas goes from sounding so smart to sounding like the dumbest mellon farmer ever with quotes like that one. I can hear Bill O already
Screw Bill O’Reiley. Why can people still find something negative out of this positive letter from Nas?
Please listen to this man.
Positivity for real.
nas ain’t shit!
Just yesterday he was talking about not having anything to write about on a new album.. I think he may now.
I appreciate this but im mad that an artist that affects the youth more wont speak on this issue…a Lil Wayne or a JayZ stating the same thing Nas stated would go a long way, surpassing Nas’ influence. They wouldnt give a fuck about this situation because this situation doesnt affect them in anyway. They are out of touch w/ where they come from(alot diff. than just knowing where you’re from) and how they got out…the same kids thats dyin are the same kids thats breaking bank to buy their album and a concert ticket…but why would they give a fuck?
Why represent and support artists that dont represent and support you?
Thankyou Nas for staying true…
That was a deep letter but at the end of the day we all know the problem. Some people can’t help adhering to the conditioning of their environment and some can but you always have a choice in what path you follow or actions you take. The solution lies in having the positivity out weigh the bad stigmas, stereotypes and conditions of living in a poverty declined environment (I’m not saying all Blacks live in poverty but majority who are in these situations often do).
Now if we all know the problem, why do we constantly talk about it instead of taking action? If I commentate on say, a fly being devoured by a spider it doesn’t stop it’s inevitable death. That shit is still going to get eaten just like the system we’ve been placed in does to our people. So try to stop talking and start doing. Whether it’s the smallest or the biggest thing it still counts towards helping the struggle we face. If everybody does the smallest thing then it becomes a big thing, even if that’s helping one person. Never see the scale of your actions as how much it creates cause and effect because as they say no good deed goes unrewarded or unseen.
My fellow Black people it’s time to rise man.
That’s wassup.
what the fuck is this bs? another not relevant rapper trying to become relevant again…shit is lame nas your time has passed you havent had a hit since hate me now and 50 already killed that nigga haha..i dont even know what the fuck he talking bout dumbass trying to sound smart…lol dumbest post of the year yall
REST IN PARADISE DERRION ALBERT. TAKEN AWAY FROM US AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, WHEN WILL THIS STOP. AND WE WANT THE OLYMPICS. SMFH
REST IN PARADISE DERRION ALBERT. TAKEN AWAY FROM US AT A VERY YOUNG AGE, WHEN WILL THIS STOP. AND WE WANT THE OLYMPICS. SMFH
@ Echoplex – I don’t know if you choose to be oblivious to issues that that are not self-inflicted on Blacks as a society, or you’re just a racist yourself. Race and also religion are the greatest separatist that humans have ever developed.
How can you take something that was scribed out of nothing nothing but concern for Nas’s own people? He’s telling them that the reasons why we are where we are in the world are for self-inflicted causes and also causes that are forced upon us. That we need to take responsibility and hold ourselves accountable before we want to be taken seriously. So how could you honestly have a problem with that?
People act like he was an innocent victim. He was fighting right along with everyone else. He just lost. If he would have won the fight we would have been feeling sorry for the people who killed him. No one was innocent here. It was a tragedy that someone was killed and im NOT AT ALL saying he deserved it or anything like that im just saying it was not as one sided as the media is portraying it to be
ditto what dude said about the one who kids really look up too aren’t speaking about this.
good shit Nas. i just hope this gets heard by the right ears.
@JJ
Fam, find out the facts. Dude jumped in to try and defuse the situation.
Anyone talking about Nas’s career in relation to this is missing the whole effin’ point.
Lmao @Complacent For NOT BEING SMART ENOUGH TO UNDERSTAND NAS & Then Calling Nas DUMB Lmao That’s The Epitome Of An Ignorant Person.
I’m just sayin, it’s not 100% white people bein racist… I mean when you white, at my school, you the one who people racist at. Black people generally are just as racist as white people.
But yeah I agree, why isn’t someone like Jay, Wayne, or Yeezy talking about this? I mean I know yeezy did a charity show a few days ago but that’s not really a public statement… a concert isn’t gonna reach millions of people.
FUCK YOU NAS, see he fucking makes a good point then goes and blames it on the people arresting them? the racist pigs? ARE YOU KIDDING NAS? im black and im sorry nas get the FUCK over yourself not every problem us people have is because of white people, it ours this our fault the way we bring these kids up it has nothing to do with racists, your one of the biggest racist’s of all time just constantly blaming whites, jews, upper-class, etc, accept responsiblity, if anyone is really to blame, ITS YOU, your music promotes this so NAS SHUT THE FUCK UP
young warriors? the people on that street that killed a boy for nothing are not warriors. they are cowards
JJ, you are perhaps the second dumbest ma’fucka in this conversation right after Complacent. The kid was an innocent bystander, he had nothing to do with the starting the fight.
Everyone wants to have an opinion, but no one wants to put the work into learning the story first.
SO many are missing the point, he is calling them young warriors as he is trying to uplift them. It is not hard to connect to his running theme of the “wrong” war. What is wrong in trying to be positive instead of admonishing? Those kids are cowards for a reason and that reason needs solving.
Dam, as I read the comment on this, I see that there sooooo many people who don’t know to read subjectively, instead of objectively.
watch the video. that kid threw a punch right before he got hit with a board. it is what it is. ignorance is bliss when every body around you is doing the same shit. the world is still a fucked up place. some people face it directly, like nas, and others turn a blind eye to it. the time to talk about it is now though because in a week this story won’t even be news. smfh this bull shit is the fuckery of the week for sure.
we still got a ways in progressing as human beings and this shit that went down in Chicago proves it.
Two Thumbs Up.
Godspeed
Tribalism runs deep in the hearts and minds of everyone you’ve ever met. It’s as basic as the instinct to provide, but any instinct taken to it’s extreme ceases to be instinct and becomes crime, sin or whatever label you want you want to give it. Exceed providing you get greed, exceed relaxing you get sloth or lazy, exceed admiration and you get envy. However, there is nothing excusibly altruistic or noble in the killing of an innocent life. You see, anger in excess is wrath but what’s the source? These boys aren’t warriors…period. It is so mindless to take a life, ever tried to prevent one from dying? Working on a broken body as it goes from living to inanimate is difficult enough for those of us who work in this capacity, but a part of you dies too when someone dies by no fault of their own doing what they’re supposed to do. Derrion Albert is the real warrior and I thank you Nas, for taking time to address this issue. This is in no way a critque of your effort to redirect tribalism in a positive light.
b pcfl 117
this for all the nas followers, I’m one of the “racist Dogs” who goes to work everyday, and see’s this BS first hand. I can’t tell the number of bodies I have stood over, killed for nothing. Dead because they were in the wrong neighborhood, wearing the wrong colors, talking to the wrong person…I can’t tell you how many times I stepped in between two groups fighting over nothing, and tried to mediate with you kids, sometimes successfully most often unsuccessfully. I grew up in the city, in a mixed bag neighborhood. I watched the knuckleheads in my neighborhood do stupid stuff. I didn’t get involved in that stuff because I had parents who were knee deep in my ass about school. Thats what saved me…I wish i could have been working that district that fatefull day, I may have made a difference, then again, I may have been standing over another lost soul who was murdered for no reason. It’s time people looked at each other and decided enough is enough, thugs, gangsters, saggy pants boys…don’t impress me, and I can’t understand why they impress todays kids. Disrespecting there mothers,sisters, aunts and grandmothers by calling them “ho’s”, and the girls letting them get away with it. I raised my son, to treat people with respect regardless of what their station in life is, and I raised my daughter to respect herself and demand respect from the males who approach her. And if they only have one thing on their feeble little brain, tell them to keep walking. Leave the violence elsewhere, learn to listen and respect each other, even if you don’t agree with what someone else is saying, they have the right to have their voice heard. Respect that right…god bless
ya know Nas always was the the type of cat to give the absolute truth in a raw and educated manner. Thats why I honestly got all his shit, every single joint, even “Nastradomus”. Dude is a natural leader for real,I would go to war with’em any day of the week. But on some even realer shit, all these young warriors need is a real leader to install hope with in them lead them out of the chaos. bUT EVERY SINGLE LEADER THAT ARISES for the people, they just assainate or throw in jail. Look at the history and you’ll see the proof. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Huey Newton, Black Panther movement that the FBI shut down etc…. All I know if they take Obama it’s wrap! I hate to speak on it like that, but if you watch the news especially those racist fucks over at Fox, the you’ll see the proof once again. But at least then these young warriors and many many more naturally aggresive black folks will have a true war to wage.
Civilization can only revive when there shall come into being in a number of individuals a new tone of mind, independent of the prevalent one among the crowds, and in opposition to it — a tone of mind which will gradually win influence over the collective one, and in the end determine its character. Only an ethical movement can rescue us from barbarism, and the ethical comes into existence only in individuals.
[...] takes his time on 106 & Park to speak about Derrion Albert and his open letter to the Young Warriors in Chicago. Spread the [...]
Nas On 106 & Park (Video) | 2dopeboyz said this on October 2nd, 2009 at 8:11 am
I bet immortal tech would shit on this on paper
[...] [Nas on CNN: "Open Letter to Young Warriors in Chicago"] [...]
The Death of Chicago’s Derrion Albert « COLINRESPONSE said this on October 10th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
Any 1 who knows hiphop history would know Nas’s contributions as an intelligent product of the hiphop culture & movement.I HATE TODAYS DEATH MUSIC & GANGSTA BULLSHIT.WHATCHING 106 & PARK TO HERE YOUNG MEN INSULT EACH OTHER AND THERE FAMILY DEMONSTRATES THE SORROWFULL STATE OF TODAYS YOUNG MEN.
TO BE A MAN IS TO CONTROL YOUR OWN ACTIONS & DESTINY AND BE A CONTRIBUTION TO YOUR FAMILY,COMMUNITY,WORLD ,UNIVERSE
TODAYS STUPID ICONS ARE LOST IDIOTS IN SOCIETY WHICH IS BENT ON THERE OWN DESTRUCTION AND INCARCERATION AND NEEDLESS TO SAY THESE ICONS ARE CONTRIBUTING TO THE DESTRUCTION OF FUTURE GENERATIONS.WHAT THEY SHOULD REALISE IS THAT THEY ARE CREATING A WORLD THAT THERE CHILDREN WILL INHERIT AND BY PROMOTING DEATH IS CREATING THE REALITY OF THERE FUTURE SEED.
Respect Nas,1 love
get a effin life peeps… shits really real… peeps dying on the streets cuz fucking colors… red black blue white wtf ever color you rep shouldnt get shot shirt or skin… the lifestyle these communities have created for themselves can be taken down just as easy… get a f*ckin education… a job, and a effin crutch to lean on… open your damn eyes and see that the golden rule in life really does work… treat others how you wanna be treated.. n if you wanna be shot by all means… join our military that takes care of the job and education right there… teach some discipline ect ect… i may just be rambling but its hard to have a straight thought with so many triffe people reacting instead of acting… people need to be proactive…