[STRONG LANGUAGE WARNING]
On Tuesday, rapper Nasir Jones (better known as Nas) attacked Donald Trump as a racist and linked former President Ronald Reagan to forces that “ruthlessly destroyed the black community.”
In a May 30 piece for MassAppeal.com, the hip-hop star bizarrely boasted “I don’t pay attention to politics at the moment. For what? There’s no reason. For me, it doesn’t make any sense. We all know a racist is in office.” He added: “When you have the responsibility of being President and you carry on like that, you send a strong message to people outside of your group that they ain’t worth shit.”
Throughout his essay the Illmatic rapper bragged that he was able to have success no matter who was in the Oval Office: “Whatever president may be in office doesn’t affect my work directly. The way he affects people is what affects me...The person himself, I’m not caught up with. I don’t even have time for Trump or Pence. I don’t give a fuck.” Nas then finished the ode to his own self-reliance by ironically bashing a president who preached it:
“I’m doing all the things I ever dreamed of, even though there was a Ronald Reagan, even though there was laws that ruthlessly destroyed the black community, put tons of us in prison on trumped-up charges, and put us in jail for a long time over crimes that other people get a smack on the hand for. It’s basically slavery.”
Back in 2014, he told PBS host Charlie Rose that he was once a “a rebel to America” but admitted, after he enjoyed musical success, that he now loves the country.
The following are the relevant excerpts from Nas’s May 30 essay “Action Speaks Louser Than Words, No Time for Lippin’ in the So-Called ‘Trump Era’”:
The Creator put us here to do our thing, so I do my thing. And I don’t pay attention to politics at the moment. For what? There’s no reason. For me, it doesn’t make any sense. We all know a racist is in office. People can talk their shit. Comedians can sound racist. People can go through their moments of that shit, but when you have the responsibility of being President and you carry on like that, you send a strong message to people outside of your group that they ain’t worth shit.
So why would I focus on that unless I’m in the political game? Unless I’m running for office I don’t have to pay attention to know that. If I ever vote again—when it’s time to vote again, and I feel like voting again—I don’t have to follow the news to know who I’m voting against. But then you wind up saying “Who’s the next motherfucker coming in, and how does that help?”
My way of addressing these issues is through my work. Whatever president may be in office doesn’t affect my work directly. The way he affects people is what affects me. I observe what’s going on and that goes into my creative process. The person himself, I’m not caught up with. I don’t even have time for Trump or Pence. I don’t give a fuck.
...
But in reality, art is gonna thrive regardless. Whether it’s affected by who’s in office or not, art thrives. I live in that— I live in those walls, I live in those wires, I live in those pencils and papers, and that sound. I’m not caught up in politics. I saw Gerald Ford and his vice president Nelson Rockefeller. I saw Jimmy Carter. I saw Ronald Reagan, and I saw George Bush, Sr. I saw Bill Clinton, George Bush, Jr., and Barack Obama. I’m good.
...
I’m doing all the things I ever dreamed of, even though there was a Ronald Reagan, even though there was laws that ruthlessly destroyed the black community, put tons of us in prison on trumped-up charges, and put us in jail for a long time over crimes that other people get a smack on the hand for. It’s basically slavery.
