Nas defends album title

Nas defends album title

NEW YORK — To some, it’s a hurtful racial epithet. For Nas, it’s an album title. The rapper told MTV News that he would indeed be naming his new album after the N-word. And he denied earlier reports that the album’s title would be spelled “N---a,” considered in some circles a less inflammatory epithet. He said the disc is due out Dec. 11. “[People] shouldn’t trip off the [album’s] title; the songs are crazier than the title,” he said in an interview posted on MTV’s Web site. But some have been outraged by the rapper’s choice. “The title using the ’N’ word is morally offensive and socially distasteful. Nas has the right to degrade and denigrate in the name of free speech, but there is no honor in it,” the Rev. Jesse Jackson said in a news release. “Radio and television stations have no obligation to play it and self-respecting people have no obligation to buy it. I wish he would use his talents to lift up and inspire, not degrade.” Nas said his intent in naming the album the N-word was to take the sting out of it. “We’re taking power from the word,” he added. “No disrespect to none of them who were part of the civil rights movement, but some ... in the streets don’t know who [civil rights activist] Medgar Evers was ... they know who Nas is,” the rapper said, referring to the civil rights leader slain in the 1960s.

Rapper T.I. seeks release

ATLANTA — T.I.’s lawyers asked a federal judge Friday to release the rapper on $2.2 million bond and allow him to have monitored home confinement while he awaits trial on weapons charges. Defense attorney Ed Garland proposed putting a person in T.I.’s home 24 hours a day to monitor activities there. T.I., whose real name is Clifford Harris, would also have to submit to electronic monitoring. Harris would surrender his passport and his right to drive, and would submit to random searches of the home and random drug screening. Harris was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday on weapons charges, including possession of machine guns. His indictment followed his arrest last Saturday for allegedly possessing unregistered machine guns and silencers and of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms.

Amy Winehouse arrested

OSLO, Norway — British singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse was arrested in Norway for marijuana possession and held overnight, a police official said Friday. Winehouse, her husband Blake Fielder-Civil and a third person were released at around 7 a.m. Friday after paying $715 in fines, Prosecutor Lars Morten Lothe said. The trio were arrested shortly after 6 p.m. at a hotel in Bergen in southwestern Norway, where Winehouse is on a European tour, after a tip to police.

Wagoner hospitalized

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Porter Wagoner has been hospitalized with an undisclosed ailment and is in serious condition, his publicist says. Darlene Bieber said the 80-year-old Grand Ole Opry star, known for his trademark rhinestone stage outfits, “is asking for prayers from his friends and fans.” WSMV-TV reported that Wagoner was admitted to the hospital earlier this week for observation. He was hospitalized for two weeks in July 2006 after suffering a stomach aneurism.

Today’s birthdays

Country singer Wanda Jackson is 70. Singer Tom Petty is 57. Baseball All-Star Keith Hernandez is 54. Actor Viggo Mortensen is 49.Rock musician Doug Eldridge (Oleander) is 40. Rapper Snoop Dogg is 36. Country musician Jeff Loberg is 31.