Nas Calls Out Trump in Open Letter: ‘We All Know a Racist Is in Office’

Nas penned an open letter, "Actions Speak Louder Than Words," in conjunction with the announcement yesterday that he'll be co-headlining a tour with Lauryn Hill starting this September, and in true Nas fashion, he kept it real.

In the letter, he talks specifically about current racism—"Some guy lynched in a tree at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia and the cops rule it a suicide." He also talks about Donald Trump—“We all know a racist is in office." And touches on his general discontentment with politics—"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." 

As aforementioned, the letter comes just in time for his announcement that he's headed out on tour with Lauryn Hill, and if this letter is any indication of the general vibe of the trek, fans can expect a moving experience that taps into the current social climate and struggles of Black folk.

Nas has been busy on the music front as of late. Just last week he dropped a video with DJ Shadow, "Systematic," where he spits, “The system will defeat itself / Nothing stays in a steady state, it overheats and melts."

Take a look at his open letter, in part, which was published in Mass Appeal below.

 

The only way the black man gets a little piece in America is if he takes the O.J. stance: “I’m not black, I’m O.J.” When you ignore the shit that’s happening to people you can live in this fantasy, this American fantasy that you belong to… who? You ignore what’s happening, and that gives you peace. Because what’s going on is enough to make people insane.

 

Some guy lynched in a tree at Piedmont Park in Atlanta, Georgia, and the cops rule it a suicide. Now, don’t get me wrong—suicides happen. There are blacks suffering from mental illness just like whites suffering from mental illness, except that whites who suffer from mental illness and have interactions with the cops, they end up living. Blacks, we get killed. So if you want to sit back and ignore all that, go the O.J. route. Just remember, even he got dealt with at the end of the day.

So where do I stand? I stand just as a man, doing what I have to do. Doing what I was born to do. No one can tell me who I am. No one can tell me where I can go and cannot go.

Read the full letter here.