Nas on FOX 'Propaganda'

Rapper Nas joined members of MoveOn.org and Color of Change today outside FOX News headquarters to protest what they say is the network’s racist coverage of Barack Obama, black institutions and black people. Color of Change claims about 620,000 people signed petitions against FOX News.

An hour after he was scheduled to appear, the self-labeled Black Republican finally emerged from an SUV in a white t-shirt and jeans. He gave a short speech berating FOX for its “racist smears on Obama and all black Americans.”

“We already knew that FOX is not a news network, they are propaganda machine,” Nas said. “But with their racist attacks, they've gone over the line.”

It wasn’t more than five minutes after he had arrived that he was already climbing back into his car (It turned out to be a tactic to make onlookers think he had left, when actually he was coming back to take more questions. He came back 20 minutes later and talked to the press, as promised.)

I asked him if hip hop was still dead.After a flurry of questions about (terrorist fist jabs) and lynching parties, he cracked a faint smile. “Yeah man, it’s still dead. The spirit is alive, though.”

Then he was gone. For good.

Relatedly, an excerpt from his song “Black President”(from the album originally titled Nigger, but later changed to Untitled after an uproar), in which he seems just a little bit skeptical of Obama, is below:

I’m thinkin’ I can trust this brother. / But will he keep it way real?/ Every innocent nigga in jail gets out on appeal?/When he wins, will he really care still?

UPDATE: A FOX spokesperson emails the following statement:

“Fox News believes in all protesters exercising their right to free speech, including Nas who has an album to promote.”