Niggger

Nas will release his new "Untitled" album July 15.

"It's important to me that this album gets to the fans," Nas said of his newest project. "It's been a long time coming. I want my fans to know that creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same content and the same messages. It's that important. The streets have been waiting for this for a long time. The people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it."

In advance of the untitled new album, which will be issued on the Def Jam/Jones Experience imprint, the first official single will be "Hero," produced by Polow Da Don.

Over the past few weeks, two tracks from the album have been leaked: "Black President" (produced by DJ Green Lantern) and the album's closing track "N.I.G.G.E.R. (The Slave and The Master)" (produced by DJ Toomp), containing the provocative lyric, "They say we N-I-double-G-E-R/ We are, much more/ But still we choose to ignore the obvious/ Man, this history don't acknowledge us/ We were scholars way before colleges..."

One of the albums tracks is "Fried Chicken" featuring Busta Rhymes, produced by the Grammy winner for Producer Of The Year, Mark Ronson. "Fried Chicken," finds Nas and Busta mixing metaphors over a throwback Ronson track.

"When I was young, sitting in my room hammering out beats on my MPC, Nas was one of those truly legendary artists that you daydream, 'One day, I'll get to do a track for...,'" says Ronson. "We finally met Grammy night in LA, and he said he wanted some stuff from me for the album. I started thinking to myself, as a Nas fan, 'What kind of beats would I love to hear him over?' That's how the Dapkings and I came up with the track for "Fried Chicken", and I reckon it sounds like a stone cold classic."

The untitled new album will also include collaborations with producers Stic.Man from Dead Prez, Jay Electronica, Stargate, DJ Cool & Dre, and others.