Pitchfork

So Nigger didn't come out late last year, as planned. But don't you worry. The controversially-titled new LP from Nas (his follow-up 2006's controversially-titled Hip Hop Is Dead), not unlike the issues he addresses on it, isn't just going to conveniently vanish.

Originally slated for release in 2007, then bumped to February, then April, the album is now due, head-turning title intact, July 1 on Def Jam. Due very tentatively, it goes without saying.

Nas recently sat down with MTV.com to preview and discuss his latest opus. Addressing the delay, he told the website, "Somebody asked me, what's your inspiration for this album? Everything that's happening every day. I can't really turn an album in when, like, next week it will be something else that will come to light and make me want to write about something. It's hard to finally wrap it up, but I finally got there. I'm finally there now...This year looks like it's going to be amazing."

Nigger will include the tracks "Project Roach", featuring a point-of-view rap, and "Y'all My Niggers", on which Nas delves into the history of the titular epithet. Other songs include "This Is Not America", produced by Stargate, "Sly Fox", produced by Stic.Man of Dead Prez, and the title track.

As of a February MTV.com report, an unnamed DJ Khaled-produced track and a Polow Da Don-produced number called "My Legacy" were jockeying for first single status. Another track called "Be a Nigger Too", co-produced by long-time Nas knob-twiddler Salaam Remi and Big Jack, recently surfaced as well.

Jermaine Dupri and DJ Toomp are also rumored to have produced tracks on Nigger, and Rick Ross, the LOX, and both halves of Dead Prez will potentially guest on the record.

In other Nas news, according to a Billboard.com report, the rapper guests on the forthcoming Ice Cube album, Raw Footage. He'll also link up with the 2008 Rock the Bells tour for the duration of its summer run, but not before playing a handful of shows this month up north.

Nas:

05-16 Seattle, WA - Showbox SoDo
05-20 Calgary, Alberta - Whiskey Night Club
05-21 Edmonton, Alberta - Edmonton Events Centre
05-22 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan - Odeon Events Centre
05-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Plush Nightclub
05-24 Toronto, Ontario - Kool Haus
07-19 Chicago, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre *
07-20 Toronto, Ontario - Arrow Hall *
07-26 Boston, MA - Tweeter Center *
07-27 Washington, DC - Merriweather Post Pavilion *
08-02 Miami, FL - Bayfront Park Amphitheatre *
08-03 New York, NY - Jones Beach Theatre *
08-09 San Bernardino, CA - Glen Helen Pavilion *
08-16 San Francisco, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre *
08-23 Denver, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre *
08-30 Vancouver, British Columbia - TBA *

* Rock the Bells tour