httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RvKxDp9o44

Honestly I never intend to write this song. My producer Religion, saw a post I put up about a extremely racist commercial from the pen company Uniball. He was so angry about it he made the beat which would later become “New Nat Turners“. He called me after he sent it and we discussed how we would approach the song . We talked about how a corporation in 2013 would put out a ad like that and how people in our community would be willing to play a part in our own degradation.

Later that night I saw Kanye trending on twitter and tuned in to SNL to catch the live performance on his new song, “New Slaves”. About 5 minutes later I sent out this tweet.

At the time I never intended this to be the beginning of a song, it was just how I felt. I expanded on those feeling when I wrote the blog entitled, “If We the New Slaves, When Are We Gonna Get Free?“. Two days after the tweet I had a show in NYC. When I got to New York, walking around in the rain, I started to follow up on the thoughts of that first tweet. 20 minutes later I had the first half of the song written.

I never approached the song like, “I’m gonna curse in this one!” I really never write without a beat. I just starting putting words together describing how I felt about society in general and the rap industry as a whole. When I started saying what I came up with to the beat Religion had just sent me, it fit perfectly so I kept writing.

I knew some people would have a issue with my use of explicit language because I almost never use it. My intention was not to offend anybody, I just wanted to be true to the spirit in which I wrote the song. I don’t feel like the language is gratuitous, I just wanted the listeners to be absolutely clear on my stance and know that I am not playing. But I did upload a “New Nat Turners [Clean Version]” for people who play my music around their children or who just don’t want to hear me curse.
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I don’t see this as a diss to Kanye West. I like “New Slaves” and “Black Skinhead”. I’m glad he came with more substance on his album. I really see this song as a direct challenge to this failing rap industry and those who run it. I’m also letting my people know I refuse to be a slave to this industry no matter how lucrative it could be. I want to help tear this industry down so artists can be free to be who they are and not feel they have to compromise or sellout to be a part of the machine.
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Nat Turner and Dessalines are revered but very controversial men historically speaking. Neither had any interest in compromising with their oppressor, and both used extreme measures to liberate their people. It was with their spirit that I wrote this song.