Untitled

Nas planned to call his ninth album by the most charged slur in the English language, as a statement about who owns that word. The title drew a storm of protest. Some retailers threatened to refuse it, and New York politicians including Hakeem Jeffries pressed the state pension fund over its investment in the album's distributor. On 19 May 2008 the title was dropped.

The cover kept the original idea alive. Mieeno Peluce photographed Nas from behind, shirtless, his back covered in raised whipping scars that form a large letter N, the mark of a lash turned into an initial. Tavon Sampson and Eric Altenburger handled the illustration and design, and Nas's name sits in red in the corner.

The image ties the withdrawn title directly to the history of slavery, so the album says with a picture what it was no longer allowed to say with words. As Nas put it, "the people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it." The album, officially untitled, was released on 15 July 2008 and debuted at number one.