There's been a lot of controversy surrounding the release of Nas' 8th album. The Queens rapper had originally hoped to title the album an offensive racial epithet for African Americans, a decision that was immediately met with outrage by the media who declared his choice as a marketing ploy. Of course, the outlets behind those criticisms were the typical conservatives who are easily riled up by anything remotely offensive, including figures like Bill O'Reilly, Rev. Jesse Jackson and even his own label Def Jam, who threatened to drop the rapper if he didn't change the name.

After a countless number of feathers were ruffled and too much ink was spilled over the controversy, Nas finally buckled under the pressure, stating that the fans would understand the album's true name even if it wasn't plastered across the cover. But instead, Nas features equally as offensive imagery on the album art as the original title would have conveyed, showing the letter "N" formed on Nas' back out of lashes, presumably meant to represent slave whippings.