On the day Nas' untitled album hit No. 1 on The Billboard 200, the rapper joined political groups Color of Change and MoveOn.org, along with fans and protesters, outside of the Fox News building in New York to protest the network's portrayal of African-Americans.
Color of Change and Move On delivered several boxes containing a petition signed by more than 620,000 people to support their cause, although Fox News refused to accept them.
Nas briefly spoke before the crowd of over 100 people where he urged Fox to "stop the racist smears on the Obamas and Black Americans." In his speech, he cited examples of remarks made by Fox reporters, including a reference to Michelle Obama as Barack Obama's "baby mama," and a fist bump between the couple as a "terrorist fist jab."
Color of Change director Andre Banks said the campaign began about a month ago as an e-mail to the group's members. After hearing Nas' Fox-themed song Sly Fox a couple of weeks ago, he wanted to contact the rapper in hopes to get his support. "[We said], 'Let's call up his people and see if we can make it happen,'" Banks said.
Some protesters' signs read "Fox News: Your Source for Racist Smears" or "Fair and Balanced? Fairly Racist," while others' echoed lyrics from "Sly Fox," like "Fox keeps feeding us toxins."
Last night, Nas took his campaign to Comedy Central's, Colbert Report to discuss where he blasted O'Reilly and performed Sly Fox. With his trademark staccato delivery, he contrasted criticism of violent entertainment to U.S. foreign policy.
"They say I'm all about murder-murder and kill-kill...What about Cheney and Halliburton? The backdoor deals on oil fields."
