Nas
Nas and Jay-Z ended their fued in 2005. To show that they had made up, Nas made a surprise appearance at a Jay-Z concert in 2005. The two musicians performed Jay-Z's song "Dead Presidents" together. At this time, Jay-Z was the president of the record label Def Jam Recordings. Nas signed a contract with Def Jam in January 2006. On the Def Jam label, Nas released his next album in 2006. This album was called Hip Hop Is Dead. The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart. It was Nas' first number-one album since I Am..., and his third ever. In 2007, Nas announced that he wanted to call his next album Nigger. Because the title was a racial slur, many people were unhappy with this announcement. Nas was criticized by famous progressives like Jesse Jackson, and also by the conservative news channel Fox News. Because of the controversy, Nas decided to release the album without any title at all.