Editing Nas (section)

===Bill O'Reilly and Virginia Tech controversy===
On September 6, 2007, Nas performed at a free concert for the [[Virginia Tech]] student body and faculty, following the [[Virginia Tech shooting|school shooting there]]. He was joined by [[John Mayer]], [[Alan Jackson]], [[Phil Vassar]], and [[Dave Matthews Band]].<ref name="vt.edu">[http://www.vt.edu/concert/ A Concert For Virginia Tech] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823205848/http://www.vt.edu/concert/ |date=August 23, 2007 }}. The Virginia Tech massacre; the bloodiest school massacre in American history, had taken place earlier that year, on April 16, 2007, when student Seung-Hui Cho, killed thirty-two people and wounded more, before committing suicide. Vt.edu. Retrieved August 1, 2007.</ref> When announced that Nas was to perform, political commentator [[Bill O'Reilly (political commentator)|Bill O'Reilly]] and [[Fox News]] denounced the concert and called for Nas's removal, citing "violent" lyrics on songs such as "Shoot 'Em Up", "Got Urself a Gun", and "Made You Look". During his "Talking Points Memo" segment for August 15, 2007, an argument erupted in which O'Reilly claimed that it was not only Nas's lyrical content that made him inappropriate for the event, citing the gun conviction on Nas's [[criminal record]].<ref>{{cite web|title=October 2007|url=http://www.radioswisspop.ch/en/music-database/musician/11133fec98642f34fc235ab06486e342c531a/biography|website=Radioswisspop.ch|access-date=October 20, 2016}}</ref>

On September 6, 2007, during his set at "A Concert for Virginia Tech", Nas twice referred to Bill O'Reilly as "a chump", prompting loud cheers by members of the crowd. About two weeks later, Nas was interviewed by Shaheem Reid of MTV News, where he criticised O'Reilly, calling him uncivilized and willing to go to extremes for publicity.<ref>Reid, Shaheem; Rodriguez, Jayson; Dukes, Rahman; Kash, Tim. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071001095939/http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape_monday/091707/ Mixtape Monday: Nas Sounds Off On Bill O'Reilly (Again!); Havoc Finally Drops The Kush]. MTV: September 17, 2007</ref> Responding to O'Reilly, Nas, in an interview with [[MTV News]], said:
{{blockquote|He doesn't understand the younger generation. He deals with the past. The people he represents are Republican, older, a generation that has nothing to do with the reality of what's happening now with my generation. ... He's not really on my radar. People like him are supposed to be taught and people like me are supposed to let niggas like him know. I don't take him serious. His shit is all about getting facts twisted or whatever. I wouldn't honor anything Bill O'Reilly has to say. It just shows you what bloodsuckers like him do: They abuse something like the Virginia Tech tragedy for show ratings. You can't talk to a person like that.<ref>Reid, Shaheem. [https://web.archive.org/web/20071214051308/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1569047/20070906/nas.jhtml?rsspartner=rssMozilla Nas Slams Bill O'Reilly Over Virginia Tech Comments]. MTV: September 6, 2007.</ref>}}

On July 23, 2008, Nas appeared on ''[[The Colbert Report]]'' to discuss his opinion of O'Reilly and Fox News, which he accused of [[Media bias|bias]] against the African-American community and re-challenged O'Reilly to a debate.<ref name="Colbert" /> During the appearance, Nas sat on boxes of more than 625,000 signatures gathered by online advocacy organisation [[Color of Change]] in support of a petition accusing Fox of [[Race baiting|race-baiting]] and fear-mongering.<ref name="Colbert">{{cite episode|title=Episode #04093 |url=http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/176358/july-23-2008/nas-pt--1 |series=The Colbert Report |series-link=The Colbert Report |network=Comedy Central |air-date=July 23, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140116184558/http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/176358/july-23-2008/nas-pt--1 |archive-date=January 16, 2014 }}</ref>