Over at We Who Are About To Die, Daniel Nester posted a letter from Nas to his label, Def Jam. MTV News spoke to an unnamed source from Nas’s “camp” who confirmed the letter: “”It was a personal e-mail,” the source said. “[The leak] wasn’t planned. It was not meant to be blasted out in the world, but we’re not upset about it.”” You should read the letter, which I feel maybe has some interesting relevance to so-called “indie lit.” And to even broader notions of privacy/publicity/social interaction/creative culture/cultural capital on the internet/feelings. I know less than most people about rap, so I don’t know how legit/awesome Nas is, but I feel like the letter is fun. Here are fun quotes:

“I could go on twitter or hot 97 tomorrow and get 100,000 protesters @ your building but I choose to walk my own path my own way because since day one I have been my own man.”

“People connect to the Artist @ the end of the day, they don’t connect with the executives. Honestly, nobody even cares what label puts out a great record, they care about who recorded it.”

“I have a fan base that dies for my music and a RAP label that doesn’t understand RAP.”