Check out Nas on the cover of this month's issue of XXL magazine. I also got an excerpt of an interview Nas did with MTV News yesterday on their weekly "Mixtape Monday" segment. Nas dishes some exclusive lyrics from his upcoming album "Nigger" and also sheds some light on some potential collaborators for the album. Unfortunately there is still no official release date, although Nas is suggesting February or March. I'm sure we'll hear an official announcement from Def Jam within the next few weeks.

"I feel like Cassius Clay right before he took down Liston," Nas said a couple of weeks ago in New York. It's almost time for the release of his album Nigger, and he even teased us by dropping a couple of lines from the album backstage at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom before a recent concert.

"Ay, yo, Queens get the money, n---as still screaming paper chase/ But presidential candidates ... ," he began reciting, the first time any media outlet has heard lyrics from the upcoming album.

"But the new album, man, this is an important piece for me," he said. "I'm proud of myself for doing it and taking it on. It looks like Black History Month [February] is gonna be the month to drop the album. If not, it comes when it comes. But it'll be here soon — soon like right-around-the-corner soon. It's not gonna be a waiting-for-a-long-time type thing. I'm blessed to be in this state of mind I'm in to do this music. ... I love what this whole thing is all about. I'm working with so many people. It is a lot of people I'm working with: Puff, Jermaine [Dupri], some underground cats. Some surprises."

Maybe he'll be working with Snoop Dogg again. The Dogg — who appeared on Nas' last album, Hip Hop Is Dead — supports Nas' concept behind the controversially titled new album. "I'm down with you, Nas," Snoop saluted. "Call me if you need a verse."

Another West Coast legend, Ice Cube, is also down to collaborate with Nas. "I'm totally open to working with him," said Cube, who has the first great song and video of 2008 with "Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It." "I just got back in town, I'm looking for him to reach out. I think me and Nas are, in a lot of ways, mirror images of each other. We try to make street knowledge and connect the streets with the politics of today. That's always a challenge. If we don't get together [on his album], we gotta tour together."

(Source: MTV News)