The NAACP buried it, a whole generation revived it, changed the connotation and made it their own. While the “N” word has been a sensitive topic for many years, it’s never been more controversial than it is now.

Hip-hop artist Nas has chosen it for the title of his latest album.

In an interview with MTV News, Nas said that he wanted to use his influence to lessen the impact of the term. He said, “No disrespect to none of them who were part of the civil rights movement, but some of my [explicit] in the streets don’t know who [civil rights activist] Medgar Evers was.”

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As the financial advisors were introduced, a DJ spun records. Fans rose to their feet. Girls shrieked with joy.

Who would’ve thought investing tips and credit management could be so sexy?

The Hip-Hop Summit’s Financial Empowerment Tour hit Atlanta Saturday, pulling off the seemingly impossible. On a warm, sunny afternoon, about 1,000 people, most of them young, packed Morris Brown College’s gymnasium to attend a seminar on financial planning. The folks at Merrill Lynch must be jealous.

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The American Music Awards kicked off the award season in style and are a showcase of the finest in each musical genre. But this year found Hip Hop to be the one to get the cold shoulder on the big stage.

Boasting performances by Chris Brown (w/ T-Pain), Mary J Blige, Fergie (w/ Will.i.am), Queen Latifah, Rihanna (w/ Ne Yo), Alicia Keys (w/ Shabba Ranks, Elephant Man and others) and Beyonce (performing her hit “Irreplaceable” with bluegrass group Sugarland), the 2007 AMAs were missing the element of hip hop throughout the show.

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) — Rapper T.I. was arrested on federal gun charges just hours before he was scheduled to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards, according to federal authorities.

The entertainer, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested in a federal sting Saturday after his bodyguard-turned-informant delivered three machine guns and two silencers to the hip-hop star, according to a Justice Department statement.

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It was advertised as a panel discussion on whether hip-hop is “responsible for the destruction of the black community.”

Instead — with the topic too explosive or too controversial, perhaps — the panel devolved into all-out argument.

For the past year, since Seinfeld actor Michael Richards’ tirade and shock-jock Don Imus’ on-air controversy, hip-hop’s influence has been much discussed. Prominent leaders called for the burial of the n-word, and hip-hop moguls such as Russell Simmons argued that misogynistic words should be voluntarily removed from albums. CNN even aired a multipart, multiday program titled Hip-Hop: Is It Art or Poison?

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Walking into the Spanish Moon this past Saturday night was like traveling back to the ’70s when break dancers spun on their heads, hip-hop was actually hip-hop and graffiti was more than vandalism.

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