Only nine short months since the release of Nas' last effort, Hip Hop Is Dead, the New York-based rapper announced that he plans to release his next album before the end of the year.

Seriously, Lil Wayne has set the bar way too high ... or fast anyway. Rappers are starting to work at the pace of ‘60s pop artists these days - but it makes for some serious competition. Hallelujah for Internet to watch the play-by-play.

Anyway, Nas says the album is about half way finished and he wants it in stores by December. Here's what he told MTV News about the release:

I'm really into [the idea of having] a summer album. But they say the fourth quarter is for big dogs. I been doing the fourth quarter for years, so I guess I'm at home in the fourth.


In other Nas news, the rapper was working on a video for "Hustlers" but it has now been shelved because of "timing issues." The "Black Republicans" video had a similar fate as well. Shooting on the video was scrapped when Nas and Spike Lee couldn't agree on a treatment.

Ah, the ego killed the art. Same old story.