Taking a cue from Eminem, Nas has bumped up the release of his album to counter bootlegging.

After pushing The Eminem Show up a week in May, Eminem then moved to a non-traditional Sunday release (see [article id="1454533"]"Eminem Show Moved Up Again -- Album In Stores Sunday"[/article]). God's Son, which features a Slim Shady-produced track, will now hit stores December 13, four days before the scheduled and traditional Tuesday release date.

"God's Son is my most personal album and I poured my heart and spirit into it," Nas said in a statement released Wednesday (November 4). "It's important to me that the fans hear my album the way I intended. When you buy a bootleg or pirate a download off the Net, you don't get the real thing. The sound sucks, the sequencing is wrong, you're probably missing some tracks, and you don't even get the artwork and CD bonuses."

Nas' seventh album and follow-up to last year's Stillmatic features production from Alicia Keys, Salaam Remi and Alchemist (see [article id="1458824"]"Nas Joined By Eminem, Admits Rivalry With Biggie On God's Son "[/article]).

God's Son includes the current single "Made You Look," as well as a second version of the Tupac collaboration "Thugz Mansion," which also appears on the late rapper's new release (see [article id="1458966"]"On Tupac Video Set, Nas Says Rapper Better Than Shakespeare"[/article]).