The N-Word Should Be Indiscriminately Censored
Dismantling the double standard associated with this term
Not long ago, Kendrick Lamar was surrounded by some controversy over the use of the term ‘Nigga’. During the Hangout festival in Alabama last year, the rapper called up one of his fans on stage to sing along to M.A.A.D. City — a song from his album titled ‘Good Kid M.A.A.D. City’. For those who do not know the song, it is riddled with the use of this word. The term alone occurs 15 times in the song’s lyrics.
The fan who chose not to censor this term while singing along to the song got booed by the crowd and berated by Kendrick himself because she was white, and she wasn’t allowed to use that word. I detect a double standard here because, had the fan been black, it wouldn’t have been an issue. Kendrick himself wrote that song, made millions of dollars off it, had no issues using the word but thought it was okay to ask someone who paid to come and see his performance not to sing all the lyrics because they are white, and it is offensive to black people? Not at all! I believe Kendrick Lamar was being hypocritical.
If he doesn’t want people to use that word, then he should lead by example. He should not take it upon himself to censor certain paying fans from singing his own lyrics just because they are white. After all, they paid for a ticket like everyone else and should be treated the same.
I myself am a big fan of Kendrick — I paid £80 to attend his concert at Manchester Arena back in March last year and the venue was largely dominated by non-blacks. Everyone sang along to the songs, black and white alike. And although it felt surreal to hear the crowd singing along to these lyrics, I wasn’t offended by the fact that all these white people were using the word ‘Nigga’ because the word was being used strictly in the context of the song lyrics and not maliciously towards another individual.
My own stance on the issue is that the term should not be used by anyone at all — be they black or white. The argument that black people have reclaimed its use to add impact to lyrics is complete nonsense to me. Why would anyone trivialise such a derogatory term which is deeply rooted in the enslavement of generations of black people just to add impact to a song? It doesn’t make sense. The English Language isn’t so limited that one must depend on racial slurs to write impactful lyrics. There would be an uproar — and rightly so — if Drake used the term ‘Jew bag’ in any of his songs. No one would give him a pass just because he is a Jew. In fact, he would probably receive even more criticism because of his Jewish heritage.
Since a lot of young people look up to Kendrick Lamar and other rappers, they have a responsibility to make sure that they are leading by example and passing on the right message to young impressionable minds. Implementing a double standard towards the use of derogatory words in their song lyrics is not the way to go.
Originally published on my blog: mohmanyang.com
