Just curious. When did rappers start using the n word in their music?

Have you heard that new song by Eminem and Snoop Dogg?
I like Snoop but in the song lyrics he says the n word like at least 40 times? I only got to listen to it once. He's really over done it. I just feel that some people would find that offensive and that makes the song uncomfortable to hear anyway.

I was just listening to this classic (if I may) and it's pretty clean and it made me wonder about that other song. This was the coolest song in the world when I was in middle school 😎

[media=https://youtu.be/GxBSyx85Kp8]

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CountScrofula · 41-45, M

So my understanding is incomplete. It was really popularized through the rise of gangsta rap bands like NWA (literally n*** with attitudes). The use was super deliberate and political and defiant. Claiming a linguistic weapon used against you as something you own now which frankly is pretty common across a lot of groups.

And I dunno when this happens but 80s-90s you see the word become more normalized in black communities as a sort of term of community and fraternity and just a part of the culture while simultaneously still being one of the most hateful things a non-black person can say. You're gonna hear Snoop say it a million times because the dude has established a flow and patter over literal decades now and it's just a part of what works for him.

The politics of language is weird.

bijouxbroussard · F

@CountScrofula Not all of us, and not in all of our communities. There are many of us who consider the use of it very low class. It cannot be "neutralized" as long as white supremacists still use it, and black people are offended by it—as we should be. It was often the word black people heard while dying horrible violent deaths. The late Richard Pryor even stopped using it in his act because of the power of the word. Trying to somehow claim a word that has never belonged to us and never will wherever we’re a minority, is one of the biggest missteps imaginable.

CountScrofula · 41-45, M

@bijouxbroussard This is ABSOLUTELY not my place to form an opinion all I can do is point out what happened and what is. I'm sure this has been horrifying for you to witness.

What I can say is that if the word was successfully reclaimed, it'd be fine for me to write it out. And its not.

bijouxbroussard · F

@CountScrofula I get where you’re coming from. It’s just that too many lives have been lost over it, and that can’t be fixed. "Reclaiming" a word that was never ours makes no sense. Of course, it’s also generational. So someday, perhaps people will be naming their children some form of the word. Hopefully I’ll be well out of it by then. 😔

SW-User

@bijouxbroussard @CountScrofula I appreciate this conversation between both of you. I do hear it used in lyrics by musicians. I understand the concept of reclaiming a word and removing its power in slander. However, I have never tried to entirely form an opinion on the practice as I can't directly relate. I will only add, if it creates conversation, somewhere it's probably healthy.

bijouxbroussard · F

@SW-User If someone’s never been called it in a situation where there was no recourse (as when I was a child) they’ll probably never understand that context. It’s not possible to take the power out of a word that people still get beaten up or fired for using. And reclaim implies "previous ownership". It was never our word.

SW-User

@bijouxbroussard I understand that, and I think it's an overextension in word, reclamation. In Canada, it's being used properly when you think about it and in context of Indigenous populations. I was merely curious with an open mind, so thank you.

bijouxbroussard · F

@SW-User How is it used "properly" ? Other groups sometimes use it instead of whatever degrading name they were given during those same times.

SW-User

@bijouxbroussard I was talking about reclamation. The idea here is to give them back their dignity. I was more putting up a usage I think is more appropriate

bijouxbroussard · F

@SW-User How is it dignified to take the name others are still using to degrade you ? 🥺

SW-User

@bijouxbroussard Ask, them and in Canada there is a movement to let Indigenous people decide how they need to be healed, accepted, and their demands. It's not an easy process, and likely will fail, with politicians running it, but it's an attempt. I'm not likening it to what musicians are doing, I'm more giving an example that might actually offer more and be more respective of the idea of reclaiming.

bijouxbroussard · F

@SW-User And they think calling themselves the "n" word helps ? Perhaps I’m misunderstanding.

SW-User

@bijouxbroussard I, honestly, thinks that is misguided, but equally I can't say. I was putting up where I think it's being done more appropriately. Really both I can't speak of, so yes, I do appreciate listening and learning.

bijouxbroussard · F

@SW-User I agree that it’s misguided for a number of reasons. It is a degrading word. As a black person who’s been called it, I don’t even want another black person to call me that.

SW-User

@bijouxbroussard I'd prefer to rid the world of the word, personally. I'm sorry you have experienced that.

bijouxbroussard · F

@SW-User That’s exactly how I feel about it.