Recently, during a performance of his song ''m.A.A.d city'', Kendrick Lamar pulled a white girl up on stage to rap the lyrics along side him. The word ''nigger'' is used in the song 20 times, remember, he wrote this! He then proceeds to have his DJ stop the song mid-way through and tells the white girl to essentially censor herself in regard to that word, don't say that word! Sing all the other lyrics but don't use the word ''nigger''.
I completely disagree with the sentiment here and I actually can't believe people are behind him on this. I'm white, just for the record, and I've been a hardcore fan of Hip Hop since I was about 11/12 years old. I understand the weight it carries, the history behind it and that out of context it's a disgusting, ignorant and hurtful word to use, but, and this is the point everyone's missing, in context, well, it's fine.
When is it okay to use the word ''nigger''? I'll refer to it as the n-word from this point on because I imagine seeing it in plain sight is probably making you uncomfortable. When is it okay? That's not up to me to say but I'll say this, the way I've used it thus far is surely fine? It's about context and intent, a perfect example would be singing along to your favourite rapper's lyrics when he pulls you on stage to do so.
As a fan of Kendrick Lamar, a white fan and a white rapper noless it just annoyed me to see something like this, it's 2018 and there's ''nothing more influential than rap music'' to quote Kendrick himself, I sing along to m.A.A.d city, it's one of my favourite Kendrick songs and you best believe I'm not fucking censoring myself when I do! What is this, Black Mirror?
At no point do I seek out use of that word either, let me just set that straight! I'm not the type of white boy who's dying to say what's up my n-word to my black friends, that's a little different, even if something like that was said by a white person with nothing but love in their heart it's still ignorant, offensive and unnecessary, but a fan singing your lyrics, a fan you chose to pull on stage to sing your lyrics, come on!
For Kendrick I recommed a few things in case something similar happens in the future. 1. Stop using the n-word in your music. 2. Don't pull a white fan on stage to sing along. 3. If you pull a white fan on stage to sing along don't get offended when they do. 4. Maybe just stop white fans coming to your shows completely?
It's a touchy subject, it truly is, and I don't mean to come across as insensitive, I accept the level of ignorance I may have concerning the matter but it's a song, they're lyrics, it's art, it's Hip Hop and it's a black artist, in context it's more than fine, this isn't some skin head Nazi group from the south draped in Confederate flags, it's Kendrick Lamar and with the way he reacted to it I can't help but feel a little offended.
It could have been an in the moment sort of thing and he just didn't think ahead, he could have been reacting to the awkwardness of the crowd, maybe the chick made him feel awkward, maybe he was just right to do what he did, he wasn't a prick about it to be fair to him and it's definitely an issue beyond Kendrick Lamar but I think it's worth a little discussion because we should be past this as a human race by now.
Maybe I'm wrong, what does everyone else think about this? Let me know in the comment section.