{"id":4282,"date":"2022-03-31T18:33:54","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T23:33:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/read.streamapse.com\/?p=4282"},"modified":"2022-03-31T18:33:54","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T23:33:54","slug":"a-linguist-breaks-down-why-white-people-should-never-rap-the-n-word","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/streamapse.com\/Magazine\/?p=4282","title":{"rendered":"A linguist Breaks Down Why White People Should Never Rap The N-Word"},"content":{"rendered":"

At one of his recent shows, the Pulitzer Prize winning rapper and emcee Kendrick Lamar asked a white fan to stop rapping the n-word<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The crowd in Gulf Shores, Ala., started booing as the fan used the racial slur. The rapper had invited the fan identified as \u201cDelaney\u201d on stage to sing \u201cM.A.A.D. City<\/a>\u201d during his set.<\/p>\n

But he stopped the music and told her, \u201cYou gotta bleep one single word.\u201d Delaney appeared not to realize why Lamar had stopped her from singing. She asked: \u201cAm I not cool enough for you, bro?\u201d<\/p>\n

She apologized, saying: \u201cI\u2019m so sorry \u2026I\u2019m used to singing it like you wrote it.\u201d<\/p>\n

A video recording of the incident in Alabama has reignited<\/a> a controversy that gained wide attention last year.<\/p>\n

Last fall social media erupted<\/a> after a video of white sorority girls<\/a> singing along to Kanye West\u2019s mega hit<\/a> Gold Digger<\/em> went viral. The lyrics include the word n-gga<\/em>. The students promptly apologized<\/a> and were absolved of racism by their university<\/a> and by commentators and journalists \u2014 most notably Piers Morgan<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Morgan, writing in the Daily Mail<\/em>, insisted that white listeners of rap music cannot be reproached for using the n-word. Rather, he said, they are targeted and exploited by Kanye and other Black celebrities, who send mixed messages<\/a> about whether the n-word is offensive. Morgan wrote: \u201cThe only way to stop its use is for everyone to stop using it, including Black people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though Morgan\u2019s take on the n-word was widely derided<\/a>, it went viral, and a few commentators endorsed it in whole<\/a> or in part<\/a>. As a white fan of rap music and as a linguist who writes<\/a> and teaches<\/a> about hip-hop language, I feel compelled to add my voice to others who have countered his poorly informed arguments.<\/p>\n