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Here's my position on "the n word," and rap, I wish rappers who were in the crossover appeal business didn't use it. If you're gonna be doing concerts for mostly White crowds, you need to quietly drop that word. But, that has nothing to do with the fact that it's a racial slur...
...This is part of the central paradox of Black commercial art in a White society, a certain level of wealth is only achievable if you cater to Whites. Part of what sells rap is the idea of "authenticity," which has come to be bound up with using the Black vernacular...
...Whites don't have any license to use it, full stop. But if you wanna have this conversation, it needs to be about that word no longer being a part of mainstream popular culture, not about letting Whites disrespect all of us with impunity...
...I remember once watching a Black comedian on comedy central who was letting the word n*gga fly with abandon. The show was funny, then I realized, millions of White 14 year olds are watching this and getting new racist ammo to hurl at their Black peers...
...However the issue boils down, Jay-Z isn't dealing with the fallout, some random kid who's the only Black student in his school district is dealing with people quoting racial slurs at him because they think it's funny...
...Now, I wish to be clear, Whites have never needed Black comedians or rappers to teach them how to use racial slurs. This just adds another layer of not-so-plausible deniability. It's some more bullshit they can hide behind.
