commerical hip-hop is not the only kind of music out there in the world. people are making money off it, blah blah blah, but at WHAT EXPENSE? why don’t these musicians give a rat’s ass about their own communities? the white male CEOs in charge of some of these record companies are NEVER going to truly care about how the music affects the most vulernable among us. so who has to care? the moral imperative is on the artists who typically come from that same community! fuck. it’s so obvious. how can you not see it?

singing about designer clothes and expensive watches and cars and bitches and hoes is all a bunch of bullshit. this is just commercial hip-hop. nothing more. and it has a horrible effect of the ideals and values and self-perceptions of kids. as a teacher, i’m fucking sick of dyson-like apologists for this shit. do you really want to make a legacy for yourself on defending the freakin’ n-word?

how many people have died or been abused and insulted in this country’s past in order for that word to disappear???
fuck!

why assume that he’s some pansy for white people?

maybe his experiences in creating programs such as the Def Poetry Jam etc on HBO changed him? you know, actually seeing hip-hop related culture channeled into positivity??

i can’t believe that there are intelligent black and african-american voices who are actually making a legacy for themselves defending the n-word. totally ludicrious.

look at your community!!! it is in misery. beside from the people who are entertaining white people via dribbling or singing or dancing, the regular people are in a type of misery - at least in the bay area. is there anything else you can offer other than defending a bunch of consumerist crap in commercial hip-hop?

i’m sorry if i’m coming off angry or annoying - but truly, if you are around middle school kids - and these are incredible kids, and you see how powerless they are in the face of media, you would understand. defending this commercial media, if you TRULY care about the community seems impossible.

I mean damn though, how long is these comments? Looks like those evil white motherfuckers stole another one.

Any damn way, that nigga was cakin off these motherfucking words and to a larger motherfucking part its those three words that got him this venue to make an announcement that any one give a fuck about. Personal growth? The only shit that grow was that niggas paper and now that he got enough he gonna rest on his niggalaurels.

Also don’t for a motherfucking minute talk shit on those rudius niggas. They white, but they some down ass niggas and if a few white motherfuckers gotta read this, I don’t give a good motherfucking gotdamn. Pay a nigga.

One.

That’s what INTEGRATION does to a mothafucka: make them try to appease whitey and his mama just to belong. Russell, Diddy and them niggas wanna be in the club, and want thier products to sell.

This shit is about getting paid in a different way. That’s why they running around here tryna get niggas to vote by having all these rappers talk about VOTE or DIE, knowing that shit is HYPOCRITICAL like a mothafucka because half the rappers can’t vote no way due to FELONY RECORDS!

This shit is ill and backwards as KrissKross ‘nem pants. Fuck them and the political party they rode in on!
Mutwasze (the activist comedian)

You’re missing the point of this site for real. You gotta start reading carefully because this particular post was written specially for you. If you’re getting all steamed about this, you gotta check yourself for some of that white guilt.

“look at your community!!! it is in misery. beside (sic) from the people who are entertaining white people… the regular people are in a type of misery”

Now I ain’t gonna call you a nappy-headed ho or something, but that’s just straight-up patronizing.

1) ok. is russell simmons EVER allowed to change his mind? which men are and are not? do you have list? can i get a copy?

2) you didn’t answer the question. how many masses of urban teens in low socio-economic areas, and youth of color, do you spend time with? been in a middle school or high school lately in these areas? do you give a flying fuck about how these kids perceive themselves as they grow up?

3) i am not claiming that getting rid of the “n-word” will liberate, uplift, or heal everyone and everything, but it will be good. it will be effective. it can’t hurt to get rid of it.

4) is your legacy as a black or african-american person going to be to defend the term “nigga”? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE?

5) to whomever called me patronizing - have you been to oakland or western addition in SF or bayview hunter’s point? am i supposed to pretend that there isn’t a lot of hurt and pain there? is that what i am supposed to do?

Not gonna happen.

rampant use of eyeliner will never have the power to contribute to feelings of low-self-esteem and elements of cultural-nihilism and lack of self-respect among white kids or emo-listening kids.

sorry, eyeliner will not make white kids vulnerable. white kids have countless examples or models in front of them of how to be, how to speak, or how to behave.

african-american culture no longer has powerful leaders such as mlkjr. or malcolm x or whomever. instead, the most recognized faces and voices and, dare-i-say, leaders for the black community happen to be musicians. like it or not, these artists have immense power. should they be legally responsible for the effects of their music? HELL NO. are they morally and spiritually responsible for the effects? FUCK YES.

if you don’t think they can handle that moral and spiritual responsibility, then YOU are the one being patronizing and paternalistic as fuck.

the middle class white kid in virginia or newport beach or D.C. listening to bitches-and-hoes hip hop only has an aesthetic and impersonal relationship to the music. they’ll grow up, move on, go through college, have kids, etc etc and the music was just music. they were never eligible to be effected in the way that young youth of color are affected. for this latter group, the relationship to the music is NOT just an aesthetic relationship, it’s much more personal, cultural, and familial. the music defines blackness to an extent. it’s a collective experience.

people have freedom to sing about whatever the fuck they want, but with freedom comes responsibility. the white CEO is never going to care about the possibly destructive effects on poor kids. the moral imperative MUST be on the artist.

in the words of dead prez: “them labels are the slave ships. . .”

One of my students is turning 14 today. I’m going to use this occasion to buy him a used copy of Mos Def’s Black on Both Sides. you know, an album that is actually about something, an album that doesn’t just perpetuate commercialism or violence of self-hatred, or a complete lack of respect for women, mothers, sisters, etc.

the stuff on the radio will never have the power to compare to artists such as Common, Mos Def, Jill Scott, etc…

Sure, not everyone is going to be as brilliant a writer as Mos Def

(example: “Hip-hop–Ad space for liquor”)

but is it too much to ask for to just the most vulnerable in the community in mind? is that really that much of a drag?

“how many people have died or been abused and insulted in this country’s past in order for that word to disappear???”

…really make me think you’re missing the point (it wasn’t the word they died for).

And since when is culture a reflection of the music? It’s the other way around.

1) ok. is russell simmons EVER allowed to change his mind? which men are and are not? do you have list? can i get a copy? NO, HE’S NOT ALLOWED TO CHANGE HIS MIND FOR POLITICALLY EXPEDIENT REASONS WHICH IS ALL HIS ACTIONS ARE ABOUT.

2) you didn’t answer the question. how many masses of urban teens in low socio-economic areas, and youth of color, do you spend time with? been in a middle school or high school lately in these areas? do you give a flying fuck about how these kids perceive themselves as they grow up? BEEN THERE, DONE THAT, GOT THE T-SHIRT. AND WENT BACK THERE AND THE SHIT’S STILL THE SAME. NEXT.

3) i am not claiming that getting rid of the “n-word” will liberate, uplift, or heal everyone and everything, but it will be good. it will be effective. it can’t hurt to get rid of it. NO GETTING RID OF THE N-WORD WILL NOT LIBERATE/UPLIFT/HEAL. HOWEVER, GETTING RID OF THE SYTEM OF WHITE SUPREMACY WILL. THEY’RE SUPPOSED TO HAVE A MEETING ON THAT THIS WEEKEND WHERE I LIVE. I’LL REPORT BACK.

4) is your legacy as a black or african-american person going to be to defend the term “nigga”? IS THIS WHAT YOU WANT YOUR LEGACY TO BE?……………YES, OH YES!

5) to whomever called me patronizing - have you been to oakland or western addition in SF or bayview hunter’s point? am i supposed to pretend that there isn’t a lot of hurt and pain there? is that what i am supposed to do?
YES, BEEN TO OAKLAND. GUESS WHAT? IT’S JUST LIKE DALLAS. NOTHING SPECIAL.

Help one lil nigga child and be happy Leyla. Be the change and all that other fake aphoristic shit the liberals chant to get mothafuckas to eat more granola bars.

If you respond, please make it 200 or words or less. And show yo work on a separate sheet of paper.

Nigga please! Get out the house, Nigga! That’s some patronizing bullshit.

PS. Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Dead Prez etc…ALL SAY NIGGA!

Word!

1) i know that no one died or struggled only over a word. of course not. BUT, perpetuating the word cannot help anything. out of respect to people who struggled, it might just kinda be nice to get rid of the fucking word for a variety of reasons. i don’t have to explain these reasons again. i agree, i am repeating myself.

2) is there anything that non-whites can do TODAY, even in the face of white supremacy and white dominance, to make their own communities better? (not that this effort, whatever it would look like, would absolve whites of their own responsibilities in confronting their own privilege…)

well, i can’t imagine Dead Prez not using it, i guess. but hey, they should consider not using it.

I can go on and on about this but it will never be done in a national effort. We all need to evaluate ourselves and then define who we truly are.

music doesn’t only reflect, it perpetuates.

media molds [consciousness], raises [kids], shapes [thinking].

(ain’t called the 4th estate for nothin)

ya feel me?

I have to say I agree with most of what Leyla is saying, and with what the Rev. Sharpton has been saying in the wake of the Imus scandal. The African American community obviously still faces legal, economic and social oppression from white society, but that is not to say that blacks have no responsibility for amending the ills plaguing their population. Gangsta rap artists, video producers, and their promoters are setting a terrible example for black youth, glorifying greed, violence, needless and conspicuous consumption, and disrespect for women, each other, and humanity in general. Not to mention the fact that they reinforce negative stereotypes about blacks, potentially increasing discrimination. As long as that kind of music keeps selling, major music labels will keep pouring money into promoting and distributing it. It is important that black leaders come out against such degrading material, and that blacks vote against it with their wallets.

As I see it, the “N” word has been co-opted by the black community to such an extent that it is synonymous with “man” or “person” when spoken by an African American, and is socially off-limits for whites. Continuing to use it in casual conversation and music doesn’t really degrade blacks, but it does create a social wedge between blacks and whites by creating a language barrier that whites aren’t allowed to cross. White people shouldn’t be using the “N” word, but when black people use it around whites (and in the media), it inhibits friendly dialog. The words “bitch” and “ho”, however retain all of their derogatory connotation, and their common use in commercial hip-hop to degrade all women is intolerable.

Language barriers obviously extend far beyond a few words. Blacks who speak in “the King’s English” rather than “black dialect” are often accused by their peers of “acting white” or having sold out, while whites who prefer to speak in “black dialect” are generally viewed as fakes by both blacks and whites. All of this tends to make communication between blacks and whites somewhat uncomfortable, and leads to social segregation. Personally, I think everyone needs to recognize that language is dynamic, that the same person can use different dialects in different settings, and it shouldn’t have a negative bearing on their character.

the word could be banished from hip-hop and economic and social segregation might still occur. the encouragement to morally and spiritually “ban” the n-word had nothing to do with white people or with relations between white and black people. i could care less if the n-word makes white people uncomfortable.

it’s about the EFFECT of it on the black community, itself. that’s the issue. i don’t care about appeasing tipper gore or lynn cheney or whomever, and i could care less if they deem the term distasteful. black and white relations is a whole other topic. and personally. a topic that is more of a distraction to progress and healing within the black community. that’s the main goal, i think.

perhaps i shouldn’t be so opinionated on the issue as an iranian-american. i don’t mean to offend.

this is the age of media. it’s not about being stupid. it’s about society realizing the power of these institutions and then dialoging to keep them in check. i don’t believe in legal censorship, again.

but, do kids? do they get it? i wonder. i’m not certain that the term is contributing or reaffirming both latent and obvious historic sentiments of [taught] self-hatred. i don’t even fucking know anymore.

who am i to pretend i know what is going on in the psyche of an 11-year old black kid?

i do know this - the term “black” bothers me.

james baldwin: “I’m only black because YOU think you’re white.”

but again, who the hell am i to be so bothered?!

Never mind the thinly disguised white power structure that disingenuously wears the mantle of “free speech” so they can sell more CDs, that tilts news reporting to create a fear of everything that’s not white (artificially villifying the global majority), that reduces non-whites to easily recognized caricatures… the message that NiggaKnow has caught (and is constantly pointing out) is that white is right and it’s not just the power structure that’s pushing it… that’s the sentiment ON THE GROUND.

The poorly hidden agenda, and the one that HipHop culture is promoting (knowingly or un-), is the elimination of black Americans. For white institutions (like the police and military) to engage in the wholesale genocide of black Americans would be an unspeakable horror which the world would condemn (and be powerless to stop/cheer privately). It would also be very expensive. But if white America can get their “enemy” to not only buy their own weapons and bullets but then do the deed for them, well it’s a win-win for the people in charge. It’s the underpinning of the British model of empire.

This website can exist because of rights that were hard-won but it’s still a protected minority, shouting from behind the wall. That the tools of your own destruction are being lobbed over the wall is something you’re not supposed to (or refuse to) recognize.

I believe Leyla’s suggestion that white kids will grow up and shed HipHop’s influence is mistaken. HipHop affects the way black people see themselves but it is also affecting the way a whole generation of white people (the next tier of the power structure) sees black people. And that generation (or the one after it) may not respect the wall any more.

I wish you all the best.

and THIS is what i’ve been saying all along…
play the game…
just don’t get all caught up in the incidental moves of the mere pawn