Should All Artists be Able to Use the Word “N****” in their Music?

Previously, I published an article about Kendrick Lamar winning the Pulitzer Prize for music due to his excellent lyricism in his album DAMN. The Pulitzer’s committee stated that his album is “a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.” Just a few days ago, Lamar received his prize at Columbia University. As stated by the Pulitzers, Lamar’s lyrics depict underground African-American lifestyle, so he often includes profanity, specifically the n-word in his music.

On May 20th, Kendrick Lamar was performing on stage in Alabama, a state with a high population of African-Americans. Lamar often invites fans in the front row to join him on stage during his concerts, and this time was no exception. On that day, He invited a few white girls to rap “M.A.A.D City”, a song in his second studio album, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City. One of those girls, named Delaney, was very excited to perform on stage. At first, Lamar asked the crowd to cheer for her, and she responded with “I swear I got you.” The first verse she was about to rap was the hook, which contained the racial slur and the end of each line to rhyme. She avoided the first n-word smoothly, but she clearly rapped the n-word in each of the following three lines. The crowd reacted accordingly to this, as sighs and boos became louder each time. Lamar waited for her to finish the hook, then interrupted her. The crowded booed heavily as Delaney asked, “Am I not cool enough for you? What’s up, bro?” The rapper reached his arm out and responded to her, “You gotta bleep one single word though.” Delaney realized her mistakes, asked whether she said the N-word or not, and then apologized to Lamar and the audience. The crowd wanted her to get off the stage, but Lamar allowed Delaney to have a second chance and thus, she promised that she won’t let him down. Delaney mindfully avoided the word; however, she forgot an entire line of lyrics. As she struggled to recall the lyrics in the verse, Kendrick Lamar stopped her, saying “it’s over.” Watch a fan-shot video about this here.

Since then, the video has gone viral. The majority of viewers disliked the video, and most of the comments criticize Lamar for excluding a race from saying a word, or setting the white girl up. Youtubers and television hosts have also called Kendrick Lamar out, notably Paul Joseph Watson and Ben Shapiro, who both referred to Kendrick Lamar as an idiot and expressed empathy for Delaney. Other YouTubers such as Ethan from H3H3 and music critic Anthony Fantano also talked about this situation, but they reacted more calmly and pointed out mistakes from both sides.

Personally, I don’t think Kendrick Lamar did anything wrong, because it’s understandable to be sensitive about a racial slur offensive to your own race. I don’t think he set the white girl up because he also invited two other girls to rap the same song, and both avoided the N-word mindfully. This context suggests that it was expected for Delaney to not say the word as well. Delaney deserves blame as well because of her reaction after Kendrick Lamar stopped her. She was not aware at all about the N-word as seen in her response. Furthermore, Lamar did not purposely humiliate Delaney since he asked the audience to hype her up.

This is not the first time a white fan has said the N-word in a black artist’s concert. Travis Scott and a white fan sang along to Scott’s song “3500” which repeated the line “Only trill n**** I know”. Scott was clearly hyped at the moment and grasped the fan’s shoulders as they jumped up and down. The crowd cheered for the white boy, and Travis Scott couldn’t hold back a smile. Afterward, Scott said in an interview, “This makes me wanna cry. A lot of years ago nobody ever wanted to see this happen.” Scott was praised online for this situation, as comments under the video support Travis Scott over Kendrick Lamar. Comparing these two incidents, I feel like it is acceptable to sing along to the lyrics with the N-word if the artist grants you permission, but one must acknowledge the power and the context of it. Delaney’s reaction after Lamar stopped her makes me think that she was not fully aware of the environment. In contrast, Travis Scott clearly encouraged the fan to rap the line explicitly since he said it once then held the microphone in front of the fan’s mouth.

White and biracial artists have also discussed the N-word in their work. On his hit song “Freaky Friday”, Lil Dicky transforms into Chris Brown and takes advantage of being in Brown’s body because he can finally say the N-word. On his 2013 song “White Dude”, Lil Dicky questions whether Hispanics can use the word and expresses how being able to use the N-word will help out his rhymes; he gave an example of that on his 2015 song “The Antagonist”, rhyming a flow with “figure”. Lil Dicky has since been criticized for being racist and hypocritical, while simultaneously receiving support from his fans to allow him to say the N-word. Eminem, who is 100% white but raised in a black background, never included the N-word in his songs but similarly set the word up in “Criminal“. In response to his song, Nas granted Eminem the right to say it and referred to Em as the N-word. Eminem never responded though. Drake, a light-skinned biracial, frequently uses the N-word in his songs. Drake admitted that he’s even unsure if he can say it himself. Logic, a biracial who looks totally white, often discusses political and racial issues in his verses. He does not censor the N-word and receives severe backlash for that. Joyner Lucas dedicated a single “I’m Not Racist” towards racial inequality and rapped about the usage of the N-word.

Lots of people suggest the complete abolishment of the N-word to avoid controversial situations affiliated with the usage of that word. Some others think that everybody should be able to use the N-word with an “a” at the end to greet people or refer to an individual just like how artists do. The N-word is a part of African-American culture, yet it could be easily replaced with other words such as “homie” or “dude”. Just like other vulgar words, mainstream culture is a significant reason why the N-word is still used today. So what do you think, should the N-word be used in songs? Can people who are not black quote the N-word directly? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.