With the internalization of rap and the huge use of the N-word within the genre it brings to question are fans outside of the black community able to say the N-word while rapping along to a song?

Many people who believe using the N-word in rap lyrics is fine and bring up the argument that it is just a word.

A word that we give power to well that’s easy for people who have never been called that word to say.

It is definitely more than just a word, it is a word that has been used to oppress the black community for hundreds of years and is still used as so today.

Many of times, rappers use the word to make a point within their music for example in Jay Z’s album “4:44” on the track “The story of O.J.” he constantly repeats the word to tell the black community that it doesn’t matter what economic class you’re in or who you are.

Racist white people will still treat you as the word that has oppressed you.

Now, not every black rapper has used the word in this manner to send a message to the people.

Sometimes rappers just use it as a filler, one could argue it’s a lack of creativity from the rapper not being able to use a different word, but that is their choice they know what the word means and how it has affected their community.

Plenty of people who rap the lyric are millennials. Gowing up you heard the word casually being thrown around used with the same connotation as the word dude.

That is why many of people now a days just say the word without thinking twice about it.

Many black people from the rap or hip-hop community believe the N-word should not be said from anybody outside of the black community.

They argue that it is their word now and whether they chose to use a word that has oppressed them it is their choice to make.

However, it is a word that has hurt their community and no one outside of the black community could feel the hurt or could fully understand how the word has affected and still affects the lives of those in the black community.

People argue if the rapper did not want their audience to say the word, why put it in their lyrics?

At the time, the rappers mindset when writing a verse may not involve them thinking of the audience repeating the word while listening to the song on the radio or at a concert.

The rapper is in their own world when writing a verse, expressing their emotions, expressing their thoughts and making the music for themselves — writing something that makes them happy.

It is easy enough to just skip over the word and not say it at all. There are more bars that your favorite rapper has which don’t include the N-word that you could rap to.

Embed from Getty Images