So I went to a party on Friday night at a buddy’s house, and someone decided that we should freestyle. Now, I never pass myself off as any sort of beast on the mic, and I ain’t as good off the top of my head as I’d like to be, but I do okay. I was rhyming with Ham Diggy, who’s dope as all get out and can go on for as long as he so decides. With him there, I’m okay coming in somewhere around number two.
I was also the only black man in the house, which is always pretty interesting. Everyone always defers to me, even though I don’t think I’m that good. I doubt that’s humility talking, folks. I might just be getting the benefit of the doubt. Gotta love these naps in my hair…they have so much pull.
But in the middle of a rhyme, some cat decided to say “nigga,” and it wasn’t me.
Listen close, folks…
First, I’ll tell you how I defused that with as little as possible. When the cipher is going on, it’s fair game to come up with your first bar, so I hit the room with this…
“Facin’ probation for the way I kill tracks/and “nigga” is a word that’s reserved for blacks.”
After that, heads stopped nodding and dead silence hit the room outside of the rhymes I was spittin’ (what, you thought I was gonna stop?). No, there wasn’t silence when buddy slipped, but there was when I mentioned it calmly and without drama.
I had to handle it that way because I’ve gotten to old to drill white boys in the mouth for that transgression. I don’t think buddy was being malicious at all, but that was a cardinal mistake. An ass whoopin had his name on it, but I decided to hold on to it. I’m really not sure that I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t. That might make me foolish, mature, or a strange combination of the two, but I just hit him with a bar. Buddy came later and apologized, and I accepted it and moved on. I really don’t think he knew any better, a clear sign that he needs more black folks in his radar. I’ve never met a white boy that hung with black folks that thought he had the right, no matter how much rap music he’s listened to.
That’s right, white folks, you’re not allowed to say “nigga,” “nigger,” or any other etymological mutation of that word. Fuck that. I’m not even going to bother with an intellectual explanation of that because it’s useless. All that matters is the way it is, and that way is that if you say “nigger” around me in any way that isn’t a direct quote of what someone else said, you just might get mollywopped.
See, I’m lazy like everyone else, meaning that I have certain things I use as heuristic devices, little rules that save me the time of thinking. We’ve all got a few, whether you’re a woman and use a man’s gear to determine how “classy” he is or you initially judge someone’s intelligence by the amount of time his or her mouth spends open when he or she isn’t talking. We’ve all got ’em.
Here’s one of mine…if you’re black and say “nigga,” I’m assuming you’re using it as a term of endearment. If you’re white and say it, I assume you’re trying to disrespect me in one of the worst ways. If I’m wrong about that white boy’s intentions, chances are you’ll have to explain that in between cusswords or right-left combos. (And I rarely misjudge such bruhs because they’d never hang around me, anyway). I might be wrong, but I won’t apologize if I am. That’s just how it is. I’m not defending that, and I ain’t trying to hear any reason why I shouldn’t roll like that. No matter what you say, I’m going to roll like that. And if you grew up like I did, the only black face in the smart-folks classes in the backwoods of Texas, you’d roll the exact same way. Hearing white folks say “nigger” strikes a visceral reaction in me that I usually can’t fight. It’s even hard for me to listen to Patti Smith’s “Rock and Roll Nigger,” well-intentioned though she may have been.
I just don’t have time for the monkeyshine. White or black, neither should you.
But that put me in a strange place–too old to be fighting, pretty sure the cat didn’t mean any harm, but sworn to self that I would never go for something like that. I didn’t, but I did. I don’t fully regret it, but it’s a shame that I still wind up in positions when stuff like that could happen.
And for real, the damn rap music is to blame. I said it before…no white boy that hangs with black folks is dumb enough to say that, so it’s only those that don’t hang with bloods. So, if they’re not hangin’ with the bruhs, where do they even hear “nigger” in a familial way? That’s right…that damn rap music. Cats should stop saying it, the way I see it…I say it plenty, and that’s not likely to stop because the context in which I say it is never misunderstood. Folks should express themselves as they see fit. However, expression comes with consequences, and that need be understood.
So, to all you freestyling white boys out there, take note…ever hear Eminem or Bubba Sparxxx say “nigger?” You sure don’t, and they hang with more bloods than you do. Take the hint. Don’t let all that Wu-Tang you listened to in high school fool you…there are consequences and repercussions to the things you say. You’ll be lucky if all you get is a pointed rhyme.
Know dat.
9 thoughts on “Freestyling lessons for the Caucasoids in the house…”
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You make a good point but I don’t totally agree.
I work around a bunch of white folks that are HUGE Chappelle’s Show fans and I have never heard them use “the ‘N’ Word” when they are quoting his sketches. To be honest I would probably let them slide if they did. I have an “it’s not what they say but how they say it” policy.
If I detect a hint of hatred then I would be the first one to authorize a verbal and/or physical beat down. Also just reenacting a skit is fine but dropping it into everyday conversation is an entirely different thing. Then it might be a good idea to curse them out or beat them down. Better it come from a forgiving brother like me that will have some restraint than a thug that doesn’t give a damn.
But that’s just my 2 cents
One comment, from the perspective of a white male who has a few black friends. There’s no way in hell I’m using that word. And it sure as hell didn’t take a black person pulling me to the side and saying “Ummm, about that shit you were just saying….” to figure that out.
I’m a Cancer and I love everything and everybody : ) but you have to take a stand on certain issues and this is one of them. Something I learned from and old pimp….don’t let shit slide – they get out of pocket once, it will cost you in the end. They may not have any illintention, but if you let something like this slide once, they will do it again.
Better to put and end to it now – by whatever means you deem as neccessary (you handled it quite well) – before it happens again and you have to go Nat Turner on that ass.
Yo, didn’t Chris Rock (in that Spyke netwrok documentary on the etymology of the word ‘Nigger’) outline this by talking about how white folks just hate that there’s a word out there they can’t say? Whether it’s Quentin Tarantino or the dude trying to get his ghetto pass by hanging out with colored folk, I ain’t down. Keep such desires to yourselves and make sure I don’t hear the shit…
In case of emergency, blame rap music…
This white young guy from Pittsburgh, a member of this fine nation’s military, referenced Three 6 Mafia in a normal day’s convo and I nearly fell out of my chair. I knew hip hop was big, but I didn’t know it was so big. I thought white folk just know (and buy) the pop rap stuff. But young white folk especially are really absorbing our culture big time which includes our usage of the word nigger and all its forms. I don’t give a fuck what they think they know from listening the The Game’s weak ass or from watching Dave Chappelle. Recognize and beware that some shit shouldn’t come out of caucasoid lips especially in the presence of negroid ears.
Alright. First, allow me to qualify my statements for all the blog followers. A) I am black. B) I am from Tennessee, a BIG former slave state and current member of the Good Ol’ Boy network. C) I graduated from a Spelman where we learn about oppression from all sides (and, yes, that does mean a fair share of man-bashing, but if it makes you feel better, it was mostly white man bashing). I am fully qualified to give and deny the right to say “nigger”, and that is a privilege bestowed upon me by ancestry, intelligence, and being totally annoyed by the fact that this conversation even has to be had in 2005.So here it is. Check your hands. If there is little to no difference in the pigmentation of your palms and the other side, please repeat after me: “The N word is the lowest form of disrespect I can pay a Black person. I am forbidden from saying it, even in the company of only white people. Doing so could make me a racist in the eyes of others, and if I look closely enough at why I thought it was ok for me to use that word in the first place, I’ll probably discover that I am indeed a racist.”Next post: my views for all penis-owners and their use of the word “bitch”, especially Houstonian men.
Let me start by saying that, given the situation, I completely understand your actions but I contend it should not matter who calls you a nigga (nigger, etc.). The word is sufficiently derogatory to be perceived as a negative expression regardless of the “color” of the skin of the person saying it. I can only blame rap music for making it “cool” to be a nigga – not for my acceptance and use of the term. Simply put, neither nigger, nor any derivations of it are terms that I want to be called. I refuse to accept that word as a term of endearment. I prefer to demand respect from all people at all times rather than choose who can call me what when and in front of whom.
I used to HATE when folks would blame rap music for all societal woes. Now it’s a little more understandable why rap is blamed for glorifying the ‘N’ word, crime, etc., etc. I don’t use the word despite growing up hearing it damn near religiously – and my kids won’t use it either. My take is that it’s a derogatory word no matter who uses it (comedians should get partial credit for glorifying it also). It’s definitely a word laced with disrespect and, you can ask my peeps whether I find that word affectionate or not.
Hmm…some grandiose statements here I see…
Hey, like most of my Southern U.S.-native folks (I grew up in south Louisiana)..I was taught certain things like “don’t let nobody call you boy when you’re grown” and usage of the N-word. Yeah, around the mid-ninties I tried to get some newfound militancy by telling er’body to not call me the N-word, but I kept going back home and remembering my childhood – which featured improper usage and endearing usage of the N-word (you can’t blame a guy for his experiences).
I remember this one time in high school this white guy almost got mollywhopped and skulldrug for dropping the N-bomb. I was in D.C. for this presitgious H.S. program (and i was one of the few black faces, along with being very outspoken) and I was ironically listening to my Tical tape (Yes, this was 1995, y’all)..and white boy dropped the N-Word…My inner Denmark Vesey was about to come out, but I caught myself (I’m a minority in a setting where like it or not I’m representing my race). I woulda whupped his ass, but i woulda been on the first thing smokin back to Louisiana…
In short…I say this…if I’m with my brother, best friends/any African-American male i know really really well …then the obiligatory “Wassup mah nigga” followed by the black man hug will be in order…
I say this..treat the N-word like a condom: learn as much as you can about using it before you use it. You can get burned if you don’t use it correctly.