The Semi-Banned Music:

the Debate Over Lyrical Content and Themes in

Rap

Danny Tejada
DanielTejadaJr@hotmail.com
http://hiphoponmymind.blogspot.com
Skidmore College
Senior Seminar in American Studies
December 10, 2008

*The language contained in this paper might be offensive to some people.

Do not read this if you are one of those people.*
 Abstract

My Senior Seminar paper will discuss the censorship of Rap music over its lifetime. The

issues of sexism and the N-Word have been an important part of the criticism of Rap music. I

will explore how various groups tried to censor Rap directly and indirectly, the amount of

censorship that occurs today, male and female Rappers’ use of the word “bitch,” sexual themes in

the music, and Rappers wanting to start conversations on the N-Word. With all of these subjects

addressed, I make the point that the censorship that occurs today, while appropriate, is enough.

There needs to be an understanding between those in the industry and those who are trying to

limit the music regarding reasonable restraints that do not go too far in terms of limiting First

Amendment rights.

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 Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Professor Gregory Pfitzer, Sarah Magida, Samantha Levine and

Amy Proulx for all of their help with the paper. Without them, the paper would not have

developed into the form that it is in now. I thank my uncle Robert Markman for getting me

interested in writing about Hip Hop Culture. He helped me fulfill a fantasy of mine which was to

be involved in something I loved. I thank Kathy Simpson for helping me develop the idea of Hip

Hop Alliance and teaching me how to lead a discussion. I thank Mariel Martin for helping me

take Hip Hop Alliance to the next level. I thank Professors Joshua Woodfork and Lei Bryant for

making the Hip Hop Culture class possible. I thank the executive board of Hip Hop Alliance for

making the club as great as it is. Without them, Hip Hop Alliance would not exist.

I thank Professor Winston Grady-Willis for his teachings and advice. I thank the

American Studies department for their support and advice. I thank everyone who reads my blog

and interact with on the internet. I thank all of the artists and producers with whom I have

worked. I thank NaS, Mickey Factz, Ice Cube, Kanye West, KiD CuDi, 2pac, Ludacris, The

Game, T.I., Lupe Fiasco, Joell Ortiz, Saigon, Joe Budden, The Incomparable Shakespeare, BK

Cyph and Charles Hamilton for their music which inspires me to live, think and act. I thank my

family and friends for their support. I also thank everyone who has had a positive impact on my

life. Without any of these people, I don’t know where I would be.

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 Table of Contents

Why I Have Chosen My Topic...………………………………………………………………….5

What is Rap Music?.………...…………………………………………………………………….8

There are Limits on Speech?…....…………………………..……………………………………10

The Journey to Defining Obscenity…..………………………………………………….11

The Formation of the FCC……………………………………………………………….15

Parent Just Don’t Understand……………………………………………………………19

The Love that Hate Produced……………………………………………………………………21

The Beginnings of the Split……………………………………………………………...21

Where Did it Start within Rap?..........................................................................................24

Voicing Opinions through Music………………………………………………………...25

But, Women Refer to Themselves as “Bitches”...……………………………………….26

The Words Became Visuals……………………………………………………………...28

Out in the Streets, Marching to a New Beat……………………………………………..29

Niggers, Niggas & Niggaz……………………………………………………………………….32

Confusion Over the Origin of a Troublesome Word…………………………………….32

Using the Word to End It…………………………………………….…………………..33

NaS and the Album formerly Known as “Nigger”…..…………………………………..36

Enough is Enough: the Conclusion………………………………………………………………41

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..43

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 Why I Have Chosen My Topic

“Thank God for Kool Herc.

Without this shit, I probably would’ve got murked.”
-Jay-Z from Ludacris’ “I Do It for Hip Hop” (2008)

Hip Hop Culture means so much to me. I know very little about Breakdancing and

Graffiti Art, but I am very familiar with DJing and MCing. My research, hobbies and personal

enjoyment all tend toward the music of the culture, Rap. I love everything about it, the beats and

rhymes. When I was first introduced to Rap, I did not know that there was a difference between

positive and negative Rap. I experienced Rap music for the first time just like every other kid

today. I listened to what was current on the radio and television. 1997 is when I heard my first

track. It was Diddy’s “I’ll Be Missing You” from the album No Way Out.

It was the first time I had experienced any genre of music. It was amazing to me. As I got

older, I heard other Rappers like 2pac whom my father played a lot. In college, I was able to

listen to Rap that came out before 1997. When I first heard those records, I was blown out of the

water because I could relate to the experiences expressed in the music. They were timeless. I also

started to listen to Rappers like Kanye West and a sub-genre called Conscious Rap.

I loved the fact that Kanye West and other Rappers were communicating important and

meaningful messages about their lives and/or injustice. All genres of Rap contain important and

meaningful messages, but Conscious Rap always has included a message. While listening to this

genre, I was introduced to my number one favorite Rapper, NaS. He is an amazing Rapper to me.

I look up to him. I am inspired by him. When he started out, he rapped about his environment to

educate people. As NaS’ music became more mature his messages were clearer. That is what I

love about him.

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 Not only do I listen to and study Rap music, I am a part of it. I am a mixtape DJ.

Mixtapes are street albums that are used for promotional purposes. I have a mixtape series called

Underground Hustle in which I showcase unsigned talent. I also host and promote mixtapes with

underground Rappers. The underground scene is really different. When I started to listen to

Underground Rap, I was really impressed by what I heard. I wondered why these Rappers were

not being recognized by everyone. My role was (and still is) to help those Rappers get their

music out to the masses. When I talk to them, I always encourage them to come up with

something meaningful for the people. I do not see anything wrong with being a gangsta Rapper1

as long as one is educating people in a positive matter.

Rap is so great to me because Rappers express important and meaningful messages to

which I can relate. It gets me thinking about various issues that I normally do and do not think

about. I receive encouragement and hope from the music that I can achieve my goals. If it was

not for Rap, I probably would not be where I am at today.

Skidmore has also given me a chance to share my love of Rap through Hip Hop Alliance

and a radio show I host. I created Hip Hop Alliance in the Spring of 2006. The club is dedicated

to educating the Skidmore College community on Hip Hop Culture, its elements and history, as

well as its many issues with race, class, gender, sexual orientation and more. We do this through

events such as concerts, discussions and lectures. In the past, we have held discussions on the N-

Word, Homophobia in Hip Hop, and Sexism in Hip Hop. Last year, we organized Skidmore's

first Hip Hop Culture Week with Chuck D from Public Enemy as the keynote speaker without

being a chartered club. Today, we are a chartered club, and I am still the President. We continue

to bring people together and challenge them in dialogue.

1
A Gangsta Rapper is a person who Raps about committing violence, dealing drugs, and having sex.

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 For this paper, I will discuss Rap music and censorship over its 30 year lifetime. Before

you read anymore of this paper, I want to let you know that the language might be offensive to

some people. If you are one of these people, then I advise you not to read it. The turning point for

me to writing this paper was the controversy over my favorite Rapper NaS wanting to name his

last album “Nigger.” I thought that it was very interesting to see the uproar it caused. I wanted to

be able to examine that. With this paper, I will show the reasons for the censorship and the

amount of censorship today.

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 What is Rap Music?

“Rap is something you do; Hip Hop is something you live.”

-KRS-One

Various groups inside and outside of Rap music have tried to minimize or eliminate the

genre because of certain words and themes in it. These groups have censored music directly and

indirectly. Censorship does limit the music as a whole, since it affects not only the lyrics but also

the issues that Rap music confronts. Even artists themselves indirectly pushed back against each

other, undercutting the industry. The two major issues that the groups take on are sexism and the

use of the N-Word in the music. Despite these tendencies, Rap has triumphed because youth have

rebelled successfully against the adults who tried to restrict them. The amount of censorship that

occurs today is enough. There is no need for anymore. It is already difficult to understand and

enjoy a record on the radio and television.

Thirty years ago, the construction of a major highway in the Bronx divided rich and poor

communities. Being cut off, the people of the poor community started to unite. One major thing

that united them was Rap music. During this time, Rap was not affordable for everyone, but Disc

Jockeys (DJs) had their hands on records. To showcase the music and get people together, DJs

threw parties in the streets (also known as block parties) by plugging their equipment into street

lamps and electrical outlets in people’s homes. It was at these parties that Rap music was

introduced to people.

Rap music is an art form that allows people to express themselves with fast spoken word

poetry over various types of instrumentals. When Rap started, it was about unity within the poor

communities and meaningful messages. The first Rap record to go mainstream was Sugar Hill

Gang’s “Rapper’s Delight” in 1979. It was marketed to the masses on various radio stations

because it sampled a popular disco record called “Good Times” by Chic. After this, Rap music

Tejada 8
started to get recognized all over the world. As time changed, Rap changed along with it.

Gangsta Rap and other sub-genres were introduced. Rap started to get homophobic and sexist.

Traditional Rap became known as Conscious Rap. It was pushed to the back of the bus while the

homophobic and sexist Rap got its chance to shine.

Today, the media and many people attack Rap because of certain words and themes. A lot

of people, including Rappers, forget about what the music stands for, which is uniting to fight

against things like injustice and educating people. Artists like NaS get overlooked by the masses

today because they do not conform to the mainstream. While these attacks on Rap occur, the

music as a whole suffers. First amendment rights are being challenged.

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 There are Limits on Speech?

“All of this censorship is ruining the penmanship.

Meanwhile, a movie won’t censor shit.”
-Mickey Factz from Sha Stimuli’s “Say Something (Remix)” (2008)

One of the devices that is used to limit or eliminate Rap music is censorship. As soon as

one introduces the term censorship, First Amendment rights are raised. The First Amendment

states: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the

free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the

people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”2 In

theory, the language of the amendment would indicate that the government can not do anything

to limit any form of speech. In practice, however, limitations are imposed, especially with

respect to the issue of hate speech and/or obscenity.

Music has been impacted directly by this debate on free speech. Jeffrey L. L. Stein, in his

essay “Music Lyrics: As Censored as They Wanna Be,” said “Music is considered speech and as

such is protected by the First Amendment…The ban on limiting freedom of speech also extends

to the individual states through the Fourteenth Amendment.”3 The idea here is that since music is

considered speech, it should be protected in the same way as free speech. Stein also referred to a

sentence from section one of the Fourteenth Amendment which says, “No State shall make or

enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United

2
“Bill of Rights Transcript,” The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration,
http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/bill_of_rights_transcript.html (accessed November 9, 2008).
3
Jeffrey L. L. Stein, “Music Lyrics: As Censored as They Wanna Be,” Bleep! Censoring Rock and Rap Music, ed.
Betty Houchin Winfield and Sandra Davidson (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999), 74. He is the McElroy Chair
in Communication Arts and Executive-in-Residence at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

Tejada 10
States.”4 The First and Fourteenth Amendments theoretically ensured that no one would get

penalized for their speech. States could not completely ban speech, but limitations were allowed.

The Journey to Defining Obscenity

Since the creation of the Bill of Rights and additions to it, the First and Fourteenth

Amendments have been challenged. Stein said, “The ability to express one’s self, free from

government retribution, is fundamental to our democratic system. However, the First

Amendment does have some limitations. One limitation is obscenity. There is no constitutional

protection for speech that is termed obscene.”5 People can not say anything they want. Defining

obscenity has been difficult for the government. Stein said,

The United States has been grappling with obscenity laws since 1842, when a
tariff act banned “importation of all indecent and obscene” paintings and
photographs. During the Civil War, in 1865, Congress passed the first law
outlawing the mailing of obscene matter in the North because Union soldiers were
reading such scandalous books as Fanny Hill, also known as Memoirs of a
Woman of Pleasure, by John Cleland. In 1873, Anthony Comstock, a moral
crusader from New York, helped push the first national obscenity bill through
Congress by using the slogan of “Morals, not Art or Literature.”6

Books, paintings and photographs were the first to have speech limited. Comstock wanted to

protect people, especially young people, from obscene art and literature. At the same time, art

and literature suffers because creativity becomes limited.

4
“The Constitution of the United States: Amendments 11-27,” The U.S. National Archives and Records
Administration, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/constitution_amendments_11-27.html (accessed
November 9, 2008).
5
Stein, 74.

6
Stein, 78.

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 These restrictions required a more complex definition of what obscenity was with respect

to language. In response, United States courts started using the Hicklin test to deal with

obscenity. Stein explained the test:

A brief history of the evolving interpretation by U.S. courts of what qualifies as

obscene must starts with an English rule or test for obscenity devised by Lord
Chief Justice Cockburn. The Hicklin test, from the 1868 English case of Regina v.
Hicklin, was whether the tendency of the material is to corrupt minds that are
“open to such immoral influences.” But a problem with the test was that banning
material with a tendency to corrupt minds that are open to immoral influences
could mean banning everyone from seeing or reading what might have an affect
only on abnormal adults or on children.7

The test called for a total ban on things that would corrupt minds. The government determined

what was acceptable for everyone not just people at risk, and this represented an important

departure from First Amendment tradition. It did not stop there for the American government.

Stein explained a further elaboration:

The U.S. courts added a twist to this rule, making a bad rule worse. The American
addition was the “partly obscene” test: If any part of a work was obscene—if any
part had a tendency to corrupt minds that are open to immoral influences—then
the whole work could be considered obscene.8

This meant that a few words in a piece of work were enough to get the entire production banned.

In this sense, the American government provided more restriction than England in the matter of

censorship.

It was in 1957 that the Supreme Court overruled the Hicklin test in the first decision on

obscenity, Roth v. United States. Stein discussed the case,

Justice Brennan, author of the Court’s opinion, wrote that “sex and obscenity are
not synonymous.” In fact, according to the Court, “Sex, a great and mysterious
motive force in human life, has indisputably been a subject of absorbing interest
to mankind through the ages; it is one of the vital problems of human interest and
public concern.” Then the Court turned to the Hicklin test and expressly overruled
it. “The Hicklin test,” the Court said, “might as well encompass material
7
Stein, 78.
8
Stein, 78.

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 legitimately treating with sex, and so it must be rejected as unconstitutionally
restrictive of freedoms of speech and press.”9

This was an important step because it was the first time obscenity was addressed on a national

level. The justices felt that the Hicklin test did not address the country’s current problem during

that time which they believed was sex. The test also limited people’s freedom to express

themselves because materials that corrupted minds could not be defined.

Five of the justices created a new test to deal with obscenity which said, “Whether to the

average person, applying contemporary community standards, the dominant theme of the

material taken as a whole appeals to prurient10 interest.”11 This meant that if a body of work was

assured to arouse sexual desires, then it was labeled as obscene.

The Roth test was eventually challenged nine years later in the case involving the book

Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (also known as Fanny Hill) by John Cleland. The book was a

problem again for America (as mentioned before it was an issue during the Civil War). This time

the book was being labeled obscene under the Roth test. A three-Justice plurality12 created a new

test called Fanny Hill for this case. In order for a body of work to be considered obscene, three

requirements must be met:

a. “the dominant theme of the materials taken as a whole appeals to a prurient

interest”;
b. “the material is patently offensive because it affronts contemporary
community standards relating to the description or representation of sexual
matters”; and

9
Stein, 79.
10
According to Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1), prurient means “having, inclined to have, or characterized by
lascivious or lustful thoughts, desires, etc.” http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/prurient (accessed November 9,
2008).
11
Stein, 82.
12
“In a plurality decision there is no majority agreement; the highest number of agreeing views wins. In this case,
the number was three.” Stein, 85.

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 c. “the material is utterly without redeeming social value.”13
Fanny Hill met the first two requirements, but it did not meet the last one. Since it did not, the

book was considered not to be obscene.

When this decision was made, this definition of obscenity was not a major issue. This

changed in 1973. Stein discussed some of the changes:

…the United States had gone through the Vietnam War, with protests, “free love,”
and even a nude musical, Hair, playing on Broadway. In short, attitudes toward
portrayals of sexual matters had changed. In the face of these changes, the Court
was becoming more and more divided on obscenity matter.14

Under the Fanny Hill test, all of these things and more would have been considered obscene.

This made it more difficult for the Supreme Court to define obscenity. That same year another

case dealing with obscenity came to the Supreme Court: Miller v. California. The case was about

a man named Marvin Miller who sent unwanted sexually explicit materials to various people as a

way to promote his products.15 The result from that case created another test known as the Miller

test. It was a revision of the Fanny Hill test which was intended to make the requirements for

obscenity more clear. The new requirements were as follows:

a. “whether ‘the average person, applying contemporary community standards’

would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest”;
b. “whether the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual
conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law”; and
c. “whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political,
or scientific value.”
Under section b, a state legislature could include:
1. “patently offensive representations or descriptions of ultimate sexual acts,
normal or perverted, actual or simulated”; and

13
Stein, 82.
14
Stein, 80.
15
“Miller v. California,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, November 6, 2008,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_v._California (accessed November 10, 2008).

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 2. “patently offensive representations or descriptions of masturbation, excretory
functions and lewd exhibition of the genitals.”16
The second requirement allowed the States to deal with defining obscenity on their own terms.

The justices recognized that some of the bodies of works being considered obscene were great

works of art. The third requirement moved away from the social value aspect as stated in the

Fanny Hill test. This new test protected many works of art.

The Formation of the FCC

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) was created in 1934 to regulate radio

and television broadcasting.17 Sandra Davidson, in her essay called “Stern Stuff: Here Comes the

FCC,” explained how the FCC works:

The [FCC] polices broadcast airwave—with the help of the public. Instead of
monitoring the airwaves, the FCC responds to complaints by listeners. Then the
FCC can haul out a heavy arsenal of weapons against what it considers broadcast
indecency. Often the result is steep fines against broadcasters for raunchy words
—whether spoken or sung.18

This is interesting because the list of raunchy words is unclear to many people, even

broadcasters. Also, people’s definition of indecency differs. This creates a lot of unwanted and

unfair complaints. The FCC’s definition of indecency is “[l]anguage or material that, in context,

depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community

standards for the broadcast medium, sexual or excretory activities of organs.”19 This meant that

16
Stein, 82-83.
17
“Federal Communications Commission,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, November 6, 2008,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Communications_Commission (accessed November 10, 2008).
18
Sandra Davidson, “Stern Stuff: Here Comes the FCC,” Bleep! Censoring Rock and Rap Music, ed. Betty Houchin
Winfield and Sandra Davidson (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999), 51. She is an associate professor of
journalism and adjunct associate professor of law at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
19
Davidson, 51.

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there was no set definition. It depended on a collective group of people to make a push for a

complaint. The subject was dealt with on a case by case base.

In 1973, the FCC started to get more involved with regulating radio and television

broadcasting because George Carlin’s 12 minute monologue called “Filthy Word” was aired in

the afternoon on a New York radio station. A father made a complaint to the FCC after he heard

it with his son.20 The words mentioned in the monologue were “shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker,

motherfucker, and tits”21. This case went up to the Supreme Court and was called FCC v.

Pacifica (the radio station that aired the monologue). The Court decided that the FCC was right

in not allowing the monologue to be broadcasted.22 The time of the day this monologue was

being played made these seven words unacceptable to be aired. The interesting part of the

decision is the words were not considered obscene. They seem not to fit within the Miller test.

They did not please sexual desire. They did offend people, but it was comedy, an artistic form.

Context was everything in this case

Despite the words not passing the Miller test, the decision gave the FCC the right to

block them from being broadcasted. Although such words change overtime (“pussy” and “bitch”

are being used more often), the Court suggested that there were standards that certain industries

faced most profoundly and at specific times through the day:

We have long recognized that each medium of expression presents special First
Amendment problems…And of all forms of communication, it is broadcasting
that has received the most limited First Amendment protection.
The reasons for these distinctions are complex, but two have relevance to the
present case. First, the broadcast media have established a uniquely pervasive
presence in the lives of all Americans. Patently offensive, indecent material
presented over the airwaves confronts the citizen, not only in public, but also in
20
Davidson, 52.
21
“Seven Dirty Words,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, November 6, 2008,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seven_dirty_words (accessed November 10, 2008).
22
Davidson, 52.

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 the privacy of the home, where the individual’s right to be left alone plainly
outweighs the First Amendment rights of an intruder….Because the broadcast
audience is constantly tuning in and out, prior warnings cannot completely protect
the listener or viewer from unexpected program content. To say that one may
avoid further offense by turning off the radio when he [or she] hears indecent
language is like saying that the remedy for an assault is to run away after the first
blow.
Second, broadcasting is uniquely accessible to children, even those too young to
read….Pacifica’s broadcast could have enlarged a child’s vocabulary in an
instant.23

Since anyone, especially children, can come in contract with the words, it was considered a

violation of rights if these words were being broadcasted into the privacy for their home.

Furthermore, indecency could not be avoided.

Davidson said, “Until 1987, however, the FCC took a narrow view of what it considered

‘indecent.’ So long as broadcasts did not contain Carlin’s ‘seven filthy words,’ the FCC left the

broadcasters alone.”24 During this time, new words that offended people were being used more,

and Gangsta Rap music started to become mainstream. The FCC had to add words circulating

regularly in this subgenre to the list of words that were not allowed to be broadcasted. Today, this

has expanded to sexual and violent themes. In the September 2008 issue of XXL Magazine,

Editorial Assistant Starrene Rhett interviewed Rapper and G-Unit member Tony Yayo about

censorship. He gave his thoughts on what is being done today:

I just feel like it’s crazy. You can’t do anything anymore. Everything is censored.
There’s so many blanks spots in [“I Like the Way She Do It”] that people can’t
really enjoy the song. Sometimes I think [when] it comes to G-Unit, we get extra-
censored. [Black Entertainment Television] made 35 changes to the video, [but]
we just [have to] live with it.25

23
Davidson, 52.
24
Davidson, 52.
25
Starrene Rhett, “Interview with Tony Yayo,” XXL Magazine (New York: Harris Publications, Inc., September
2008), 41.

Tejada 17
Tony Yayo is right about the G-Unit record “I Like the Way She Do It.” Before the video was

submitted to BET, the station created new standards for videos. The major change was that

videos could not show a woman’s backside. This is what caused the 35 changes in the video to “I

Like the Way She Do It.”

As Tony Yayo mentioned, there are many blanks spots in the record. It is even difficult to

understand the chorus which was performed by Rapper and G-Unit’s leader 50 Cent (the bolded

words means that it was censored):

I like the way she do it. She put her back into it.
Then she drop it low, to gets the dough.
I said I like the way she do it. She put her back into it.
Let her ass drop, like my ’64.
I said I like the way she do it. She put her back into it.
Then she drop it low, to gets the dough.
I said I like the way she do it. She put her back into it.
Let her ass drop, like my ‘64.26

The verses of all three Rappers, 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, faced the same kind of

censorship. Without the words that were censored, the purpose of the record, which is to serve as

a party record, was lost. The record can be seen as sexist, but it does represent many Rap records

which do get censored to the same degree. Since this record is mainstream, this causes the

records that are not to suffer even if they are informative. A record could contain sexual theme,

but it could contain a message that speaks against rape. It can be a possibly that the record would

be censored to the point where the message is lost. The record could even be censored indirectly

by the radio and television stations choosing not playing those records.

Parents Just Don’t Understand

26
G-Unit, “I Like the Way She Do It,” Clean Music Video, T.O.S: Terminate on Sight, G-Unit Records/Interscope,
2008, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXOmPVVs5i8. Explicit Music Video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em2E2ubI6Vs (accessed November 10, 2008).

Tejada 18
 Censorship operates on direct and indirect levels, although both forms are ultimately

discriminatory when applied universally without respect to understanding context. Censoring

indirectly is a quiet way of controlling and getting rid of records. Betty Houchin Winfield, in her

essay “Because of the Children: Decades of Attempted Controls of Rock ’n’ Rap Music,” said,

Beyond legal controls, censoring music can be indirect. Consumers have been
urged to boycott concerts and to refuse to purchase the music that parents and
other adults have publicized as detrimental. Businesses and discount chain mega-
stores respond to public pressures and refuse to carry the offending music,
especially the music labeled obscene or violent.27

This can be helpful in preventing music that conveys a negative message, but parents and adults

can also misunderstand certain music and unfairly condemn it. Winfield explained this:

Despite court rulings that such music and other cultural expressions are protected
under the First Amendment, the reality is that many American adults, particularly
Caucasian adults, have historically disliked non-European sounds, especially
when they first heard them. Historically, the Afro-rhythmic sounds were alien and
the words are shockingly suggestive to Euro-centric ears. In the historical
progression of the blues-jazz-rock-rap songs, critics, especially those of European
heritage, accused such music and their composers of causing disruptions to
cultural values, of inciting violence and being detrimental to society.28

When Jazz and Blues was introduced, it was not accepted by the White masses either. It was not

considered respectable, but it did not stop the music from selling.

This is where the youth played a key role. Winfield said,

teenagers sought not just new musical sounds but voices and words to speak to
them individually as they forged adult identities. The music was ever-appealing.
Adolescent upheavals also meant surviving stress about sexuality, romance,
morality, parents, authority and government. The emerging new forms of…rap
music can speak personally to these older children.29

27
Betty Houchin Winfield, “Because of the Children: Decades of Attempted Controls of Rock ’n’ Rap Music,”
Bleep! Censoring Rock and Rap Music, ed. Betty Houchin Winfield and Sandra Davidson (Westport, CT:
Greenwood Press, 1999), 11. She is a professor of journalism and adjunct professor of political science at the
University of Missouri-Columbia.
28
Winfield, 10.
29
Winfield, 10.

Tejada 19
Parents might disapprove of the music, but their children wanted to connect to the music because

they enjoyed and /or could relate to it. The music was filling a void that parents could not fill.

Ironically, warning labels on albums only made teenagers want to buy the albums even more.

When albums were labeled with those stickers, it meant that there were suggestive and indecent

lyrics. Teenagers felt that there was something on these albums their parents did not want them to

hear. This is what made Rap music achieve mainstream success, since the forbidden was actively

embraced by those suspicious of censorship in any form.

The Love that Hate Produced

“Word, you keep my dark sky lit up at night,

so bright that you blinding my sight.”
- Talib Kweli “Hot Thing” (2007)

The Beginnings of the Split

Tejada 20
 One of the major issues adults and various groups protest against is sexism in Rap music.

Sexism is defined by American Heritage Dictionary as “discrimination based on gender,

especially discrimination against women” and “attitudes, conditions, or behaviors that promote

stereotyping of social roles based on gender.”30 Degrading images and words are examples of

this, but the definition does not explain the potential seriousness of sexism. Rape, physical and

mental violence, and unfair treatment in the workforce, justice system and more are some results

that can come out of sexism.

Sexism in Rap music derives in part from its history in the Black community which dates

back to slavery times. In the introduction to the chapter called “The Body Politic: Sexuality,

Violence, and Reproduction,” from her book Words Of Fire: An Anthology of African-American

Feminist Thought, Beverly Guy-Sheftall states that:

Black women’s bodies have been sites of contestation since Europeans first set
foot on African soil to appropriate free labor for the brutal system of slavery.
Myths about black female sexuality, born on the African continent, would follow
black women to the “New World” and help to justify their sexual exploitation for
generations thereafter.31

White Europeans created myths about Black women, and these carried to America when Black

women were brought over and sold into slavery. Some of these myths were designed to control

Black women. In “Mammies, Matriarchs and Other Controlling Images,” from her book Black

Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, Patricia Hill

Collins wrote:

The dominant ideology of the slave era fostered the creation of several
interrelated, socially constructed controlling images of Black womanhood, each
reflecting the dominant group’s interest in maintaining Black women’s
30
“Sexism,” Dictionary.com, The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004), http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/sexism (accessed November
23, 2008).
31
Beverly Guy-Sheftall, “The Body Politic: Sexuality, Violence, and Reproduction,” Words of Fire: An Anthology of
African-American Feminist Thought, ed. Beverly Guy-Sheftall (New York: The New Press, 1995), 359.

Tejada 21
 subordination. Moreover, since Black and White women were both important to
slavery’s continuation, controlling images of Black womanhood also functioned
to mask social relations that affected women.32

Controlling images were used to keep slavery going and to justify White slave owners’ actions

towards enslaved Black women. One of these controlling images was the Jezebel.

Collins explained the meaning of the Jezebel:

…the jezebel…is central in this nexus of controlling images of Black

womanhood…The image of jezebel originated under slavery when Black women
were portrayed as being, to use Jewelle Gomez’s words, “sexually aggressive wet
nurses.” Jezebel’s function was to relegate all Black women to the category of
sexually aggressive women, thus providing a powerful rationale for the
widespread sexual assaults by White men typically reported by Black slave
women.33

The Jezebel was created to associate Black women with sex objects who were “asking for it.”

bell hooks, in a chapter called “it’s a dick thing: beyond sexual acting out” from her book We

Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity, said that “If black women were raped in slavery it was

because they were licentious and seductive, or so white men told themselves.”34 The enslaved

Black women could not protest this characterization because they feared being killed. Those who

did speak up were shut down by the justice system. Darlene Clark Hine, in her essay called

“Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women in the Middle West: Preliminary Thoughts on the

Culture of Dissemblance,” explained:

To suggest that black women deliberately developed a culture of dissemblance

implies that they endeavored to create, and were not simply reacting to,
widespread misrepresentations and negative images of themselves in white minds.
Clearly, black women did not possess the power to eradicate negative social and
sexual images of their womanhood.35
32
Patricia Hill Collins, “Mammies, Matriarchs and Other Controlling Images,” Black Feminist Thought:
Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment, 2nd ed. (New York and London: Routledge, 2000), 72.
33
Collins, 81.
34
bell hooks, We Real Cool: Black Men and Masculinity (New York and London: Routledge, 2000), 67-68.
35
Darlene Clark Hine, “Rape and the Inner Lives of Black Women in the Middle West: Preliminary Thoughts on the
Culture of Dissemblance,” Words of Fire: An Anthology of African-American Feminist Thought, ed. Beverly Guy-

Tejada 22
 It is important to note that before these controlling images were imposed on Black

women by the institution of slavery before they were brought to America against their will,

black male bodies were not coming to the new world obsessed with sexuality;
they were coming from worlds where collective survival was more important than
the acting out of sexual desire, and they were coming into a world where survival
was more important than sexual desire.36

Black men were not sexist from the beginning; they were forced into a White-dominated society

where sexism already existed. And these sexist values have persisted to the present day. The

legacy of slave culture is that Black women have been seen by others including Black men as

sexual objects. bell hooks noted,

We know from slave narratives that black males and females found the white
colonizers’ obsession with sexuality strange. Naturally, they feared white sexual
obsessions would lead them to be target of sexualized radicalized rage. For black
women, to be a target meant rape and mutilation; for black men, lynching and
mutilation.37

Acceptance of these sexist conditions was the only way that most enslaved Black people felt they

could stay alive. Black men started to believe that these notions were true. Over time, they

expressed these notions in the public through music and more. Rap music became one of the

mechanisms for the conversance of sexism.

Where Did it Start within the Rap?

Before Rap music became what it is today, a group named 2 Live Crew brought sexism to

the masses. Patricia Hill Collins said,

…2 Live Crew’s song “Hoochie Mama” takes Black women bashing to new
heights. In this song, the group opens with the rallying cry “big booty hoes hop

Sheftall (New York: The New Press, 1995), 381.

36
Hooks, 69.
37
Hooks, 69.

Tejada 23
 wit it!” and proceeds to list characteristics of the “hoodrat hoochie mama.” The
singers are quite clear about the use of such women: “I don’t need no
confrontation,” they sing. “All I want is an ejaculation cos I like them ghetto
hoochies.” The misogyny in “Hoochie Mama” makes prior portrayals of jezebel
seem tame. For example, 2 Live Crew’s remedy for “lyin” shows their disdain for
women: “Keep runnin ya mouth and I’ma stick my dick in it,” they threaten.38

2 Live Crew degraded Black women with many tracks like “Hoochie Mama.” They promoted

negative things in their music like having sex with many women and cheating on women. It was

not until their third album As Nasty As They Wanna Be that they started to become popular

because they were in the media constantly. The album sold three million records, and it was

banned in Florida. The cover for the album had four women showing off their behinds in

swimwear with the four members of the group between their legs. Collins said,

In the United States, guarantees of free speech allow 2 Live Crew and similar
groups to speak their minds about “hoochies” and anything else that will make
them money. The issue here lies in African-American acceptance of such images.
African-American men and women alike routinely do not challenge these and
other portrayals of Black women as “hoochies” within Black popular culture. For
example, despite the offensive nature of much of 2 Live Crew’s music, some
Blacks argued that such views, while unfortunate, had long been expressed in
Black culture.39

2 Live Crew was entitled to do what they did, but people could have challenged them. Some did

when 2 Live Crew was taken to court because of the content in their album. They won the case

because the Miller test had not been wrongly applied. Their album was declared that it did

redeem artistic value. The group spent many years producing and performing the same type of

music. In addition to making sexist music, they led by example. At concerts, they would act out

sexual actions with women from the crowd. The group disbanded, but the group’s actions created

long lasting and negative effects on Rap music today.

38
Collins, 82.
39
Collins, 82.

Tejada 24
 Today’s Jezebel is the “bitch”, “hoe” or “slut.” She is the one in the music video who is

semi-nude. She moves in promiscuous ways while bowing down to the male Rapper. The Rapper

is the one who refers to the woman as a “bitch” in his music. He also creates a picture where the

woman in the video is nothing but his sexual object. Some of these videos can be seen as

pornographic. This brings back the Jezebel image because the Rapper appears to be the master

and the woman is the slave.

Voicing Opinions through Music

When it comes to personal opinion, most Rappers have their meaning of what a “bitch,”

“hoe” and lady is. Rapper Scarface from Houston, Texas is an example of this. In 2007, he

released an album called Made. On the album, there is a bonus track called “‘B’ Word.” He

started it by saying:

They saying Face you need to slow down dude.

You refer to hoes as bitches and that ain’t cool.
I tell them look out fool, I ain’t Al Sharpton.
My name Brad Jordan, I don’t beg pardons.
Don’t get me wrong I got respect for Black ladies.
But Black hoes and ladies, ain’t the same, baby.40

Scarface makes people realize that he is not a self-righteous person like Al Sharpton. He tries to

make the case that there is a difference between a hoe and a lady. Some Black men would agree

with his statement, especially if they listen to mainstream Rap music. Examples of this can be

seen in the documentary Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes. As for what a “bitch” is, Scarface

explained:

And if she got some dudes that she hang with,

You better watch that bitch cause she dangerous.
A lady got a man at the house.
A bitch got her best friend man in her mouth.
40
Scarface, “‘B’ Word,” Bonus Track, Made, Rap-a-Lot/Asylum/Atlantic, 2007.

Tejada 25
 And she don’t give a fuck about a ring,
The kid, the 15 years this brings.
She’ll fuck you in your house in the bed ya brought,
Leave the sheets full of drip stains, wash her pussy off
then bounce. Now, you at home with a soft dick,
Feeling bad, try to shake this bitch.
But you scared of the outcome, she might tell
or get drunk, feel guilty, come by and try to sell it
to your wife like it's your fault, duck at all costs.
And if that ain’t a bitch, what's a bitch? I'm lost.
A hoe will jump dick to dick to get paid.
But a bitch fucks your shit up so just wait.
Can't nobody else prosper, she live for the gossip,
Hates to see the next bitch happy so she knocks her.
She hates your man and hates your friends.
But a bitch is a bitch is a bitch in the end.41

According to Scarface, a “bitch” is a woman who has no respect for herself and the people

around her. She is willing to break people up to get what she wants. She hates it when others

around her are happy. Scarface reminds his brothers to stay away from her.

But, Women Refer to Themselves as “Bitches”

Dating back to the 1980s, female Rappers, like Roxanne Shante, would respond to male

Rappers, like Scarface. Today, female Rappers take a different approach. In “Hip-Hop Soul

Mate? Hip-Hop Soul Divas and Rap Music: Critiquing the Love That Hate Produced,” from her

book Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere,

Gwendolyn D. Pough wrote:

Some feel that the reclamation of the word bitch, like the reclamation of the word
nigger or nigga, is an empowering act. Indeed, listening to the lyrics of Lil’ Kim
as she forcefully raps “I’ma stay dat bitch” exudes a certain sense of power. She
comes off as a woman in control—assertive and sexually assured. She is tough,
not someone to mess with.42
41
Scarface, “‘B’ Word.”
42
Gwendolyn D. Pough, “Hip-Hop Soul Mate? Hip-Hop Soul Divas and Rap Music: Critiquing the Love That Hate
Produced,” Check It While I Wreck It: Black Womanhood, Hip-Hop Culture, and the Public Sphere (Boston:
Northeastern University Press, 2007), 183. She is an Assistant Professor of Women’s Studies at the University of

Tejada 26
Lil’ Kim can be seen as a positive role model because she takes charge of her own life and does

not let anyone tell her what to do. People would believe that she is too sexual and a bad influence

on little girls. The majority of those people oppose her without knowing about her life. She had a

difficult upbringing. She left her parent’s home at a young age. She also felt that the people

around her were not giving her the attention she needed. In reference to her rough upbringing,

Pough said,

Any critique of Lil’ Kim, her sexualized image, and her explicit lyrics must take
both of her public images into consideration. The things that come out in her
interviews about her abusive father, relying on men for food and shelter, and not
feeling pretty complicate our understanding of the things she says on [records]
and require that we look at her in a more critically engaged way.43

She dealt with things most people would never face. Being a Rapper gave her the power she

wanted. She did not have to rely on men because she had her own money. She demanded sex

instead of looking for it. She told men what to do. She felt beautiful. To understand why she

made the records she did, her whole life has to be examined. There were many female Rappers

before (Salt-N-Pepa) and during (Foxy Brown) Lil’ Kim’s career who challenged the status quo.

She has the right to use “bitch” because she used it to show that she was what she always wanted

to be, which was in power. Today, the number of female Rappers is decreasing mostly because

the female Rap icons are retiring, going to jail or just very busy. In many cases over the years,

they have been replaced with women who appeared in music videos and on stage at concerts just

to be in the background dancing to the music of male Rappers.

The Words Become Visuals

Minnesota, Twin Cities.

43
Pough, 184.

Tejada 27
 At most concerts, women are objectified in public. Sometimes, there are dancers on stage

who are almost wearing nothing. Other times, women from the crowd are brought on stage to

dance in sexual ways. This happened at a Ghostface Killah concert at Skidmore College.

Ghostface Killah performed a track called “Back Like That (Remix).” In the track, he says:

Oh girl, I can't believe you zoned out .

Played me for this dude, nice shoes and a bottle of coast out Mont'.
I'm that Don Wilson, first one
To put you up six suites in that Resident Hilton
Mink coach, colorful stones and big stacks.
Yeah, I was fucking, but you don't get me back like that.
Causing me grief, you know me and homey had beef.
Now you got me losing my mind, out up in these streets.
You're flamingo, showing your true colors.
Heard ya'll was ducking down low when you see my brothers.
But it's all good, I move from ex to next.
Got the baddest little chick to sign off of them checks.
Fat bubble, her body's like one of the best.
But I don't need to say nothing, ask Kanye West.
She eye candy, smoother than Godiva chocolate.
And you mad cause you played your self, it's your fault, trick.44

Ghostface is saying that it is OK for him to cheat, but it is not OK for the woman to cheat. He

also describes another woman’s body in an inappropriate manner. While he was rapping this

verse, he looked at all of the women on stage instead of people in the crowd. This could imply

that he saw these women as the ones he was rapping about. By implying this, he referred to them

as “bitches” and “hoes.” He even said the word “trick” which is on the same level as “bitch.” The

women on stage did not seem to be phased by it at all.

In some cases at concerts, women are soaked with water. In other cases, dangerous things

happen like women getting abused, sexually harassed or raped. At most music video shoots,

some of the same things occur. Some music video models, who appeared on a VH1 special

which discussed women in videos, discussed how they were asked by Rappers and directors to

44
Ghostface Killah Featuring Ne-Yo and Kanye West, “Back Like That (Remix),” More Fish, Def Jam Recordings,
2006.

Tejada 28
have sex. If they didn’t, they would get black listed and would not be able to get any job in the

industry. Other video models, in the VH1 special, admitted to using sex to get ahead. Some were

not ashamed of it, and did not care what others thought about them. They would be willing to be

used to make a living.

Out in the Streets, Marching to a New Beat

The Enough Is Enough Campaign is led by religious clergy people. The purpose of the

group is started on the campaign’s website:

The purpose of this campaign is to protest the commercialization and marketing

of negative and derogatory images of black men and women in the entertainment
industry. This movement recognizes the power of media and entertainment
corporations to shape American attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and even policies
by and about people of color. The campaign contends that music companies do
not equitably apply standards for lyrical content that is offensive to blacks as for
other groups. Likewise, many American corporations have different standards for
sponsoring artists whose music is offensive to blacks than they do for material
that is offensive to other groups. That is, many American corporations sponsor,
through endorsements and advertising on radio and television outlets, artists who
promote negative messages about black people, but would not provide such
sponsorship for artists who degrade other interest groups.45

The focus of the group is to get the corporations to change strategies and tactics with respect to

marketing and production. They feel that the corporations are responsible for the images that are

displayed in the media. They believe that the media does have an influence on people.

The group started their protests in September 2007. The first one was in front of the home

of Debra L. Lee, chairman and chief executive of Black Entertainment Television (BET). BET

has been cited as one of the television stations which have issues with inappropriately presenting

adult messages and stereotypes to children.46 During March 2008, Enough Is Enough, along with

others, did a study on adult content shown on two BET shows, which were marketed to children.

45
Enough Is Enough Campaign, “Purpose,” http://enoughisenoughcampaign.com/purpose.html (accessed November
24, 2008).

Tejada 29
They found that there was one instance of adult content (drugs, sex and violence) every 38

seconds.47

The group has been criticized for their efforts. Some people have seen their actions as the

same forms of censorship that tried to stop Rap many years ago. Debra L. Lee noted about

Enough Is Enough’s extreme efforts when she met with the main organizer of the group, Rev.

Delman L. Coates. She felt that he wanted to program the whole network.48 She was more

accepting of groups like Russell Simmons’ Hip Hop Summit Action Network, which have been

praised because they work with Rappers on the same issues brought forth by Enough Is Enough.

Black women have been objectified for many years since the slavery era. Male Rappers

stand strong in their beliefs about women, using them behind the scenes of music videos in

exploitive ways. Female Rappers try to counter the effects of words like “bitch,” but they often

fail to do so because it is difficult for them to suggest the subtle distinctions of usage that make it

okay for them to use the term but not for others to do so. Records sell because of the sexual

themes presented in them. Some groups who try to make change seem to be too extreme because

they don’t try to meet people halfway. The current changes being made with various networks

such as BET shows that progress is being made.

46
Felicia R. Lee, “Protesting Demeaning Images in Media,” nytimes.com, November 5, 2007,
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/05/arts/05enou.html?pagewanted=print (accessed November 24, 2008).

47
Teresa Wiltz and Paul Farhi, “BET President Resigns,”washingtonpost.com, September 12, 2008,
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/11/AR2008091103380.html (accessed November
24, 2008).

48
Felicia R. Lee, “Protesting Demeaning Images in Media.”

Tejada 30
 Niggers, Niggas & Niggaz

“I’m just a nigger, a fucking nigger.

Ask Uncle Sam.”
-B.o.B “Nigger” (2008)

Confusion Over the Origin of a Troublesome Word

The N-Word is a word that evokes various emotions and opinions from many people.

Jabari Asim, deputy editor of the Washington Post Book World, wrote a book on the word called

The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t, and Why, in which he considers the origins of the

word and more. In this book, he noted:

The origin of the [word] can be traced all the way back to 1619, when Jamestown
colonist John Rolfe noted in his diary the first time African captives came to live

Tejada 31
 and toil in British North America, “Twenty negars,” he wrote, had arrived on a
Dutch man-of-war.

Did he mean “niggers” or “Negroes”? Most lexicographers trace both words to

“niger,” the Latin word for “black.” Some of them also contend that “nigger” was
intended initially as a neutral term. Citing the presence of “nigers” in the “learned
discourse” of the seventeenth-century anti-slavery activist Samuel Sewall, they
suggest that the word acquired a derogatory character over time, picking up
various spellings along the way. However, little other than Sewall’s discourse is
offered as evidence to support this argument. Other usages, while not necessarily
hateful, clearly are not sympathetic either.49

The year 1619 is when the selling of enslaved Africans was noted for the first time. Although, the

word appeared during that year, it is still unknown when it started to be used as a slur.

Billy X. Sunday, a blogger for XXL Magazine’s website, wrote an essay called “Whites

Were The Original Niggers…” In this essay, he said that the N-Word became a slur when Black

people started to become educated and land owners. He also said that the word came from

“negger” which is what plowmen were called in Germany. Plowmen were White men who were

responsible for the growing of crops. They were considered the backbone of the community.

Their job was very dirty because they had to stand behind animals that fertilized the land. Since

they had this job, they could never eat inside the house. These White men did the job that

enslaved Black people eventually performed in the New World.50 Sunday notes that “negger”

was respectable when used in the context of these White laborers before it was turned to “nigger”

to degrade Black people who were performing these and other tasks.

Although the origin of the N-Word is not clear, people speak out against it and for it.

Today, it is used a lot in Rap music. It is also a part of the everyday language of young people,

not just young Blacks. Many people believe that no one should say it at all, while others argue

49
Jabari Asim, The N Word: Who Can Say It, Who Shouldn’t, and Why (Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin
Company, 2007), 10.
50
Billy X. Sunday, “Whites Were The Original Niggers…,” XXLMag.com, October 20th, 2007,
http://www.xxlmag.com/online/?p=15178 (accessed November 21, 2008).

Tejada 32
that only Black people have the right to use it. Still others claim that anyone can use it. These

opinions are not specific to one group of people. They come from people of all backgrounds

(Black, White, Hispanic, etc.) and professions (scholars, Rappers, activists, etc.).

Using the Word to End It

The argument of Asim and others respecting the use of the term among African

Americans is cased in notions of encoded language grounded in shared experience. Today, the

word is even used as a sign of love or friendship. Some people who use it know the history

behind the word and choose to say it because they believe repetition takes power away from the

word. A well-known unsigned Brooklyn Rapper named Sha Stimuli made a record called “The N

Word Song” for the mixtape Hip Hop Dock-Trine 2 (The Saga Continues) [Hall Of Justus

Edition]. In the chorus, he says,

Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger. I try not to say it, but I feel
much bigger. Nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger. Oh but please pardon us. But, where
my brothers at? It doesn’t sound hard enough. So, nigger, nigger, nigger, nigger,
nigger, nigger, please. Nigger, nigger, nigger. It comes out with ease. So, I keep
saying it. I guess I got to figure you can look like my brother, but I can call you
my nigga.51

He evokes many strong emotions from just the chorus. He implies that hearing the word over and

over again can have damaging effects, since a young Black person could be encouraged to just

use it many times in one day or even a single conversation. The point of the chorus was to show

how casually it is used. Stimuli showed how hard it is not to use the word, in fact. He also

demonstrated more acceptable usages, such as when the word is used to refer to others as their

brother.

51
Sha Stimuli, “The N Word Song,” Hip Hop Dock-Trine 2 (The Saga Continues) [Hall Of Justus Edition] (2007).

Tejada 33
 Stimuli also have Black people take a look at themselves when he talks about White

people’s use of the word, especially in the absence of Black people. He was saying that Black

people who complain about White people saying the word should not be mad because they use it

as well. On his MySpace blog, he explained the idea behind making the record about the word:

The idea of “Nigga” came when my homie Angie had me speak at a panel [on]
racism at St. Vincent Youth services for young black males in foster care. The N-
word came up[,] and I heard different ideas about the word. One kid said [that] we
took the [offensive] and negative connotation out of the word. Sort of like “queen
bitch” or “superho,” we turned “nigger” into “nigga.” I get that one. And we
really did. We made “nigga” a cool word that replaces “friend,” “guy,” “dude[,]”
etc. Another person said [that] he uses it[,] and when he’s around other people of
different ethnic backgrounds[,] they use it and it’s ok. My Spanish nigga, my
Chinese nigga. We’re all minorities. I get that. Then another man said he didn’t
use the word at all because he grew up during the civil rights movement and the
word still stings so there’s no way to take the negativity out of it. He was there
during segregation and Jim Crow. His parents cleaned houses for white folks.
“Nigga” was always poisoning to his ears. I couldn't argue with that.52

This panel suggested that the word has many different meanings when used in alternative

contexts. Here was a clash of all of these generations coming together disagreeing with one

another. The younger generation felt that using the word was a way to take the power away from

it and to unite all groups of diverse people. Members of the Civil Rights generation disagreed.

The word recreated horrible memories for them. They felt that it could never be reversed. It was

considered “the greatest child that racism ever birthed.”53 That generation even went as far as to

hold a funeral for the word.

The NAACP conducted this funeral that took place in Detroit. The organization started

the funeral with a march. Two horses pulled a plain wooden casket which had fake black roses

52
Sha Stimuli, “The ‘N Word’ Song, More Shameless Plugs & NEW MUSIC LINKS!!!!,” MySpace.com Blogs,
October 25, 2007,
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=37078481&blogID=322185988 (accessed
November 21, 2008).

53
Associated Press, “NAACP delegates ‘bury’ N-word in ceremony,” msnbc.msn.com, July 9, 2007,
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19680493/ (accessed November 24, 2008).

Tejada 34
on it. The casket symbolically represented the N-Word which was being put to rest. The plain

condition of the casket and the fake black roses showed that the NAACP did not respect the

word. Plain caskets have a long history especially with multicultural soldiers who were killed in

the line of duty and were often buried without ceremony or a proper funeral. In some cases, they

did not have tombstones; even if they did, their names were not on them. In the burial of the N-

Word, there was a tombstone.54 The point of the event was to get rid of the word forever.

This funeral event was more directed towards Black people who used the word. Sha

Stimuli discussed White people who used the word:

Then there was a question that made me think of myself. I play ball with
Caucasian dudes every week and when me and my boys toss around the N word[,]
I cringe a little because I know one day one of my [Caucasian] boys may slip and
use the word[,] and of course we would all want to fight. Is that justifiable?
Maybe but who’s to say? I actually have some Blanco friends that admit to
dropping the N-bomb as they like to call it…So like I was saying the question
arose would you be upset if a Caucasian used the word[?] Everyone said yes and
it kind of amazed me. Well[,] not really[,] but I didn’t hear anyone defend our
stupidity with intelligence enough to say that if we made the word cool then why
can’t they.

He is saying that most White people today say the word because Black people made it acceptable

in their interactions with other Black people and in Rap music. His point is that if we don’t want

anyone to use it, we should start with ourselves. Then, in the N-Word record and his blog,

Stimuli talked about how people hang on each lyric of Rappers like Jay-Z. He made the assertion

that if those Rappers were to stop using the word then maybe everyone else would follow.

NaS and the Album Formerly Known as “Nigger”

NaS is a Rapper who took the discussion of the N-Word to another level. During a

performance in October 2007, he told the people in attendance the name of his next album would

54
Associated Press, “NAACP delegates ‘bury’ N-word in ceremony.”

Tejada 35
be “Nigger.” The following week well-known Black leaders addressed NaS’ choice. Vic Bulluck,

executive director of the NAACP’s Hollywood bureau, said, “The NAACP believes in free

speech. We are not a censorship organization…But we think [the N-word] is pejorative, no

matter who uses it — even if it's to sell records. It shows a real lack of creative imagination.”55

The NAACP’s stance was clear especially since its membership has “buried” the N-Word. The

Reverend Jesse Jackson said, “The title using the ‘N’ word is morally offensive and socially

distasteful…[NaS] has the right to degrade and denigrate in the name of free speech, but there is

no honor in it.”56

Jesse Jackson clearly does not know NaS’ music. He has been known by many Rap fans

to inspire and uplift people. A great example is the record “I Can” which encourages kids to

believe they can be whatever they want and to learn about their history. Defending his choice to

name his album “Nigger,” NaS said, “It’s not an attack on white people at all…It’s knowledge;

it’s understanding for all people. It’s not an attack on any race…It’s about the attacks that have

happened to blacks, whites and all ethnicities.”57 With this album, he wanted to educate people

not offend them. In the March 2008 issue of XXL Magazine, former Associate Editor Jack Erwin

interviewed NaS about his album. NaS discussed what he hoped might come out of the album:

I think this record can help us have these conversations more. If I can do that, then
God get the glory, and I’m satisfied until the next thing. I don’t know. One day at
a time. And if you hear me screaming this shit out, then you have a responsibility
—we all have a responsibility—to contribute what we collectively can to handle
what we need to handle. To get together and raise the attention in places that need
to understand. We can do anything we want, nigga, me and you.

55
Catherine Donaldson-Evans, “Record Label Denies Rap Star Nas’ Claim of Forthcoming Album Called ‘Nigga’,”
FOXNews.com, October 16, 2007, http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,302348,00.html
(accessed December 3, 2008).
56
Catherine Donaldson-Evans, “Record Label Denies Rap Star Nas’ Claim of Forthcoming Album Called ‘Nigga’.”
57
Shaheem Reid, “Nas Exclusive: MC Reveals Details, Song Titles From Controversial Upcoming LP,” mtv.com,
November 29, 2007, http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1575258/20071128/nas.jhtml (accessed December 3, 2008).

Tejada 36
 The thing is, I’m not Malcolm [X]. I’m not trying to be the Mr. Right Man. I’m
not trying to be the man that knows the answers to all this shit…I’m learning as I
make the record what I even feel about it. I don’t know—I never had to deal with
this before. I’m forcing myself to deal with it, taking responsibility. They always
point the finger [at hip-hop]. Me, as a serious, serious fan of hip-hop music, I’m
taking responsibility. That’s all I’m doing. I don’t know how people [going to]
take it. I wish some good comes from it. But however it [goes], I just [want them]
to hear me.58

NaS does not see himself as a professor. He sees himself as taking responsibility when other

major label artists will not. He feels it is his responsibility to get people to have serious

conversations about the word. He also thinks that people should take responsibility to start

conversations about the word with others.

In April 2008, NaS released a record called “Be a Nigger Too” to get people ready for the

album. The chorus was taken and redone from a 1977 Dr. Pepper commercial called “I’m a

Pepper.” In the chorus, NaS said,

I’m a nigger. He’s a nigger. She’s a nigger. We some niggers. Wouldn’t you like to
be a nigger too? To all my kike niggers, spic niggers, guinea niggers, chink
niggers, that’s right, y’all my niggers too.59

It caught some people by surprise because NaS linked all of these slurs together. By saying we

are all “niggers,” NaS really meant that we are all one people. The record was intense with the

lyrics and the images in the video. NaS wanted to get people to listen and watch all of the things

they feared and refused to acknowledge. The point of the record was to recognize the issues that

are present in society and get people to unite. Even after this record was released, the same

people who did not respect his choice before still felt the same way.

NaS felt increased pressure about the title of the album. He spoke about it:

Record stores are [going to] have a problem in this day and time selling a
record with that title…Who knows what’s [going to] turn out and be on
58
Jack Erwin, “’Cause I’m Black,” XXL Magazine (New York: Harris Publications, Inc., March 2008), 53.
59
NaS, “Be a Nigger Too” (2007), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mfz7wVxzuoE (accessed December 4, 2008).

Tejada 37
 that title? Who knows what that title will be? It was important to me to let
the fans know what the album would be musically...Everybody is trying to
stop the title. It’s just people being scared of what’s real. Somebody is
trying to open up dialogue for people to talk. People [that are] high up,
[who don’t] really understanding what I'm doing, are scared. They're
scared for reasons.60

One of the biggest stores, Wal-Mart, was one of those that refused to sell the record. All of the

criticism did not make sense since comedian Richard Pryor released a popular album called That

Nigger’s Crazy in 1974. There weren’t noticeable backlashes like the ones NaS received. Many

people in the music industry, including the chair of NaS’ label, Def Jam, supported NaS. But, he

was faced with the fact that the album might not be able to reach the masses. He could have just

released it himself on the internet, but he would have to answer to the label since he did use the

label’s money to make the album.

In May 2008, NaS announced that the album was not going to have a title. In a statement

he said,

It’s important to me that this album gets to the fans. It’s been a long time coming.
I want my fans to know that, creatively and lyrically, they can expect the same
content and the same messages. It’s that important. The streets have been waiting
for this for a long time. The people will always know what the real title of this
album is and what to call it.61

He wanted people to hear the album. The title was a minor change because he promised that the

content in the album was going to be the same. He made a statement by leaving his album

untitled; it was a sign that he was not going to give in. He also chose to portray the word

“Nigger” on the album’s artwork. It is a picture of just his back with whiplashes in the sample of

60
Shaheem Reid, “Nas Previews Controversial Album For MTV News: ‘I’m Here To Rap About What I Feel’,”
VH1.com, May 14, 2008, http://www.vh1.com/artists/news/1587428/20080513/nas.jhtml (accessed December 4,
2008).

61
Simon Vozick-Levinson, “Nas changes controversial album title,” ew.com, May 19, 2008,
http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2008/05/nas-title-chang.html (accessed December 4, 2008).

Tejada 38
the letter “N.” The idea came from many photographs of enslaved Black people with the same

whiplashes that they had received from White slave owners

Despite all of these efforts, the album suffered. The release date was pushed back many

times. “Be a Nigger Too” did not make the album because of a sample clearance issue,62

although, some people believe that the various slurs in the record prevented it from being on the

album. The album did not have success within its first week of release. Two months later, the

Recording Industry Association of America gave the album gold certification, which meant that

five hundred thousand units were shipped.63 NaS did achieve his goal of getting the album out to

the masses and people to talk about it. Many print and online media outlets helped carry the

conversation.

Today’s America still does not seem to be ready to accept the N-Word. With NAACP’s

“burial” and the pressure NaS faced, America seemed to be stricter even when NaS tried to get

an important message across. He was going to be censored if he did not change the title of his

album. Sha Stimuli made an intense record that started conversation online, but it did not go

beyond that because he was still an unsigned Rapper. He did not have the same appeal as NaS

did, which turned out to be a form of indirect censorship. The origin of the word is unknown, but

that does not stop people from having their own opinions on it and acting out on their opinions.

62
In some Rap records, samples of other songs are used. The label producing the Rap record has to gain the rights to
use the sample.
63
“Untitled Nas album,” Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, December 4, 2008,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Untitled_Nas_album (accessed December 4, 2008).

Tejada 39
 Enough is Enough: the Conclusion

“I can say what I want to say.

Ain’t nothing to it. Gangsta rap made me do it.”
-Ice Cube “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It” (2008)

Rap music has endured a lot of pressure from various groups who wanted to censor it.

They claimed that the music was damaging to young people. Some of them found it offensive.

Their problem was with certain words and themes. The major issues were sexism and the N-

Word. These groups protested in the streets and in front of the homes of network executives to

get their point across. They boycotted the music to censor it indirectly. The groups’ efforts failed

because they did not stop the youth from buying the music. Rap music succeeded because of this.

Obscenity has been difficult to define for America. According to various court decisions,

something obscene must offend people but can’t be a form of artistic expression. This is

Tejada 40
confusing because who is to say what art is and who is to be offended by it? One person can be

offended, but a group of people may not be. The FCC also has trouble making determinations

about obscenity because it depends on people to submit complaints to the commission. This is

why it is difficult to get Rap music banned.

Most Rap songs do contain troubling lyrics, but they are already censored for children

thought warning labels and clean records played on the radio and television. The censorship

today has reached a point where it is difficult to understand certain Rap songs that are played on

the radio and television. If there is a sexual theme in a song, various words, even those beyond

words designated as profane, will get censored. Once that is done, there is no point to having a

record playing on the radio and television.

Various groups still push to clean the airwaves and even get rid of Rap. The level of

censorship today is enough. Parents should be stricter with their children when it comes to the

radio, television, internet, and music to which they listen. There shouldn’t be a total ban on

certain words and themes. There is a time and place for these things. Rappers, music executives,

media executives, and the protest groups need to have civil discussions to understand the reasons

behind why the people in the industry produce troubling themes and why the protest groups fight

against those themes. Once that happens, both sides can gain an understanding of each other and

some positive things will result. First Amendment rights will be preserved, and Rappers will be

able to express their opinions with the world in ways that are meaningful to them and their

audiences.

Tejada 41
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