Nas Uses N-Bomb

Nigger. Six letters which, when spelled in the right order, can elicit thousands of different reactions. From fear and anger to comradery and ownership, the word stirs up different emotions in different people. As a white boy from Indiana, I generally refrain from using the noun, because, to me, it represents a horrifying fault in my lineage, a period so filled with callousness that my ancestors thought nothing of using a hateful word to keep an entire class down. As a black kid from New York City, Nas has completely different feelings about the slur.

According to Billboard, the rapper has chosen Nigga to be the title of his upcoming LP. I’m sorry, but this is ridiculous. I guess I can appreciate the view that by over-using the N-bomb it begins to lose its power, but I’m never completely bought into that logic. By dropping nigger into every nigger sentence that has ever been nigger written, it’s not lessening the nomenclature’s historical severity. In fact, it’s just desensitizing the current generation.

Nas has every right to call his upcoming album by whatever name his chooses, but I hope to God, if he stays with this title, its for reasons that run deeper than shock value.