When is it okay to cuss and use the "N" word in music?

[Liberated Muse Productions]

Your thoughts?

[Liberated Muse Productions]

LOL, lawd

[TGrundy]

OK, I guess I'll be showing my "Old Skool" roots on this one...

With much of today's music it seems like it's acceptable to use foul language just about ALL the time. It has happened so much over the past decade (or so it seems) that it is not "shocking" anymore, just distasteful IMHO. Personally, I would prefer it if folks got back to making decent, quality music without the profanity.

Funny, I remember when Sly came out with "Don't Call Me Nigger, Whitey" and that famous line in The Isley's "Fight The Power":

"...with all this 'bullshit' going down!"

What a controversy those songs caused back then!

[dee stone]

i agree with tgrundy...i find it distasteful, too. while i do use curse words in some of my lyrics, it’s for effect and it usually makes people crack up, lol. and i never, ever use “n”.

i think it’s sad when somebody can’t get through a verse without saying “mf” this and “n” that. but some people find comfort in the streaming negativity. somebody said to me once, “they’re just words.” but those words have energy and that negative vibration spreads and affects everyone.

i think standards have been intentionally lowered and the industry plays to the lowest elements. we need to raise the standards. i mean really, shut up with that tired, old, heard-it-all-before shit ;-)

[hookiefree]

I see this is an old thread but I just got the notification on it. Anyway, I'm sure everybody would agree that if you feel like saying "fuck you" to somebody there is no substitute. NOTHING else will accurately express that. So I think it's OK to cuss when you need to. I don't think the language should change so much as the subject matter. If all your songs are about street stuff, yeah you're gonna do a lot of cussing in your songs. You rarely hear "darn" and "gosh" on the corner. But, I do think it's a problem when young people do it to try to sound "grown" or "hard" though. Sometimes when I take the subway, high school kids will get on and just be loud as hell, "fuck that shit, your ass is crazy if you think I'm going to muthafuckin class bitch."...That's just embarrassing.

[Moon]

Erykah Badu's new album has a song that asks "What if there were no niggas, only master teachers-- I'd stay woke!" and I love that song and am not offended by the use of the "N" word

[Liberated Muse Productions]

Check out Bomani Armah's thoughts on the subject HERE

[Kamal Imani]

If we are bringing up a dramatic point about slavery or something that happened to us in history, I can see the word being used to recall that historic moment, or for a conversation such as this one. However, as far as us saying things such as "shut up you black nigger", "I gat niggers" etc... It is only furthering the damage to our collective unconscious post traumatic slavery syndrome status.
It is causing more disunity which is our potential downfall as a survival unit which every other race is aware of.

[stephan]

I think that cursing is a part of our day to day speech. Well for me it is, I curse at least once a day (more like throughout the day). But I do understand appropriateness. You will never find me cursing in front of my mother, or at work, or anywhere else where I should be exhibiting some sort of home training (YES home training should be exhibited everywhere) . When it comes to music, I see it as a safe haven for free expression. Now I'm not saying that it’s right or tasteful for artist to be dropping the F-bomb or the "N" word in every sentence, but it is their right to do so. I feel like if I didn’t enjoy the music then I wouldn't listen to it. Also asking these artists to stop saying the things they are saying is like asking them to put a damper on their artistry. And I wouldn't take kindly to someone telling me that I couldn't be my true self in music or in visual art. It is my outlet, let no man put asunder.

[Kamal Imani]

Peace,

Just understand that it is a word that devalues us on subliminal levels and causes disunity due to self hate. Self meaning kind (our people). Every other racial/ethnic group works in groups in terms of pooling their resources and fighting in political action committees and defense leagues. I hear on a daily basis young brothers calling each other nigger and it's not as a term of endearment. Sean Bell was killed because they viewed him as a Nigger. We need to recreate our self perception!

Peace

Kamal
http://www.myspace.com/kamalsupreme
http://www.youtube.com/cipherkam See the video "Lynch The N Word"

[Kamal Imani]

It really boils down to how much we love our people.

[Chenyelu Bomani]

Self Love leads to One Love.
It appears that some think that they can disempower the word by making it acceptable. One cannot eliminate cultural bigotry in this manner. It is a word weapon and is "pro" establishment rather than anti-establishment. The user projects themselves so as to appear superior to whomever the word is brought against. Context does not not really determine it's meaning and today it has become a fetish. It is a tool of oppression and it doesn't matter whether it is used as a noun, verb or adjective.
We as a people must define ourselves and refuse to walk in the footfalls of the oppressor. Literary content must remain unchanged...for to eradicate it would be to deny that slavery existed...verbally, words can change but history does not.

[Kamal Imani]

True indeed! Very well said!