Music is about art, and a lot of the time the art is criticised for crossing new boundaries. Well hip-hop superstar Nicki Minaj has done this with her new song “Looking Ass N*gga”. The title only of the song is already a problem, unfortunately and wrongly, the deadly n‑word has become a colloquial term. Rappers use it, your average Joe uses it, the word features in memes and even Madonna uses it, towards her own white son!
But this isn’t about how Nicki uses the word as the title of the song, or how it continuously features throughout the song. No. This is about the artwork used for the song. Someone on the Team Minaj has edited and juxtaposed a picture of deceased black minster and human rights activist Malcolm X with a gun and the title “Looking Ass N*gga”.
Whether this is for promotion or just pure ignorance this is disgusting! Nicki Minaj as an African American female should be able to draw the line between trying to be innovative in selling her art and embarrassing herself and disrespecting her race! I’m not in support of the usage of the word at all but, I’ve come to accept that it will not be eradicated any time soon, but the pure ignorance and the stupidity of the picture, I cannot accept.
Using the word is one thing, but trying associate a role model for many people of all races with a word with such awful and racist connotations is unthinkable. Minaj is seen as role model, but what type of role model does this represent? The song is some sort of feminist statement. Minaj basically ridicules male “stunters”, which is fair. It’s a form of artistic expression. So why belittle the image of Malcolm X? Was he not fighting for equality? Everyone who was apart of this project do need to look at themselves and think about what they have done. And Nicki Minaj needs to remember that unfortunately she is a role model.
[avatar user=“Aaron Wright” size=“thumbnail” /]
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