I’m not a fan of the N-word and, for the record, I refuse to use such a degrading word myself. But the hypocrisy from the Cancel Culture Crowd is stunning. Here’s the latest.
On one hand, Cardi B uses the word “nigga” half a dozen times in her song “Be Careful”—which has more than 130,559,700 YouTube views—and she uses it several dozen times in “Sauce Boyz” . . . and makes big bucks doing so.
But . . . when country artist Morgan Wallen called a friend the N-word—BOOM!—Cumulus Media banned his music from 400+ radio stations for “using a racial slur”, his music was instantly dropped by Pandora, SiriusXM, and both Apple Music’s Today’s Country and Spotify’s Hot Country Songs axed him from their playlists.
But wait there’s more.
CMT is censoring all of Wallen’s appearances from their various platforms and his record company has suspended his recording contract. Now that Country Music has given him the boot, will Wallen take up singing the blues? Inquiring minds want to know.
Welcome to the sanctimonious Cancel Culture. Someone says the N-word and their entire career and livelihood is vaporized. Or not. Where is the outrage over Cardi B using racial slurs? Why aren’t streaming services and stores dropping her music?
This hypocritical censorship isn’t entirely new. Where was the same outrage when Ludacris—President Obama’s favorite rapper—wrote the little ditty “Too Many Niggas Not Enough Hoes“?
Or take Eminem, who used the N-word back in 1993. He claims the rap was “made out of anger, stupidity and frustration when I was a teenager.” At the time he rapped, “All the girls I like to bone have big butts / No they don’t, ’cause I don’t like that n***er sh*t / I’m just here to make a bigger hit.” (N-word aside, gotta like his adoring view of women.)
Rapper 50 Cent, who uses the N-word constantly, told NBC’s Today Show, “I’m not using it as a racial slur . . . It’s just slang.” He gets a pass from the left for raps like “To All My Niggars” and “The Realest Niggars.”
Then there’s Kid Rock who, back on June 19, 2013, appeared on Howard Stern and said,
“We all use the n-word. We call each other the n-word all the time. We cut it up. My dentist’s name is Taco. We say stuff like that all the time ‘What’s up my ni66er?’ We’re just living up pop-culture. We just call it like it is, like band members do in privacy.”
Shock jock Stern went on to ask whether or not Kid Rock used the N-word around his son—who happens to be half black. Answer? “Why can’t I say the N-word to him?” Nice.
Def Jam founder Russell Simmons who defended the use of the N-word, saying, “When we say ‘nigger’ now, it’s very positive.”
If the N-word is so “very positive” now, why did Paula Deen, The Queen of Cooking, get such a bad rap eight years ago? Her critics became boiling mad that Paula used the N-word three decades prior. She promptly lost endorsement deals worth more than $12.5 million when sponsors like Home Depot, Target, Walmart and the Food Network dropped her like a hot potato. Their argument was half-baked at best.
To her credit, Paula Deen has apologized several times. So has Morgan Wallen. Can’t say the same thing about Cardi B, Post Malone, Machine Gun Kelly, Ludacris, 50 Cent, Kid Rock, Snoop Dogg, Vanilla Ice or any number of rappers before and after them who have sold millions of albums drenched with the N-word.
This begs a few questions:
Why do Walmart and Target still carry their albums, books and videos? Why doesn’t YouTube suspend the streaming of their music videos? Why isn’t their music pulled from radio—satellite and terrestrial—just as Wallen’s music was banned?
Is it possible that the prevalence of N-words in rap and hip hop music over the last 40 years has popularized the word so much its become common parlance? Why, then, are we so surprised when Morgan Wallen or some suburban kid in Kansas throws around a word they’ve heard a million times in their headphones?
If using the N-word is so offensive—yes, even worthy of losing your entire career over, why aren’t we equally concerned about those peddling and profiteering from of its usage?
And what about the salacious words Wallen spewed? Sexually degrading terms for female genitals are Okay? Who decides which words are acceptable and which words get you cancelled?
While the Cancel Culture arbitrarily picks who will be held accountable and who gets a pass, there’s One who will hold all of us accountable for our word choices—even those said in private.
Jesus says, “But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned” (Luke 12:36-37).
Thankfully, there’s some good news: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Jesus isn’t in the business of canceling us. He desires to transform us.