OCR01125 - Astérix (NES) "Niggaz 4 Life"

[SilentKnight]

hmmmm...

to be honest, lyrically this wasn't really anything special, flame me on this if you want

i kinda have to agree with some of the other reviews, a little bit of profanity here and there is fine. but i felt that this song was kinda overdoing it.

nice attempt though

the beat and instrumental however were pretty good in my opinion, so no complaints there.

forgot to mention, your flow and delivery were kinda iffy. basically you're doing what I used to do when rapping, cramming too many words into one measure of music. At most I would suggest around twelve syllables of wording for each line, unless you're someone super fast like Twista. That way you won't have a semi-awkward slow then fast delivery.

[DrEw.]

Did this remind anyone else of that song that plays on the Splash Mountain ride at Disney? Just the chorus. Not the whole rapping part.

[Tex]

Wow! That's excellent! I love this ReMix! Great lyrics! Nice panning effect! The pizzicato on beginning is lovely. The piano is great too. Awesome guitar.

I really enjoyed it. It's very nice! Also creative with the characters singing: Asterix, Obelix, etc. Asterix & Obelix is a good comics for my taste too. Nice work, guys!

[Brim]

This song is awesome. Normally for me, rap is either hit or miss, but this is definitely hit. Either I'm addicted to a rap song or I hate it furiously. And I'm definitely addicted to this track.

Gotta be careful not to sing it out loud in school.

[Cyan_Ide]

Ok, let me preface this entire post by stating that I don't swear. Never did. Don't plan on swearing in the near future.

That being said, this remix is excellent. The music in the back is great in and of itself, it's interesting and dynamic. I really enjoyed the panning of the voices, too.

And I absolutely LOVED the lyrics. As many have stated before, the chorus is incredibly catchy, and today, while I was doing some art work, I had the chorus stuck on constant loop in my head. After reading both Zyko's own take on the meaning of the lyrics and the lyrics themselves, and the use of the word "nigga," I totally see the companionship qualities of the use of the word within the lyrics and context, and it works. It's really funny/cool to see the incorporations of the game into the lyrics. It is absolutely AMAZING to see this come out of the fun, upbeat NSF file that this music is inspired from.

All around great mix. One of my favorites.

To everyone complaining about the swearing. It's this simple.

This is a review thread.

Once again, DJP warned all who come to the download this mix of the lyrics found within the song, and if the use of the profanity in this song bothers you, and you ignored his warnings and listened anyways, then came on to this thread to complain about it, you SHOULDN'T BE HERE. Ubik and Zyko aren't going to learn ANYTHING about making better mixes if your only critisism of this song is about the profanity.

Poster: "Zyko: You use the word "nigga" WAY too much."

Zyko: "Phew, thanks for that invaluable input, seeing as I was going to base the next thirty mixes I do around the word "nigga," as that's all I care about, you know, offending people with it and stuff."

This is a review thread people, not a "I hate this word" thread. If you don't have anything constructive to say, or, in the case you enjoyed the song, as I did, a kudos for the mixers, then just DON'T POST AT ALL. It's called courtesy. Use it.

[SilentKnight]

well the word nigga itself never really bothered me

my main concern was with how they wrote and delivered the lyrics. once again, by cramming too much into one measure, it slightly made the rapping sound iffy.

content-wise the lyrics were actually pretty good, at least better than mine when i first started rapping.

but flow-wise, it would've sounded much better if they took the time, slowed down their delivery, and let the words flow more evenly with the beat. that minor detail was what kept this song from being an instant classic in my book.

[zykO]

except all of "they" is just me

[Magical Ninja]

Im not usually a fan of rap/hip hop/ec, But this is Awesome!

[Babylon Skyscraper]

Well...whew. Here I am making my rounds of reviews, and this counts for my third. Which means (that's right, kids) more storytime for everyone!

I was born in Cincinnati, and raised in Bufu (suffice to say a nearby white suburbia). For anyone who doesn't know what this is like, read your romance novels; all the shit about the political cutthroats and reputation whores is true. I won't say that I didn't have friends, but I will say that I did have enemies. Maybe that's true for all societies, but you have very careful terminology for your friends. If you get too close, you're a homosexual in a homophobic society; if you aren't close enough, you're untrustworthy, fickle, or paranoid. It's a Danse Macabre in the worst sort of way.

Sophomore year in High School, I moved back to downtown Cincy, and was enrolled in a public school with a predominantly black population. It was also a performing arts school, so there was a lot of open homosexuality. Being straight, white, and ignorant, this made for quite the culture shock. And I learned very quickly that there are a lot of true stereotypes of my darker-skinned compatriots. But I learned that this wasn't because of the color of their skin or the quality of their person, it was because of the environment they grew up in. I saw kids smoking behind the school. I saw bathroom stall poetry go unpunished. I was in an alien world.

Now, 3 years later, I've graduated and I still don't really feel at home here. But something happened when I heard this song. Pretzel (God love you) referenced this remix in another one of his commentaries, which is what drew me to it. I love controversy. I studied it in my senior year. I wanted to know what people had to say.

I'm the only white kid on my block. This isn't a problem...my Xbox was stolen by black kids (along with all the games). A man was shot on the corner of my street. The gunman and the victim were black. I've had philosophical discussions with the lovely old woman next door. She's black too. Now, they ain't my niggaz. My friends from drama class, both black and white, some gay and some straight, we watch each other's backs. When one of their apartments burned down, we were there to get him some new threads. Those are my niggaz. What I learned when I heard this song is the true meaning of "nigga". Someone said it earlier. True meanings get skewed with time. We haven't always spoken modern English, and many places even in the US still don't. It's a dialect, an accent, a regional presentation to a common language. Just like the British say "gay-rahj" when they go to park their cars, and the West Coast calls everyone "dude", we've got our "niggaz". Your nigga is your friend...take it anyway else, that's cool, you probably don't have anyone you can call your nigga. Brother, homie, friend, comrade, nigga...they're different kinds of friends. You can't define nigga so much as you can define brother, homie, or dude. But there is a brotherhood I've seen between people in downtown without all that reputation bullshit that I grew up in. Like the main characters of this game, they're oppressed by a higher power and have no one to rely on but each other. Yet in this dark realization, they're laughing their asses off firing up a bowl and watching The Matrix for the third time. That's what a nigga is to people who defined the word. Dictionaries can argue, but Pretzel even said in his disclaimer that it's the intention, not the definition, that counts.

You want my opinion? This song rocks. It accomplished exactly its purpose; present a satirical parody of an original idea. I find it deep and inspirational; it inspired me. It captured the idea of the game and put it in a new (modern) light..and I'd just like to quote the main site here, if you will allow me:

"OverClocked ReMix is a website dedicated to reviving the video and computer game music of yesterday, and reinterpreting that of today, with new technology & capabilities. This site's mission is to prove that this music is not disposable or merely just background, but is as intricate, innovative, and lasting as any other form."

Isn't that what this remix does?

So you know, as everyone has to have their favorites, this is indeed my favorite of the verses. While the chorus is catchy, campy, and cute, for some reason this verse captures me; perhaps because the percussion drops out to leave a voice with minimal music:

"so you still think u can face me on the battlefield of ages?

where i'm ten mages, fire breathin and faceless?

i waste half a language feedin my ten rages to break outta ten cages and see what war a fool wages

when the end is as clear as your beginning pages

i rearrange the stages of my rat race mazes in phases

my method is quite tasteless

i insist that you bleed outta various different places..."

On a final note, I don't like rap. I hate it. It's not that I feel that the artists neglect the definition of art when they make their rap; most of it now is unoriginal and has lost its meaning in exchange for an attempt to sell a record because the industry has become a capitalist cash crop. This song is ameteur and should best remain that way; its writers are not looking for fame or money. There's better ways to earn both. This is music for the fun of making music, and that is why this remix rocks.

[nepsus]

I made a clean version of this track with CoolEdit so I could listen to it more often. Great arrangement and no I don't particularly appreciate profanity but the lyrics are very creative and fun to listen to.

[watkinzez]

Excellent quality. Excellent skill. Great job.

This is what OCR is all about.

Heard this one way back and was impressed. Still am.

Hope to hear more from weed and ubik.

I'll have to say I agree with Protricity's statement made long ago. No, it's not my favourite mix on the site- though it's definitely up there. What I take Prot's quote to mean is that the mix takes a simple, catchy tune from a lesser known game, and does some awesome stuff with it, paying homage to the composer and the franchise material (that being the awesomeness that is Asterix), and having plenty of fun along the way. Going by the guidelines of the site, there's not much more you can do.

10 Days Later Edit- Oh yeah, did I mention that this song never gets old? Two years on, after countless listens, and it still seems fresh and catchy. I am so looking forward to rediscovering this mix 50 years from now on my old hard drive and reliving the memories. Not that I'd suddenly forget about OCRemix..

[Leon K.]

Yeah. Um, this song would be highly entertaining if it wasn't for the "Nigga" being thrown around every 5 seconds. It doesn't matter what the intentions behind it are, the word is terrible, and changing the spelling because some fools couldn't pronounce it correctly doesn't make it a different word. Black people saying it doesn't make it okay, it makes them stupid.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to preach here, but I think you should seriously consider either A: Revising the chorus (Because it would still be the same song, Switch Nigga to Brotha or something like that) or B: Remove it from the site. I'm as liberal as the next guy, but these guys got away with murder. It shouldn't be allowed because of the racial conotations. Regardless of intention, they are still there, and until there are no negative conotations involved with it, we should refrain from using it. Songs like this dont help. They make the word "okay". And I wish rappers would stop using it as well. You don't have to curse or say nigga every three seconds to make a good song.

[AlphaMale]

First of all, I LOVE this track and play it to everyone that comes to my house who has not heard it.

It is funny! and I love the tune, it is just awesome. I do however have a question, are Ubik and Zyko black or white? would be much funnier if they were white.

I get the impression that it is tongue in cheek, does anyone else get that impression?

[watkinzez]

Yeah. Um, this song would be highly entertaining if it wasn't for the "Nigga" being thrown around every 5 seconds. It doesn't matter what the intentions behind it are, the word is terrible, and changing the spelling because some fools couldn't pronounce it correctly doesn't make it a different word. Black people saying it doesn't make it okay, it makes them stupid.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to preach here, but I think you should seriously consider either A: Revising the chorus (Because it would still be the same song, Switch Nigga to Brotha or something like that) or B: Remove it from the site. I'm as liberal as the next guy, but these guys got away with murder. It shouldn't be allowed because of the racial conotations. Regardless of intention, they are still there, and until there are no negative conotations involved with it, we should refrain from using it. Songs like this dont help. They make the word "okay". And I wish rappers would stop using it as well. You don't have to curse or say nigga every three seconds to make a good song.

I take it you didn't read the rest of the thread.

[MkVaff]

Yeah. Um, this song would be highly entertaining if it wasn't for the "Nigga" being thrown around every 5 seconds. It doesn't matter what the intentions behind it are, the word is terrible, and changing the spelling because some fools couldn't pronounce it correctly doesn't make it a different word. Black people saying it doesn't make it okay, it makes them stupid.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to preach here, but I think you should seriously consider either A: Revising the chorus (Because it would still be the same song, Switch Nigga to Brotha or something like that) or B: Remove it from the site. I'm as liberal as the next guy, but these guys got away with murder. It shouldn't be allowed because of the racial conotations. Regardless of intention, they are still there, and until there are no negative conotations involved with it, we should refrain from using it. Songs like this dont help. They make the word "okay". And I wish rappers would stop using it as well. You don't have to curse or say nigga every three seconds to make a good song.

I take it you didn't read the rest of the thread.

I agree. That whole argument to me always sounded like it came too much from people on the "outside" thinking they have an idea of what the word (and to some extent the culture) meant. A good 80% of my friends are minorities, many of them being black. I can throw the word nigga around them without them taking offense because they know it's a joke or is meant in an affectionate way. Living in an upper- middle class 95% white neighborhood, I know many more people who would never use the "N" word but would be scared to death if their children was seen talking to a "black kid."

So getting all bent up on a word is useless... Actions speak volumes more than a word (especially in this context). If there was a hint of overt racism anywhere in this song, rest assured it wouldn't have been posted.

[Ab56 v2 aka Ash]

Ha, I remember listening to this song a few times the first time I downloaded it. Funny stuff.

I didn't read this thread (sorry), but if it hasn't been brought up, did anyone ever consider that black people saying the word "nigger" gives them a sense of ownership for the word? It trivializes what it once meant and strips it of its negative connotation.

[Broken]

The beat and little percussive touches in this mix (especially at the beginning) help make it even better than just the sharp lyrics and the excellent reinterpretation of the original song.

I think the pizzicato strings also keep this mix groovin'. And whatever the heck that thing is that starts playing at 0:40 is cool too.

[Leon K.]

Yeah, You guys have kind of missed the point. A: It doesn't matter whether it comes from the outside or not. And as a matter of fact, I'm a black kid living in New Rochelle right outside of the bronx. I am duly aware of how the word is use, and what it's connotations are. But yeah, Black People using it does NOT trivialize it. Almost all of the black people you hear using it are fools, or know no better. Black people didn't trivialize it, they copied off of white people and used it as a derogatory term towards OTHER black people. Somehow along the way though, It became "accepted" to throw around a racial slur as if it doesn't matter.

You don't hear white people walking around calling each other "Honkey" every 5 seconds. You don't hear chinese people walking around referring to themselves as "Chinks". You don't hear japanese people running around calling themselves "Japs". You don't hear arabs calling themselves "Sand-niggers". Why the hell is it okay for us to call ourselves Niggers? Because a bunch of stupid people decided to use it?

Yeah. No matter WHO uses it it has racial overtones, some people are just too dumb to realize it. And the fact that you had a bunch of people who knew niether the affect, apparently the history, or repercussions of using such a word, than posting it on a site such as this, is terrible. TERRIBLE. It doesn't matter whether the music is good or not (Which it is.) But the content is terrible. I hope that either the content is changed, or this remix is taken down.

I hate to be the party pooper, but I refuse to sit idly by and let people make fun of a people because of their ignorance.

And yes, their ARE racist overtones all through this song. I'm surprised they could get away with this.

[watkinzez]

Yeah, You guys have kind of missed the point. A: It doesn't matter whether it comes from the outside or not. And as a matter of fact, I'm a black kid living in New Rochelle right outside of the bronx. I am duly aware of how the word is use, and what it's connotations are. But yeah, Black People using it does NOT trivialize it. Almost all of the black people you hear using it are fools, or know no better. Black people didn't trivialize it, they copied off of white people and used it as a derogatory term towards OTHER black people. Somehow along the way though, It became "accepted" to throw around a racial slur as if it doesn't matter.

You don't hear white people walking around calling each other "Honkey" every 5 seconds. You don't hear chinese people walking around referring to themselves as "Chinks". You don't hear japanese people running around calling themselves "Japs". You don't hear arabs calling themselves "Sand-niggers". Why the hell is it okay for us to call ourselves Niggers? Because a bunch of stupid people decided to use it?

Yeah. No matter WHO uses it it has racial overtones, some people are just too dumb to realize it. And the fact that you had a bunch of people who knew niether the affect, apparently the history, or repercussions of using such a word, than posting it on a site such as this, is terrible. TERRIBLE. It doesn't matter whether the music is good or not (Which it is.) But the content is terrible. I hope that either the content is changed, or this remix is taken down.

I hate to be the party pooper, but I refuse to sit idly by and let people make fun of a people because of their ignorance.

And yes, their ARE racist overtones all through this song. I'm surprised they could get away with this.

You still haven't read the thread. Zyko isn't white- he's Egyptian, and his intentions were definitely not what you're reading into this. Check his words on pages 2, 4 and 5.

[zykO]

http://www.vgmix.com/song_view.php?song_id=1445

[Cer_ber_uS]

Damnit, I just wrote this giant thing about how much this song is amazing, even if it is rap, but this comp had to be retarded and now I lost it all

I'll at least say this song is a 10/10, that Zyko is great for making a rap song that doesn't make me vomit in my mouth a little bit, you people that are all angry about the racial slurs need to read before you make an argument, and that Obelix's part is just amazing.

Oh, and Zyko, is there any way I can get this onto an iPod or something like it? A lot of people I know need to hear this.

Yeah. Um, this song would be highly entertaining if it wasn't for the "Nigga" being thrown around every 5 seconds. It doesn't matter what the intentions behind it are, the word is terrible, and changing the spelling because some fools couldn't pronounce it correctly doesn't make it a different word. Black people saying it doesn't make it okay, it makes them stupid.

I'm sorry, I'm not going to preach here, but I think you should seriously consider either A: Revising the chorus (Because it would still be the same song, Switch Nigga to Brotha or something like that) or B: Remove it from the site. I'm as liberal as the next guy, but these guys got away with murder. It shouldn't be allowed because of the racial conotations. Regardless of intention, they are still there, and until there are no negative conotations involved with it, we should refrain from using it. Songs like this dont help. They make the word "okay". And I wish rappers would stop using it as well. You don't have to curse or say nigga every three seconds to make a good song.

well ur my brotha

and i'm ur brotha

and we all brotha's till the end of time

rhyme after rhyme

day or night

we all brotha's till the end of time

Try to sing that with the bg music in your head. It just doesn't go with the beat at all. And this isn't murder at all. There's so much worse out there that poisons people's minds. Like... most other rap! If anything, these guys would get off with a warning; if being the key word.

I do agree with you on the point that swearing doesn't make a song "good". But that's not what I like when I hear this song. I like that it's catchy, yet it doesn't make me want to shove a pistol into my eye and pull the trigger after stabbing my eardrums with a Q-tip.

[Navi]

Oh, and Zyko, is there any way I can get this onto an iPod or something like it? A lot of people I know need to hear this.

shouldn't it work like any other mp3?

[ChloroPhil]

It doesn't matter what the intentions behind it are, the word is terrible, and changing the spelling because some fools couldn't pronounce it correctly doesn't make it a different word.

I am mixed, and don't use the word, but am around it regularly. I certainly don't advocate its use, but for the sake of honesty it doesn't really bother me when I hear black people say it. I've certainly heard plenty of people that I would not call "fools" say it.

At any rate, it bugs me whenever someone calls a group of people "fools" or anything similar for pronouncing words different than white people. Black people and white people in America have different linguistic backgrounds, and speak different dialects. (obviously not all black people and all white people, but from a general historical standpoint, they're comin' from different angles) Black people didn't say, "we'll change the pronunciation and make it our word," - it was just their natural pronunciation.

I like how when African Americans, who are historically victims of social isolation and denied education, pronounce a word different from the standard, it's "wrong," whereas I've never heard of anyone anywhere attempt to correct the speech of a white person from the south or tell them that the way they speak is wrong, despite the fact that it has many phonetic/lexical/other deviations from the standard. No one expects them to change the way they speak or thinks that it's important that they do. Seems more funny when there is a theory out there that says some of the similarities between Ebonics and Southern English are the result of white children being raised by black women and playing with black children.

So, yeah, Leon K obviously wants the best for the African American community as is evident from his concerns, but be fair to yourself/black people/half of me.

Well, now that this became such an issue, make sure that none of you ever say the word "gyp/gip" as in "I got gipped," because that's a racist word.

You don't have to curse or say nigga every three seconds to make a good song.

I agree to the fullest.

Apologies to Ubik & Zyko for venting in your thread.

Cool song, everything works together well. I really like the beat. Somehow it feels like your voice is cleaner in this song than the other songs of yours that I've heard. I really like your lyrical style, although I'm another person that'd prefer less cursin'. My friends liked the song.

[Sinewav]

What makes a word offensive? It's when some means it offensively and/or people take offense to it.

With the exception of old books like Mark Twain, I have never heard the word used in a negative way. In fact, the only other times I've ever heard that word was when it was used to refer to someone that the person was particularly fond of. I have a white friend (who hangs out with a lot of black people), who was telling me about how one of the greatest honors he has ever felt was when his black friends started refering to him as "nigga" (as well as each other). I was hanging out with a black pastor in the city, and several of his friends who were very happy to see him exclaimed "Hey! There's my nigger!"... to a pastor. The truth is that the word "nigger" is a very context sensitive word and has changed in meaning.

Anyways, I fear that I'm helping this thread derail, so I'll say a little something about the song and hopefully get us back on track here....

That bass line is really nice. That alone can get stuck in your head for a while. The rest of the song is catchy too. It'll get lodged in your head pretty bad, which is a curse and a blessing. It's a good thing, because it's a fun song, but you really have to be careful not to start singing it around certain people... for obvious reasons.

I noticed that there is some fuzz going on in the background. Really not a big deal, but I couldn't help but notice that this wasn't exactly the most well-recorded song I've ever heard. Casual listeners will probably never notice the difference.

I can tell from little things like the pitch shifting part and the little Michael Jackson sounding thing at the end that you guys had fun making this. At times it almost seems like a really well put together joke tune, which I appreciate. Wait a minute... are you guys even black? I might have a problem with the whole "nigga" thing after all.

The key change near the end is a bit jarring, and it seems no matter how many times I listen to the song (I've had this song for a while) I can't get used to it. I adjust to key changes just fine... even the harsh ones... but even by the end of this song, my head is stick stuck in the key that you were in for the first part. Frankly, I think it was an unnecessary addition of the song, and it would have done fine (better actually) without it.

Besides that, this is one of my favorite songs on the site. I currently have this song as track 2 on a mix CD that I've been listening to non-stop lately, and it hasn't gotten old yet. Even though I don't usually listen to rap music, I guess there's something about OC Remix brings out some very entertaining rap. It's good stuff. MORE RAP MIXES, PEOPLE!

[Mullenkamp]

(Edit: It should be noted, that the song is pretty darn good, or at least worth a listen, especially for the semi-Micheal Jackson impersonation thing someone mentioned. Hope this sentiment doesn't undermine everything else I wrote...but I had to stay on topic at least a bit)

It's very strange that you mention Mark Twain, considering that's one of the only times I can somewhat look "past" the deragatory language because of two reasons: 1, the book takes place in the South. People in the South were racist sons of guns for the most part back then, their not going to be politically correct. Two, because despite how many times the word is used in the book, it all seemed to be...I don't know, funny, considering the fact that the greatest, kindest, and indeed, best person in the whole book is Jim. With the exception of a few of the supporting characters (Mary, I think her name was, and her sisters, for instance, and Aunt Polly) everyone in the book Huck encounters is either a liar, a cheat, a racist, a murderer, a human being consumed by a senseless, and murderous rage (as in the case of the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons) or generally bad people. Jim is the only honest, kind, and otherwise good person in the whole book.

No matter what you say, or what is going on in the society however, the context of that word will never change. It represents a part of the most vile underbelly of America's history. I don't care if some black people forget that and for some reason look at the word with some degree of misplaced and misguided...adoration towards another person. The word is not a title. It is an insult. The word idiot will never be considered a title of honor. Neither should this word. If a friend of mine came up to me, a very good friend, and said "My Nigga" as it usually works, I might fancy amusing a few times by letting him give me some dap, but sooner or later I'd have to profess my annoyance towards the use of the word mroe and more frequently as some substitute for the title of "friend" and I'd have to tell him the same thing I'd tell anybody; I'm nobody's Nigga.

There's only one group of people to blame in the present time for everyone's apparent ability to push it off as something that isn't a big deal; the African-American community at large. Stop calling each other a word that was used to subjugate, your, my, ancestors. Stop referring to yourselves by the same degrading term that was spat out by countless ignorant women, children, and men. Stop it. Grow up. It's not cool. It's not smart. It's one of the dumbest things we could ever do because it helps cover up the vile and bleak history of that term. It helps people kind of...cover it up so much easier when you veil the truly hideous meaning behind the all of this ignorant hoopla. My gosh, stop making it so much easier for people to accept such a word into proper society. We're better then this. We have more sense than this. The people who died, the people who worked so hard to secure our equality would turn in their graves ever so slightly and maybe more so if they saw what we were doing, how we're forgetting something so important; the ignorance, the bleak and terrible history behind such a word, and the shadow of despair that comes from it.

We need to make it where white people, and everyone stops thinking it's okay to say the word at all. No, that "Do as I say..." and "It's different because he's not black" crap is not going to fly, and rightfully so. Stop covering how stupid we're being in general by celebrating the word in our hip-hop videos that succeed in immortializing the excesses of the world and stop making things like drugs, guns, and gangs glisten that when they should be dull. Stop making the dregs of society look like their trophies which should be glorified.

We've failed as a people if we can't even remember a terrible emblem of the past injustices that have befallen us, and as a result of that, we've allowed others to slowly, but surely become hardened and insensitive towards realizing the truth; the word has become inherently degragatory, as it's past nature has been dominated by the ignorance of the white people who used it, and determined to use it as a way to subjugate people they spat on as they themselves sat on their sorry behind's, sipping lemonade and generally being lazy, and perhaps wholly pathetic people I can feel almost nothing for contempt for. We can't let this get any further than it already has.

This thread is about a song of all things, not my overbearing rants about African-American culture, and how, somehow, we've helped revive a word that should be dead and buried in the annals of history as a word that only represents how far the ignorance and arrogance of humankind can go. I wouldn't have made a huge deal about it if I hadn't read Sinewav's post. That's the real engine behind this machine. It's a perfect example of how badly we've all screwed up. We've got white people viewing the word as ok now. It all starts with that. If the majority of white people deem something to be ok, it won't be long before this all spreads like some infectious disease. It needs to end, and it needs to be said; the connotations behind that word has not changed, the meaning behind it did not change during the 150 or so years African-Americans were in bondage, it's innate ability to summon up horrid memories of what our ancestors experienced did not change during the time it took for our ancestors to gain equality for us in the present day. It took us so long to gain ground, and now we're going to make people say "The truth is that the word "nigger" is a very context sensitive word and has changed in meaning." and actually believe it? Geez, have we learned anything?

It's a horrid word. Don't let the guise of misguided use of it shield you from the truth. It's a mark of shame, and nothing else. You can use it for a different purpose, but you can't change that. If I use crap instead of glue to keep something together, it might work, but it's still going to smell pretty bad. If you use the word as a subsitute of friendship, it might work, you might, horrifically, make the person believe it's okay to use the word, but I doubt that there won't be someone who can simply taste the bitterness, the history of the word, the tragic venom of a snake forcing all the progress we've made slipping away through our own idiocy.

The word shouldn't be in songs, it shouldn't be in common language, and it shouldn't be considered appropritate. I'm ashamed that I almost succumbed to that same venomous snake that so many other people did, people who throw the word out every day, who think it's okay, when it so clearly is not. It may seem blurred, but keep staring at the image a little while longer, and you'll see there is nothing in the word by cruelty and sorrow, accompanied by the stench of ignorance.

It's not okay.

I am duly aware of how the word is use, and what it's connotations are. But yeah, Black People using it does NOT trivialize it. Almost all of the black people you hear using it are fools, or know no better. Black people didn't trivialize it, they copied off of white people and used it as a derogatory term towards OTHER black people. Somehow along the way though, It became "accepted" to throw around a racial slur as if it doesn't matter.

Seems like we learn from the "best", huh?