Chuck D was asked to address Suge Knight’s recent declaration that he prefers to be called “the n-word” over “African American.” The Public Enemy emcee spoke on the historical context of the n-word.
“Being called Black in America is the struggle to keep us moving and breathing over bloody water,” Chuck said totmz.com. “Being a nigger or [nigga] without the context of history is like drowning in bloody water, dragging down those yet knowing to swim.”
“That word, it got a lot of history,” YG said. “It got a lot of people that, you feel me, been through a lot of shit behind that word. You feel me? But I feel like people use the word anyways on an everyday basis. The word is based off of friendship. When you say the ‘n-word’, ‘that’s my n-word,’ you saying ‘that’s my homie.’ So, this how I feel about it a little bit too. If the people using that word as a word to like uplift they friend or like say ‘that’s my homie, that’s my friend,’ I feel like it’s love. Because they ain’t using it in a disrespectful way.”
Suge Knight spoke about the “n-word” recently, saying he dislikes the term “African American.”
“A lot of times when people say the n-word, I like that better than African American,” Knight said. “We’re not from Africa. We’re black. Even Africans don’t call themselves African.”