The N-Word is Not What’s Racist

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Loveless Sociology

Mar 24 2015

By now, I’m sure many of you are familiar with the scandal surrounding the Oklahoma chapter of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, whose members were caught on camera leading the racist chant “you can hang him in a tree, but he’ll never sign with me; there will never be a nigger SAE,” and the subsequent video of the fraternity’s 79-year-old house mother gleefully spouting the n-word with Trinidad James’ “All Gold Everything” playing in the background. Aside from pretty much ruining “If You’re Happy and You Know It” for everyone, the controversy has also reignited the national debate surrounding the n-word and […]

Kendrick Lamar is Wrong (or: Respectability Politics are Bullshit, Vol. I)

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Loveless Sociology

Mar 10 2015

Rapper Azealia Banks has announced she is giving up Twitter for Lent, and her online feuds likely had more than a little influence on Iggy Azalea and Lupe Fiasco spurning the social media platform as well. Like Kanye West before her, the 212 rapper is also beginning to gain a reputation as a “ranter” (a term like “crazy” that is usually dismissive), despite the fact that she normally says some pretty real shit. She has been very outspoken about racial politics and the issues surrounding cultural appropriation (issues that are inextricably linked to her beef with Iggy Azalea), and was even moved to […]

So Phony: Iggy Azalea is Rap’s Jim Crow

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Loveless Sociology

Feb 17 2015

Last week, Langston Wilkins published an article on Iggy Azalea in the Washington Post stating that “hip-hop is no longer a culture owned by black Americans.” And he might be right. White people now account for up to 75% of hip-hop album sales in the United States, so it should come as no surprise that as the influence of hip-hop has diversified, so too have its key players. This is likely the reason that Lupe Fiasco defended Iggy Azalea this past December by asserting that she “has a place in hip-hop.” He sees the changing demographic landscape of the genre’s influence […]

The N-Word is Not What’s Racist

Kendrick Lamar is Wrong (or: Respectability Politics are Bullshit, Vol. I)

So Phony: Iggy Azalea is Rap’s Jim Crow

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