Is It OK For A White Rapper To Use The N-Word In Today’s Hip-Hop?

I started thinking a lot about this after the whole Riley Cooper uproar -- you know, the Philadelphia Eagles receiver who was caught on cell phone video making racial remarks at a Kenny Chesney concert.

On video, Cooper stated he would “fight every n-word” at the concert in Philadelphia.
He, of course, did make an apology statement after the whole incident received media attention.

So, OK, what about in music? It's almost impossible to listen to your favorite hip-hop song these days on the radio without hearing the beeps every few bars. Even though the word is used a lot with African-Americans as a term of endearment; to some, the word still should not be used at all, and definitely not by non-Blacks.

One of my oldest friends happens to be Caucasian -- we grew up together, and to this day, he use the word like any of my other black friends would, and no one in our circle is offended. Can't lie, I've had to warn him about it a few times growing up, depending on our environment, but for the most part, it was never a issue. It's all in how you use the word to me -- plus with that word being so used in today’s music, it's almost impossible to believe those kids who are fans of that type of music don’t recite the words no matter their color.

So what if a white rapper uses it in his or her song in a way similar to Lil Wayne? Would it then be too much? Is that crossing the line?

Make sure you comment and let me know what you think.

Here’s what a few of your favorite artists think about the issue:

(WARNING: EXPLICIT CONTENT)

David Banner

Lloyd

Yelawolf