Nigger

In the English language, the word "nigger" is an ethnic slur, usually directed at black people. The word originated as a neutral term referring to people with black skin, as a variation of the Spanish and Portuguese noun negro, a descendant of the Latin adjective niger ("black"). It was often used disparagingly, and by the mid-twentieth century, particularly in the United States, its usage became unambiguously pejorative, a racist insult. Accordingly, it began to disappear from popular culture, and its continued inclusion in classic works of literature has sparked controversy.

In the contemporary United States and United Kingdom, using the word nigger is considered extremely offensive, and it is often replaced with the euphemism "the N-word". The variant "Nigga" is sometimes used among African Americans in a non-derogatory sense.

Etymology and history

The variants neger and negar, derive from the Spanish and Portuguese word negro (black), and from the now-pejorative French nègre (negro). Etymologically, negro, noir, nègre, and nigger ultimately derive from nigrum, the stem of the Latin niger (black) (pronounced [ˈniɡer] which, in every other grammatical case, grammatical gender, and grammatical number besides nominative masculine singular, is nigr-, the r is trilled).

Untitled Nas album

The untitled ninth studio album by American rapper Nas was released by Def Jam Recordings and Columbia Records on July 15, 2008 in the United States, with earlier dates in some other countries. Its original title—Nigger—was changed due to controversy surrounding the racial epithet. The album is distinguished for its political content, diverse sources of production and provocative subject matter.

The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, Nas' fifth to do so. It was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipments of 500,000 copies in the United States. Upon its release, the album received generally positive reviews from music critics; it holds an aggregate score of 71/100 from Metacritic.

Background

Title controversy

The original title of the album—Nigger—was mentioned by Nas several times, as well as on an October 12, 2007, performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City where he announced the title and release date.Def Jam made no comment on the title. This was similar to attempts to name his 2006 album—eventually titled Hip Hop Is Dead—both Nigga and Hip Hop Is Dead... The N. On May 19, 2008, it was confirmed that Nas changed the name of the album to an untitled one (although on iTunes, the album is self-titled), stating that "the people will always know what the real title of this album is and what to call it." The cover of the album shows the back of a shirtless Nas with flagellation scars forming the shape of the letter N, a reference to the racial slur and how slaves were tortured. Fort Greene, Brooklyn assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries requested New York's Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli to withdraw $84 million from the state pension fund that has been invested into Universal and its parent company, Vivendi, if the album's title was not changed.

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word

Nigger: The Strange Career of a Troublesome Word is a 2002 book by Professor Randall Kennedy of Harvard Law School about the history and sociology of the word "nigger".

The book was prominently featured in an episode of Boston Public in which a white teacher, played by Michael Rapaport, attempted to employ the book to teach his students about the history and controversy surrounding the word.

Further reading

External links

B.O.B. (video game)

B.O.B. (known in Japan as Space Funky B.O.B.) is a video game that was released in 1993. It is a side-scrolling game, a 2D shooter and a platform game.

History

B.O.B. was developed by Gray Matter Inc. and Foley Hi-Tech Systems, and published by Electronic Arts for both the Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis.The cover art for the EA packaging was illustrated by Marc Ericksen.

In August 2006, GameSpot reported that Electronic Arts would be also porting B.O.B. to the PlayStation Portable as part of EA Replay. It was released in North America on November 7, 2006.

On September 12, 2008 the source code of the SNES version became available as it was found on an eBay-bought hard drive.

Plot

When B.O.B. crashes his dad's space car on the way to pick up his date, he finds himself stranded on a hostile asteroid filled with enemies. By collecting power ups and using fast reflexes, B.O.B. tries to find his way off the asteroid and to his date. B.O.B. fights his way through three strange worlds in total, encountering several particularly enormous or swift enemies (bosses) along the way, and participating in several cart-race levels. There were several different types of setting for each level, including domed space colony cities, large alien hive-type areas, strange biomechanical facilities, ancient (and apparently haunted) temples and cavernous magma chambers. Some of these settings only appeared on certain worlds.

B.O.B (song)

"B.O.B" ("Bombs Over Baghdad") is a song by American rap duo OutKast from their fourth studio album Stankonia (2000). It was released as the album's lead single in September 19, 2000 through LaFace Records and Arista. Produced by Earthtone III, the song features a high-speed tempo beat consisting of drum'n'bass rhythms, guitars, organs, and gospel vocals. Although not a huge commercial success, the song has been cited as one of the greatest songs of all time by publications such as Pitchfork Media, Rolling Stone, Blender and Complex.

Composition

Produced by OutKast and Mr. DJ under the name Earthtone III, "B.O.B" features "jittery drum'n'bass rhythms" and has been classified as a "stylistic tour de force" combining "Hendrix-ian" guitars, organs, and gospel vocals. On the track, André 3000 and Big Boi employ a "frantic" flow in order to keep pace with the song's high-speed tempo, which runs at 155 beats per minute.

Big Boi said that they wanted to differ from current music: "Everybody's been doing music like they all have the same formula—e=mc2. They get a beat, an MC, somebody to sing the hook, and go platinum. Where's music going to go when everybody's trapped in this same repetitious flow?"

B.o.B

Bobby Ray Simmons, Jr. (born November 15, 1988), better known by his stage name B.o.B, is an American recording artist and music producer from Decatur, Georgia. In 2006, B.o.B was discovered by Brian Richardson, who then introduced him to TJ Chapman, who subsequently brought him to American record producer Jim Jonsin. After hearing his music, Jonsin signed B.o.B to his Rebel Rock Entertainment imprint. Two years later, Jonsin and B.o.B signed a joint venture deal, with Atlantic Records and American rapper T.I.'s Grand Hustle Records.

B.o.B quickly rose to fame after his commercial debut single "Nothin' on You", reached number one in both the United States and the United Kingdom. He would later release his third single "Airplanes", which also topped several major music charts. His fifth single "Magic", became his third top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100. B.o.B's debut studio album The Adventures of Bobby Ray, which was preceded by two extended plays (EPs) and several mixtapes, was released on April 27, 2010. The album reached number one on the US Billboard charts and was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Later that year, B.o.B was named the ninth "Hottest MC in the Game of 2010" by MTV, on their annual list.