An Emotional Reaction: Now I ain't sayin' she a gold digger but she ain't messin' wit no broke n****?

culturemotional:

“LOL, did Kanye just change to ‘broke broke’ on purpose. Oh my god, he did.”

Last night Kanye West closed Coachella with an absolutely fantastic, one would say breathtaking, set farther marking him not only as a true musician, but an artist who has more than mastered his craft, and while I enjoyed as much as self-described “stan” would, there was one moment that stood out from the rest.  Halfway through, Kanye West preformed his breakout hit from Late Registration, “Gold Digger” (feat. Jamie Foxx).  As expected, the sea of unwashed hipsters had begun to sing along as Kanye did his thing when they quoted most famous line, “Now I ain’t sayin’ she a gold digger but she ain’t messin’ wit’ no broke nigga.”  Now, as a woman of color, I was taken back by such causal use among the audience members because let’s not forget the demographics of Coachella.  They are mostly young, middle to upper class and most importantly white attendants.

Which, um, O K!  In hindsight, I know I should not have been so shocked because this has been a situation I have been in and seen repeated several times over, and I have learnt that people never learn.  However I was blind-sighted by the way Kanye reacted to their candid display of ignorance.  When he entered the chorus for the second time, my friends and I noticed he went for the “radio edit” and uttered “broke broke”.  When he entered the chorus for the third time, he decline to had anything after “messin wit no broke”.  Then towards the end of his set, we all realized he dropped “nigga” from his rhymes and lyrics completely and I laughed to that.  I know that was sort of strange reaction but I did not know how to process such realization.  It was just so—I don’t know what to say truthfully!  It was so, so empowering.  Yes, that is the word I want to use.  Empowering.

The thing is, despite what it looks like, I am not interested in debating the merits of the word “nigga” when it comes to its use in the black community right now or ever, really.  I personally was raised not to use the word whether it ended with “a” or “er”.  It was not something my parents taught me to use but growing up with your peers and extended family and society in general exposes you to different mindsets and ideas, and opinions over time change, and while I am admitting that my parents taught me not to use it time and time again, it still comes out of my mouth from when I am talking to certain friends.  I always say it when I am singing along to one of my favorite tracks, and it is something I feel I have the right to do as a black woman.  I mean, damn, that is what we callreclaiming.  Take back word that helps dehumanized a minority at the hands of the majority so I say—we all should say to be honest—that is impossible for a white person to do whether or not they are singing along to their favorite Kanye track (which of course had to be “Gold Digger” but that’s a rant for another day) regarding this word.

And this is where my new found respect for Kanye factors in.  It takes a clear and focus mind to edit yourself from people especially while you are performing.  It is so unbelievably easily to slip up yet he went out of his way to avoid using “nigga” in his rhymes after that mess.  That was a deliberate action.  Something that should be praised because he shot down any opportunity for another white person to use that word in front of him.  It shows Kanye West no matter what people want to characterize him as is a political conscionable person.  This trait shows up so often in his music.  ”All Falls Downs”, “Crack Music”, “Power”.  Even his more “radio friendly” tracks have moments where you think, “Damn, he just brought an element of truth to the table”, and that is more than respect than it currently receives.  I mean, just let me stress here that he made such edits on the spot.  Simply brilliant.

I understand that Kanye West is not a perfect man.  I realize how sexist his lyrics and actions can be.  Such acknowledgements comes with the territory of being socially conscious fan of media in general. But I am human and unbearably smug at times.  Let’s be real here: truthfully I am waiting for the perfect moment where I can throw this display in people’s faces next time they dare to call Mr West an idiot. This incident only continues to prove how quick thinking and intelligent this man is (because his sharp lyrics hasn’t proved enough for White America), and how he deserves respect.  You might not like him but denying his intelligence (and his talent for production etc, I must add) is an injustice in and of itself.  Am I being a little sensational?  Maybe.  It doesn’t make what I have said less true, though.

— Crystal