The "n-word" debate rages on, and this time the four co-hosts of State of the Culture talked about artists who "opt in and out of blackness." During their recent discussion, Joe Budden brought up being at shows where white people would use it as a term of endearment. "If you speak to them, they're gonna probably say or echo some of what Fat Joe was saying: 'I grew up this way,'" Budden said. "And that's my only issue when it comes to the multi-race conversation is I don't have a choice. I love this black sh*t. I'm black, it's rich, it's heritage..."
"Let me stop you right there," Remy said interjecting. It's no secret that Fat Joe and Remy have a close relationship as longtime collaborators and good friends. She said, "People like Joe that grew up in the South Bronx, they didn't have a choice, neither." Budden added that he was going to mention that Fat Joe "has always been that. Black." Remy continued that her friend has been that way his entire life. "I've seen pictures. I know his whole family. This didn't happen when he decided to become a rapper or [an] artist. 'Yeah, I'm gonna use the word n*gga because this sounds cool.'...He's black. Like, that's it."
Budden, along with the other hosts, stated that they don't have a problem with Fat Joe being black and saying the n-word, but Budden stated that he's not comfortable with Logic saying it. Co-host Eboni K. Williams argued that she's not okay with Jennifer Lopez saying "n*gga" in her lyrics to her 2001 hit song "I'm Real" featuring Ja Rule while later rejecting her blackness as her career propelled upward.
"My experience of her is someone who opts in and out of blackness as it is convenient for her," Eboni said. Remy retorted that Jennifer Lopez was raised in the same neighborhood as Fat Joe. The rapper stated that people, like her co-hosts, often see artists such as Fat Joe or Lopez only as Latino and don't allow them to identify as black. Check out the clip below and check what else Remy had to say about black people who reject their culture, below.
