Kendrick Lamar reprimands white fan for using n-word from own lyrics

Rapper Kendrick Lamar recently halted a recent gig to call out a white fan for rapping the n-word from his own lyrics.

The woman, who gave her name only as Delaney, was one of several fans reportedly called on stage to perform Lamar’s 2012 hit M.A.A.D City at the Hangout Festival in Alabama on Sunday. But Delaney failed to self-censor and repeated several times the “n-word” from the lyrics to the song.

The word, while co-opted by black artists, remains the most derogatory term in the US to refer to African-Americans. Uttering it is a taboo for white people.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,” said 30-year-old Lamar, who comes from the historically deprived Los Angeles community of Compton, cutting her off and stopping the music.

The fan was initially baffled. “Am I not cool enough for you? What’s up, bro?” she said.

Lamar replied: “You gotta bleep one single word though.”

As realisation dawned, she apologised, saying, “Oh, I’m sorry. Did I do it?”

“Yeah you did it,” Lamar said.

He asked the audience whether Delaney should remain on stage. They yelled back no, but Billboard magazine reported that Lamar allowed her to perform the song once again, this time without the “n-word” slur.

The incident provoked a storm of reactions on social media, spotlighting America’s continuing struggle with racism.

“#KendrickLamar is BLACK, he can say, write and rap then-word. The girl is WHITE, that word should never leave her mouth,” tweeted one woman.

“It’s not that hard to keep that word out of your mouth. She knew better and she deserved to get called out.”

“If you’re white don’t verbalise the n-word. This is a very simple rule we all collectively agreed to in the 1960s,” tweeted Alex Biancardi, who identifies as a student in California.

“Racists need to stop turning this into a debate.”

Lamar became the first rapper to win a Pulitzer Prize for music, with the board citing his skill in telling the African-American experience.

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