For years, Kanye West’s love for the word “b—ch” has been peppered throughout his music; the “Way Too Cold” rapper has even referred to his girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, as his “perfect b—ch.” But now, it appears that West may be having a change of heart about the word as well as another commonly used term in hip-hop.
Yesterday, West took to Twitter to share his thoughts — or rather his questions — about the term “b****” and they way society perceives and reacts to the word.
“I usually never tweet questions but I struggle with this so here goes… Is the word BITCH acceptable?” he pondered on Twitter. “To be more specific, is it acceptable for a man to call a woman a bitch even if it’s endearing?”
“Even typing it in question form it’s still feels harsh?” he added.
Besides pondering the way we view “b****,” West also threw the word “n****” into the mix, asking his followers about the impact of the words when we relate them to our own mothers and fathers.
“correction, Here’s the age old question, would we refer to our mothers as bitches? Would’ we call our fathers niggers or better yet NIGGAS?” tweeted West.
West then questioned why a word that has been transformed into a term of endearment in the black community and mainstreamed by hip-hop is still taboo to say amongst white fans who have been influenced by the popular use of the word.
“If nigga is such a positive word, why do we feel so uncomfortable for white people to say it, even with a hall pass?” Yeezy tweeted.
“Is it ok to use bitch as long as we put BAD in front of it? Like you a BAD BITCH” tweeted Yeezy, adding, “Perhaps the words BITCH and NIGGA are now neither positive or negative. They are just potent and it depends on how the are used and by whom?”
The rapper then admitted that his thoughts were inspired by a conversation in which he was questioned for his use of the word “b—ch.” Though he was initially upset, West then begin to sincerely question the word as well as our concept of profanity.
“I’m not tweeting to say what we need and what we don’t… I just wanted to think out loud with you guys today…” he tweeted before ending his rant with a link to Lupe Fiasco’s controversial “B—tch Bad” video.
We have to commend West for having inspiring public dialogue about the impact of these words, which have historically have had a negative impact, and, as many would argue, still do to this day.
But he’s not alone in his ponderings. Check out some other stars that have tackled the word “b—ch” in their lyrics below. – nicholas robinson
