Jake Brigstock
Nov 27, 2024
Cover Media / VideoElephant
Kendrick Lamar dropped a surprise album called GNX but he is facing a bit of a backlash for using an e-word racial slur in one of the new tracks.
Lamar unexpectedly released GNX on 22 November and it's his first full album since that feud with Drake went stratospheric (which we can all agree Lamar resoundingly won with 'Not Like Us', right?).
However people online are attracting attention to one track in particular in which Lamar uses a slur.
There are 12 tracks on the album, all of which already have more than 12m streams each on Spotify alone.
But opening track 'wacced out murals' is the one that is courting controversy.
A section of the lyrics say: "Whatever, though, call me crazy, everybody questionable / Turn me to an eskimo, I drew the line and decimals."
It's the use of 'eskimo' that has people riled up online as it is viewed as a slur by many indigenous Inuit people.
Kendrick Lamar is facing backlash for using a racial slur in his surprise album GMX / Timothy Norris, Getty Images for pgLang, Amazon Music, & Free Lunch
Oceanwide Expeditions explains: "Although it has become common to refer to the Inuit as 'eskimos', this is not their preferred name, nor does it have anything to do with their cultural heritage.
"Instead, it is believed that either the French or Danish first coined the phrase 'eskimo' and it apparently meant either 'snow-shoe netter' or 'meat eater'.
"Either way, the majority of modern Inuit people view the word 'eskimo' as a racial slur."
Most people who have pointed it out on social media have done so to say it should not be used going forward and not with the intention of cancelling Lamar.
According to lyrics site Genius, the rapper included these lyrics because: "[He] has expressed disappointment with rappers he once looked up to, including Lil Wayne. He shared how much he admired Wayne's music, often listening to Tha Carter III.
"However, Lil Wayne's reaction following Kendrick's announcement headlining the New Orleans 2025 Super Bowl was both hurtful and puzzling to him.
"To which he made the decision to distance himself from certain rappers, claiming they were trying to make him look bad / cold. He hinted to this in his lyrics, saying 'drew the line and decimals', that's a division sign, symbolising the separation between himself and those he once admired."
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