Niggas vs. Black People

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Niggas vs. Black People
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Niggas vs. Black People" is the title of one of Chris Rock's most famous and most controversial stand-up comedy routines. This routine, which appeared as track 12 on his 1997 album, Roll with the New, as well as his 1996 HBO special, Bring the Pain, is widely considered to be the breakthrough routine that established his status as a comedy fixture after he left Saturday Night Live.

Essentially an eight-minute rant about behaviors that Rock sees in a subset of the black community; he describes "niggas" as a cohort whose behavior—which embodies many negative African-American stereotypes—is usually detrimental to the image of other black people. The "niggas," he said, glorify ignorance and sloth, and brag about fulfilling any minor responsibility. Rock rejects the view that this image of African Americans is purely cultivated by the media. In the routine, he says, "When I go to the money machine tonight, alright, I ain't looking over my back for the media, I'm looking for niggas! What, you think I've got three guns in my house 'cause the media outside?"

[ame=http://youtu.be/f3PJF0YE-x4]Chris Rock - Black People VS. Niggaz (Bring the Pain 1996) - YouTube[/ame]

Inspiration[edit]

In a 2007 interview, Rock explained that the inspiration for the bit came from the song "Us" from the 1991 Ice Cube album Death Certificate.[1]

Retirement[edit]

The controversy caused by Rock's constant use of the word nigga led him to remove the piece from his act. In a 60 Minutes interview, Rock said, "By the way, I've never done that joke again, ever, and I probably never will. 'Cos some people that were racist thought they had license to say ******. So, I'm done with that routine."[2]

Cultural impact[edit]

Barack Obama directly referenced the routine while campaigning to be elected President during a Father's Day speech on June 15, 2008, saying "Chris Rock had a routine. He said some—too many of our men, they're proud, they brag about doing things they're supposed to do. They say 'Well, I—I'm not in jail.' Well, you're not supposed to be in jail!"[3] Also, in the second episode of NBC's The Office, "Diversity Day," Steve Carell's character performs a censored version; the result is a day-long racial sensitivity seminar for the office staff.[citation needed]

Niggas vs. Black People - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

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The essence of comedy is that it speaks to the true state of affairs in the world...generally the truth few of us are willing to admit publicly.