7 white artists you didn't know used the n-word

Quentin Tarantino’s latest film The Hateful Eight has, once again, raised the controversial issue of white artists using the n-word in their work. While proponents oppose language-policing, arguing that the slur is appropriate in artistic or political contexts, detractors say white people used it as a tool of oppression, so they aren’t allowed to say it. Full stop.

But Tarantino isn’t the first white artist to use the n-word, nor will he be the last. Here’s a look at seven who didn’t shy away from the most divisive word in the English language.

The Los Angeles-based hip-hop trio, best known for “Jump Around” and not being Cypress Hill, was careful to avoid using the n-word, given that the group is entirely made up of white dudes. The lone exception, however, was “Keep It Comin" off 1994’s Same as It Ever Was. Vocalist Everlast, who went on to have a successful solo career outside of House of Pain, muses in the second verse, “I got complexes ya can't figure out / My dad said, ‘He's a bum, kick the n*gger out.’”

Based on context, it seems like Everlast is quoting something his father once said to him. Likewise, the only other time Everlast was recorded using the n-word was during his cover of Mobb Deep’s seminal “Shook Ones (Part II)”—again, while quoting someone else.

Stoner rock outfit Monster Magnet blasted onto the music scene in 1998 with Powertrip, earning it a gold record. Twelve years later, the group released Mastermind, which features its plodding, self-reflective track “Dig That Hole.”

In it, singer-songwriter Dave Wyndorf makes a somewhat misguided attempt to criticize the same apathetic youth culture that helped Monster Magnet achieve mainstream success a decade before: “But I can't understand this world / The kids just seem to wanna spray-paint the word ‘n*gger’ on the wall.”

However unintentional, Wyndorf's analogy is clear: Kids who spray-paint a horribly offensive term to provoke a reaction isn’t that different from an aging alt-rock outfit thrashing wildly to stay relevant.

X is part of a long-held tradition of punk bands that are unafraid of challenging listeners by using ugly language to reflect corrosive themes (see also: Allin, G.G.; Kennedys, Dead). In “Los Angeles,” the group sings about a woman living in the city, who is beginning to see enemies around every corner, and is desperate—but possibly unwilling—to leave: “She started to hate every n*gger and Jew / Every Mexican that gave her lotta sh*t / Every homosexual and the idle rich.”

Unfortunately, in recent years, X’s brilliance has been overshadowed by the conspiratorial gobbledygook spouted by frontwoman Exene Cervenka. She’s gone on record to say the Boston Marathon bombing and mass shootings like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School are false-flag events perpetrated by the government to suppress the Second Amendment, lending “Los Angeles” an eerie, prophetic quality.

After releasing 1992's Persistence of Time, New York metal group Anthrax received acclaim for the album's more serious tone and making a return to form post-mainstream success.

On its third track, “Keep It in the Family,” singer Joey Belladonna expresses his frustration with a hypocritical world via the line, “Don't even try to tell me what you think is right / When to you, blacks are n*ggers and Jews are k*kes.”

Anthrax itself has always been a vanguard for the “unifying, colorblind power of rock,” as metal journalist Lonn Friend once said. Indeed, guitarist Scott Ian and drummer Charlie Benante insisted that all-black rock band Living Colour join Anthrax on its 1988 European tour, shortly before the latter's single “Cult of Personality” put​ it on the map. Anthrax's decision was heavily criticized by the predominantly white metal fan base of the day.

In 2004, Green Day released American Idiot—smack dab in the middle of backlash against former U.S. president George W. Bush and his two interminable wars. In light of the album's success, Green Day doubled down on political themes with its 2009's rock opera 21st Century Breakdown.

Here's a line from the penultimate track, “American Eulogy”: “Fight fire with a riot / The class war is hanging on a wire / Because the martyr is a compulsive liar, when he said / "It's just a bunch of n*ggers throwing gas into the hysteria."​

Although open to interpretation, the line seems to reflect 21st Century Breakdown's general tone: confused, panic-stricken, and a little reckless.

Set against the backdrop of racial tension following the Rodney King verdict, Southern California punk band The Offspring wrote "L.A.P.D.," off 1992's Ignition, from the perspective of a racist, corrupt Los Angeles Police Department: “Beat all the n*ggers / Beat whoever you see / Don't need a reason / (We're) L.A.P.D.”

This bit of poetic license is ironic in light of the recent animosity between Quentin Tarantino (who’s frequently criticizedfor being a white man who uses the n-word with reckless abandon), and the LAPD (which, y’know, keeps killing black people).

The Offspring continued to explore similar themes in “Come Out and Play (Keep 'em Separated)," the breakout single off 1994’s Smash. Featuring a title inspired by 1979 cult-classic film The Warriors, the band describes the gang warfare ravaging Los Angeles in the mid 1990’s as a “never-ending spree of death and violence and hate”.

English comedy troupe Monty Python’s inclusion on this list stands out in two ways.

First, it's the only non-American act we included. Second, Monty Python's “Never be Rude to an Arab,” performed during its 1982 concert film Monty Python Live at the Hollywood Bowl, is the only song on this list that is intended to be comedic.

In it, Monty Python member Terry Jones offers advice on who not to offend:

The biggest laugh comes right as the song turns most offensive: “Never poke fun at a n*gger / a sp*c, or a w*p, or a kr*ut / and never poke fun at—”

At this point, an explosion occurs, and Jones’ now-dead body is dragged off the stage.