This song critically interrogates the use of the n-word, linking it to the ignorance (Boots) and “mental trash” (E-Roc) created by racism in America. Both imply that removing this word from their vocabulary is part of decolonizing their minds from the systems of structural inequality brought about b...
(Big Bird)
Now I shall tell a story that's filled with words
That start with the letter N
(DJ Pam cuts up "Fly lyrics from the bank of reality" -- Flavor Flav)
[Boots]
Step into the world of a nigga, figure
To stay a little while so pack your bag up bigger
First of all just let me introduce you seduce you
Into a frame of mind that's easy to get used to
Nigga hasn't always meant a man with melanin
It used to be a piece of wood that sat on the cotton gin
Masta put it there and it wouldn't move, smooth
So what does it mean, to be a Nigga With an Attitude?
You tell me that a nigga's crazy or lazy
Not about the skin so, don't let it faze me
Well you amaze me, with that ignorant bizull-shizzit
Get a grip on the new fit
Cause that's a lame frame of brain for the nineties
I know the game so it don't sting, my mind sees
So what the fuck you wanna race for the trigger
I ain't the one, I ain't the nigga
"If I'm a slave, I'm a slave to the rhythm" -- Big Daddy Kane
"You know that I ain't the nigga" -- Ice Cube
(repeat 4X)
(DJ Pam cuts up "Niggers, love everything but themselves" -- Last Poets)
[E-Roc]
Nigga is a word we use today, you say
It don't mean the same if you spell it with an A
But that's an argument that makes me itch, I twitch
If I took the T out will I still mean bitch?
My name is E-Roc, and I ain't the nigga main
Save your sellout strut shit for Soul Train
Cause I've been known, to knock a motherfucker out
Without a doubt, The Coup gives me much clout
But there's a factor when I know that my skin is brown
And never ever will I put another brother down (gawwwd damn)
So I make the mental rule to massacre the word
Cause when I hear it, it gets, me straight stirred
It's mental trash so I'm pickin up the litter
I ain't the one and I ain't, the nigga
My people use this word each and every day
You see a nigga, slap a nigga, that's what I say
"If I'm a slave, I'm a slave to the rhythm" -- Big Daddy Kane
"You know that I ain't the nigga" -- Ice Cube
(repeat 4X)
(DJ Pam cuts up "Niggers, love everything but themselves" -- Last Poets)
"Boy I love playing the drums, I can do the grooviest rhythms
I can do rhythms like.."
[Boots]
My attitude is this (what?) don't call yourself a niggerole (why?)
Unless you're just an oakie-doke it'll make you sicker though
Cause it's all about a mind-time mind-frame
The system is a chess game with, pawns all the same (haa haa)
Until we change our mind to ?
Identify yourself, it's a part of being conscious (yeah)
If I call myself a gangster then I'll rob you with a gat (yeah)
If I call myself a brother then you know I got your back (yeah)
If I call myself oppressed then I'm clear on where I'm at
But if I call myself a nigga what the fuck is that? (yeah, you know)
Don't be the coolie or the moolie or a boo with the jigga
Don't be the one... don't be the nigga
"If I'm a slave, I'm a slave to the rhythm" -- Big Daddy Kane
"You know that I ain't the nigga" -- Ice Cube
(repeat 4X)
I Ain’t the Nigga was written by EROC & Boots Riley.
I Ain’t the Nigga was produced by Boots Riley.
The Coup released I Ain’t the Nigga on Tue May 04 1993.