Earlier this week, Beyonce and Jay-z’s good friend Gwyneth Paltrow caused controversy when she tweeted, ‘Ni**as in paris for real @mrteriusnash (the dream) . The tweet took place during the ‘Watch The Throne’ Concert in Paris where Jay and Kanye were performing the track. After receiving some backlash on twitter, she responded, ‘Hold Up, It’s the title of the song‘.
Why are people so riled up over her tweet? What about the stadium full of non-black fans in Paris that were singing ‘N-gga’ when the song came on? A lot of people think she shouldn’t have tweeted that no matter how close she is the one half of the throne.
Recently, the person she @’d in the tweet R&B veteran The Dream took to twitter to defend Gwyneth.
“Yall still on that s–t! Yall Give “N—a To Much power” somewhere the actual racist People are Laughing there asses off, so much energy. Let that Word hold power over me but yet use it as Power. Those same slaves Great,Great grands are Wiser now and Free! I’m not Saying don’t forget but be logical and use common sense. If it meant the Same as it Did then WE wouldn’t use it, that would make us ignorant We USE IT because Evidently it doesn’t mean the same if u really give a s–t u stop using it. Sure Attack her you know she’s not going to do anything, you know in your heart she didn’t mean it in anyway. The world is just full of Bull s–tters who act like they give a s–t haven’t did one righteous act in there lives. Its a Hot Topic because people aint got s–t To Do! Period. Say what u want. No one called Trayvon N—a before he shot him it was an action. Racism is an Action! What! WE GIVE THE WORD TO MUCH POWER! Any way N—az! What’s GOOD”
The Dream wasn’t the only one who came to the rescue. Russell Simmons
took her side with his post on Global Grind.
“In the case of “N*ggas in Paris,” it is clear that these two poets are celebrating the fact that they now travel the world and are literally ballin’ in Paris … it started as a badge of honor, something to be proud of, something to poke their chests out at. Because for them, when they were kids, Paris was a million miles away and now it’s a private jet ride. The idea of being in Paris with a movie star, whether she’s black or white, is incredible!
There is something truly inspiring about black culture and black music, hip-hop culture and hip-hop music. No matter what color skin you might have, there is an overriding good effect that this music has on you. It is contagious. It was this explosive expression that spread out of the inner cities of America into the walkmans of kids like Gwyneth Paltrow during their childhoods in 1980s and 1990s. It allowed white kids to begin to sympathize with the plight of many in black America. Having any Hollywood starlet at your concert was unimaginable, and having her quote your lyrics as a badge of honor that she was hanging out with you, you never would have dreamed of that – until your poetry hit the market and changed the world.”
Should we let this slide or is it really worth all of this commotion?
