Das Racist: The 15 Most Racist Songs of All Time - Page 11

With lyrics such as “I love your creamy yellow thighs,” and “ooh your slanted eyes,” it’s not hard to imagine why many audiophiles have been outraged about Day Above Ground‘s recent music video.

The flurry of negative criticism has blown up to immense proportions as the Los Angeles-based band’s new tune has angered the Asian and Asian-American community. After premiering “Asian Girlz” on YouTube last week, the ire was stoked as many believed the group capped off the summer with an offensive cherry on top of a racist-flavored sundae. For those unfamiliar with the Angry Asian Man blog, founder and editor Phil Yu stood behind his initial characterization of the video, saying, “It dehumanizes Asians and Asian women.”

The lyrics showcase a “sexist and racist” litany of Asian stereotypes and tropes that the band thinks that their audience can relate to. Within days, the video has received more than 1 million views and amassed more than 12,000 comments, and you guessed it, most of them are angry. As of writing this post, the band recently took down the post in hopes of salvaging their reputation, their careers, and possibly, their own safety.

While “Asian Girlz” certainly manages to peeve off a whole race of people, it’s not the only public offender. After starting off the summer with a country-rap song about having pride in the Confederacy, we’re looking to end 2013 no less racist than we began. How does this track rank against the most racist songs of all times? Have a listen at these 15 offenders, and then let us know your thoughts in the comments section.

Accidental Racist

When rapper LL Cool J and country music singer-songwriter Brad Paisley decided to join forces, ultimately their intentions were good and well-placed. Inspired by the films created by Quentin Tarantino and Steven Spielberg respectively, the dynamic duo of discourse decided to discuss racism, showing “Southern pride,” and do-rags in song. Their clueless attempt at race-based message music included the downright bizarre lyrics such as “If you don’t judge my gold chains, I’ll forget the iron chains,” or “If you don’t judge my do-rag, I won’t judge your red flag.” While the topic of race may be a touchy subject to tackle, this plastic-sounding country-hop diddy failed to create any true racial harmony.

Ni–er Hatin’ Me

Johnny Rebel is the pseudonym of Cajun country musician Clifford Joseph Trahan and has used this false name most notably to spread hate through racist recordings. Issued way back in the heat of the Civil Rights movement on Reb Rebal music label, Johnny frequently used the N-word freely in his songs and often voiced sympathy for the Ku Klux Klan and urged for the Jim Crow-era of the South to return. On “Ni–er Hatin’ Me,” he calls his fellow man a “spook,” a “jig-a-boo,” and sends a direct shot at Martin Luther King, Jr., saying, “He’s causin’ lots of trouble with his baboon mouth.” With other singles entitled “In Coon Town,” “Some Ni–ers Never Die (They Just Smell That Way),” and “Who Likes a Ni–er,” Rebel found his story parodied on The Boondocks entitled “The Story of Jimmy Rebel”.

Walk In Shame

Although the group known as Blue Eyed Devils, or B.E.D., disbanded in 2004, their song “Walk In Shame” was unapologetic in its stance about both Whites and Blacks. As the first race-rock band to claim themselves as “Hatecore,” which is a more aggressive form of music and lyrics aimed at the status quo, B.E.D. claimed a White Racialist position about all things ethnic. The song “Walk In Shame” is a direct jab at members of their own community who choose to use “false pride” to mesh well with the Blacks. Calling the song’s lead character a “no good ni–er lover,” the band labels their own a drag of society, the worst of scum, and all because they felt the boy was selling out his race to be at peace with another member of mankind.

Throw The Jew Down The Well

Who doesn’t love a bit of controversy in their music? On an episode of Ali G, comedian (and all-around prankster) Sacha Baron Cohen donned his Borat persona and begun an investigation of country music. Heading down to Tucson, Arizona (a racist state if any like it), he managed to debut “In My Country There Is Problem” at a country music club. The kicker to this whole kerfuffle is that Borat even got much of the club’s patronage to cheer and sing along with the tune as well. Never mind the fact that Sacha Baron Cohen is also Jewish, but as Borat he managed to wrangle people in on the joke he wanted to express. But, was his depiction of Jews only loving money and having horns offensive? Or just a cleverly performed joke?

The Most Racist Song Ever

Titling your attempt at masterful musicianship the “Most Racist Song Ever,” is a big attempt at composing a big eff-you to any bleeding-heart liberal. Their passionate cantations of “The Most Racist Song Ever” sparked the ire of those who are resistant to conformity. While this band is hard to search for, their lyrics are not. With such touching lines as “Jig-a-boo, ni–er, coon, spearchucker, bootlip, spook, wetback, spic, chink,” you would think that they were trying to sonically give birth to a new nation. The Bleeding Vaginas fully supported their own stance, and with the attention of “tar babies” and “dotheads” around the world, it seems that “The Most Racist Song Ever” is a pretty strong attempt at being just that.

Brown Sugar

Rock ‘n Roll legends The Rolling Stones have been known to be a bit controversial in their day. But did you ever really examine the lyrics of “Brown Sugar”…? What one wanted to hear isn’t the same as what was said. Originally, the belief was that it was about the jazz days in late 19th Century New Orleans, and not about slave rape. Don’t believe us? Just take one listen to what lead singer Mick Jagger sung, “I bet your mama was a tent-show queen, and all her girlfriends were sweet sixteen. I’m no schoolboy, but I know what I like. You should’ve heard me just around midnight.” Emphasizing the Jezebel trope on Black women isn’t out of place in today’s pop culture realm, but to see it hidden so plainly back in the day is a bit off-putting, no?

Rock N’ Roll Ni–er

Written by Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye, the group placed this controversial ditty on their 1978 album Easter. No one ever interviewed the duo about their intentions, but the lyrics are really straight-forward. “Baby was a black sheep. Baby was a whore,” Patti and Lenny croon. “You show she got big. Well, she’s gonna get bigger. Baby got a hand; got a finger on the trigger. Baby, baby, baby is a rock-and-roll ni–er.” Since then the song has been covered by several artists, most notably Bono of U2 and Marilyn Manson. It was even remixed and included on the soundtrack of the 1994 film, Natural Born Killers

D.R.U.G.S.

If there is one thing that Aussie rapper Iggy Azalea should know about American history it’s this: tires, slaves, and masters are a no-no. The beginning of her song, “D.R.U.G.S.” starts off with her mentioning all three in less than 15 seconds. On the cut, she raps, “Tire mark, tire marks / Finish line with the fire marks / When it really starts, I’m a runaway slave — master!” The only thing Iggy’ll be running away from are those angry field hands who want to have a word with the self-proclaimed “massa”.

Kill D’White People

New Jersey rap star Apache (no, not the dance!) emerged in the late 1980s as a front man for Queen Latifah‘s Flavor Unit. His first album, Apache Ain’t Shit, featured the single hit “Gangsta Bitch,” which went to No. 67 on the Billboard Hot 100. Unbeknownst to the White rap buying public, his 17-second interlude harbored a not-so subtle jab at their community. It failed to impress critics. Others could get and appreciate the humor, but still you will catch flack saying, “Kill the White people; we gonna make them hurt; kill the White people; but buy my record first.” That may have had gone over a few heads. Rap critics instantly went against Apache and the album’s racist anti-White themes, such as the song above, but where does this rank in your list of all-time racist songs?

Goin’ Bananas

Ice Cube‘s West Coast group, Da Lench Mob, was hard, in-your-face and not about no sucker business. Their Nation Of Islam lyrics courted controversy every time they put a new song out. “Goin’ Bananas” was a track off their second album, Planet of Da Apes, and found the group calling open season on the lives of their White brethren. “The morgue will be full of Caucasian John Doe’s” is not how anyone should want to live on any planet. But during those tumultuous 90’s, it wasn’t safe for anyone on any corner.

Oi! (I Don’t Like You)

From the album, All Skrewed Up, this White power Skinhead rock band was actually a non-political, non-racist punk rock band when it originally started. Eventually, the group evolved (or devolved) into one of the most recognizable neo-Nazi rock bands with their second album, Hail the New Dawn, and played a leading role in shining light on White Power bands across the globe.

Boot Party

A neo-Nazi skinhead club, The Oi! Boys established one of the first internet websites devoted solely to racist rock music. Inspired by Skrewdriver‘s Ian Stuart Donaldson, the band advocated violence even more directly than Donaldson’s in-your-face lyrics. On their site, their was the inclusion of a page called “BootParty,” which the song is a derivative of, and featured people said to deserve to be kicked in the head by Skins wearing steel-toed boots. Some of their vitriol squarely aimed at Black Americans can be found in this startling lyric: “This story made the front page in the newspaper ’cause his mama is in the NAACP. Ni–ers Are Always Causing Problems. The thing that his mama doesn’t know is that her son is a gangbanger and his getto-slang [sic] name is Chicago. Well if you see this ni–er, kick him in the [expletive] head.”

Asian Girlz

As mentioned earlier in this post, Day Above Ground, the Los Angeles band whom inspired this piece has taken down the original music video. Luckily, thanks to the internet such atrocities will live on to remind those of how far we have yet to come. While the band contests that they were “just joking,” the Asian community feels upset, disrespected, and otherwise insulted by the song and music video.

[YOUTUBE=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWvYDqycZUk]

Ni–er, Ni–er / Move Them Ni–ers North

Johnny Rebel ends our list with a song that not only went directly at segregationists in the South, but at race relations as a whole. The would-be King of the Mason-Dixon urged his fellow White brethren to join in “unity” to stop Jim Crow from being dissolved. We all know how that story ended, but as a human population, we still have so far to go. This song serves as a reminder that we all are people first, and that it doesn’t pay to be on the wrong side of history.

Did we miss any songs? Let us know what’s the most racist song you’ve ever heard in the comments below!