Oxford Student Investigated for Rapping ‘N-Word’ Notorious B.I.G. Track

A woman passes by a mural by Brazilian artist Sipros of the rapper Biggie Smalls on a wall
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Kurt Zindulka

A student at Oxford University is being investigated for allegedly saying the n-word while rapping along to a Notorious B.I.G. song.

The first-year student was reported to officials at Oxford’s Christ Church college by a fellow student, who filed a racial harassment complaint after hearing the “extremely distressing” lyric.

A Christ Church spokesman told The Telegraph: “Within hours of hearing indirect reports of the use of the n-word, an appeal was sent to all Christ Church students to come forward with any relevant information or concerns,” adding that the college “will not tolerate racism in any form”

“It became apparent that the incident, which did not take place on Christ Church premises, involved a student who had been rapping along with a Notorious B.I.G. song, which included the n-word.

“A thorough internal investigation took place, resulting in a disciplinary process which is ongoing.”

A group of ethnic minority students said that the incident proves that the college is a “hostile and uncomfortable environment for undergraduates with black heritage” and that racism is “normalised” at Christ Church.

The Oxford African and Caribbean Society demanded that the punishment against the student be revealed to the member who made the complaint, saying in a statement: “Christ Church’s opaque racial harassment complaints system has once again proven inept at disciplining the bigots among its student community.”

Last summer, the woke college introduced racial bias training after a student made a joke about the death of George Floyd.

An editorial from the libertarian-leaning Spiked magazine criticised the woke language policing at the college, writing: “Rapping along to the n-word in a song is completely different to using it to abuse someone in the street. Listening to rap would be a deeply painful and challenging experience if it carried the same weight in this context. Why isn’t that obvious to the college authorities?”

“In most cases, the use of the n-word is unacceptable. But rapping along to it in a song is not an act of racial aggression – and it is mad to pretend otherwise,” the editorial added.

It is not the first time that British students have come under fire for rapping along to American songs containing the n-word, with students at Durham University being “reprimanded” in 2018 for doing a karaoke rendition of Kanye West’s ‘Gold Digger’, which also features a lyric containing the n-word.

That same year, rap star Kendrick Lamar kicked a fan off the stage during a concert in Alabama after the white fan rapped an n-word lyric alongside the black rapper.

“Oh I’m sorry, did I do it? I’m so sorry… I’m used to singing it like you wrote it,” the woman said.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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