Why are artists like Kendrick Lamar and Nicki Minaj still using the E-word today?

CBC

06-02-2025

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Warning: This article discusses an offensive term, which appears uncensored below.
Recently, there have been two songs released that use the E-word, a term considered a racial slur by many Inuit.
One song is by soca artist Trinidad Killa, featuring Nicki Minaj, which uses the term both in the title and in the song's audio via two separate voiceover drops from Minaj. The other is off of Grammy-winner Kendrick Lamar's latest album, GNX. But given how many Inuit have spoken out about the offensive term, why do popular artists continue to use it in their songs?
Today on Commotion, Dr. Jay De Soca Prince, culture critic Sharine Taylor and Inuk writer Jamesie Fournier join host Elamin Abdelmahmoud to discuss the history of the E-word in pop culture, and how the term's normalization continues to harm many Inuit.
We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.
WATCH | Today's episode on YouTube:
Elamin: For folks who don't maybe know about the term's history, can you briefly explain why it's considered a racial slur within the Inuit diaspora?
Jamesie: So I'm assuming a positive intent in all of this. I don't know Trinidad Killa, but he's misinformed. But, you know, he isn't the only one. "Eskimo" is an outsider colonial term imposed upon Inuit that has had negative effects. It is a stereotype packed with racist imagery. Some people think it harmless, yet it conjures up this image of the happy-go-lucky Eskimo that is harmful in its erasure.
Elamin: That is also a word that I should say, until 2020, was the official name of Edmonton's CFL team. There are food, clothing companies that have profited off this word. Nat King Cole's The Christmas Song is probably the most famous example I can think of…. Bob Dylan has used it. A lot of other non-Inuit musicians have used it in their songs. What do you make of how pervasive the term is in pop culture?
Jamesie: Well, it's somewhat disappointing because Inuit have never called ourselves "Eskimos." You know, we have a variety of names, none of which are "Eskimos." We are Inuit, Inuvialuit, Inupiaq, Yupik, and it just goes on, right? And it's just disappointing every time this issue comes up, because it's just so straightforward, right? Our own names mean basically the same thing; it's just "the people." So it's disrespectful when you call us by a name that isn't ours, right? Especially if you know otherwise. And when institutions or people with influence don't care, it sets the example that this type of ignorant, harmful behavior is acceptable — or even worse, that it's promoted against a certain group of people.
Elamin: I think it is worth emphasizing here that there are sometimes debates within marginalized communities about whether a slur can be reclaimed or not, the obvious example being the N-word. But that does not end up giving outsiders the licence to participate in those debates, to use those slurs in any way.
Trinidad Killa and Nicki Minaj are not the only artists to use the E-word here. Kendrick Lamar was called out for using it. He's got a song called wacced out murals …. Sharine, it has been a little bit over two months since the criticisms of Kendrick began. Kendrick has not really responded to any of those criticisms. We requested a statement from Trinidad Killa and Nicki Minaj about their use of the term. We didn't end up hearing back. What do you make of the silence around this?
Sharine: Honestly, it's really, really unfortunate. Granted, as we discussed here, people may not be aware or know the history, but I feel confident with [the Trinidad Killa song's] growing popularity that it's definitely been flagged by now…. It's caused and is causing an immense amount of pain to Inuit. It's actually being reported that Nicki Minaj will release her verse once the song reaches 1 million views, I think, which it's recently done. So I'm hoping in the forthcoming lyrics that we don't hear the term at all. I think it would be a great move for all parties involved that while making music, you're not offending or isolating communities along the way for the sake of a hit. It's really not worth it.
Elamin: Dr. Jay, what's not lost on me is that we have seen artists respond in really meaningful ways to these kinds of conversations. It's worth remembering that Lizzo, the Black Eyed Peas, GloRilla, they've all been called out for using insensitive terms in their songs. They were able to acknowledge that they did. They were able to record alternate versions. They released those alternate versions, and then they apologized, and then everybody kind of just moved on. It didn't remain a persistent kind of conversation. If Trinidad Killa was to remove all references of the slur in the song, do you see the song losing any kind of steam if he just changed the title?
Jay: Yeah, definitely not. I think it would be an acknowledgment, and it might actually help the song reach even more people, because there would be a lot more people who would want to support the record because he made such a goodwill gesture. And I think it's the right thing to do. It's unfortunate that a lot of times artists are so caught up in their own world, and sometimes want to use negativity to further— because sometimes they say bad press is press. They just want to get out there.
It's unfortunate that he hasn't responded to — whether it's your producers, I've personally reached out to them as well — there's just been no reply back for them to own up to it and just change the title. Nothing is going to change about the song. You've reproduced it. It's a hit. As Sharine has mentioned, people gravitate to the message in the song. It relates to so many people. There's no reason to have that as the title, which is going to offend so many of us.