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Nigga is a term used in African-American Vernacular English that began as an eye dialect form of the word nigger (which is derived from the Spanish word negro, meaning black, which in turn comes from Latin niger.)

Tupac Shakur defined the term NIGGA as an acronym: "Never Ignorant Getting Goals Accomplished" in the lyrics to his song "Words of Wisdom," on his 1991 album 2Pacalypse Now. Comedian Marlon Wayans defines the term as "Naturally Intelligent God-Gifted Africans" after launching a clothingline called N.I.G.G.A. in early 2006. In practice, its use and meaning is heavily dependent on context.

As of 2006, the word nigga is used, without intentional prejudice, among all ethnicities in the United States, including African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and more recently by some White peoples. This is in part of the wide availblity of the hip hop culture.

Many people continue to see the word as pejorative and its use outside African-American communities remains highly controversial. Many African-Americans express considerable offense when referred to as a nigga by white people (mainly due to the overtones), but not if they are called the same by other African-Americans, or by some other minority. In this case, the term may be seen as a symbol of fraternity, and its use outside a defined social group an unwelcome cultural appropriation. Critics have derided this as a double standard.

The use of the controversial word may be due to the overwhelming popularity of Hip Hop music in modern American culture. Such music often features songs that feature the word nigga prominently. Examples include: 50 Cent and The Notorious B.I.G.'s song, Realest Niggas, The Geto Boys' Real Nigga Shit, Ice Cube's The Wrong Nigga To Fuck With, Snoop Doggy Dogg's For All My Niggaz And Bitches, Lil Jon and the East Side Boyz and Ice Cube's Real Nigga Roll Call, Onyx's Bitchasniguz, Tupac's Strictly 4 My N.I.G.G.A.Z., and the late Ol' Dirty Bastard's album Nigga Please.

In the first season of Mind of Mencia, Carlos Mencia explains the the distinction between the N words. Method Man guest stars in the skit going into detail about the matter. One point was that Latinos using the term were accepted. The skit finishes with Carlos calling the DMV for a vanity plate. The DMV didn't allow the use of the N word, yet allowed a derogatory term for Latinos to be used.

• Slang