Niggas vs. Black People

Chris Rock in 1995

"Niggas vs. Black People" is a Chris Rock stand-up comedy routine appearing both on his 1996 HBO special Bring the Pain, and as track 12 on his 1997 album Roll with the New, which went a long way towards establishing his status as a comedy fixture after he left Saturday Night Live.

The routine is a twelve-minute monologue about behaviors that are a subset of the African-American community. He describes "niggas" as a cohort whose behavior is usually detrimental to the image of other black people. "Niggas", he says, glorify ignorance and sloth, and brag about fulfilling any minor responsibility. Rock rejects the view that this image of blacks is purely cultivated by the media and stereotypes, at one point saying: "When I go to the money machine tonight, alright, I ain't looking over my back for the media, I'm looking for niggas! Shit, Ted Koppel ain't never took shit from me. Niggas have, so, you think I've got three guns in my house 'cause the media outside?"