Here’s a quick warning for anyone who still lives in the “O.J.
\nTrial” mentality: Don’t listen to the album
\nRace<\/i> if the word “nigger” offends you.<\/p>\n
Mr. Paul Mooney, a comic whose influence has been quietly felt
\nfor a long time now (especially in the work of Richard Pryor),
\nmight shock some people with his usage of the word. Being an
\nAfrican-American, one might think that he would be the last person
\nin the world to use it. But in his no-holds-barred style of comedy
\n(which calls into question many forms of prejudice), not only is
\nMooney not afraid to use the word, but he’s also quick to slam
\nwhites
\nand<\/i> blacks for the stupid things we all do.<\/p>\n
Such an attitude might be controversial. But I find it
\nrefreshing — and, speaking from the viewpoint of a white male, no,
\nI’m not offended by some of the things Mooney has to say about
\nwhites. If one is truthful about it, Mooney is actually harder on
\nblacks than whites.
\nRace<\/i> was an album that suckered me in with some of the
\ntitles of the bits, and it still remains a disc I listen to often,
\nsix years after its release.<\/p>\n
What is it about Mooney that I find so hilarious? Maybe it’s the
\nway he mocks the stereotype of the word “nigger” (“White people
\nmake up the word… then don’t want me to say it.”). Maybe it’s the
\nway he takes even-handed shots at some of the stars of 1993, from
\nHammer (“I didn’t think I’d live this long to see [someone] dance
\nfor a piece of chicken.”) to Woody Allen. Maybe it’s the
\ngive-and-take he has with his audience, even with those who
\napparently did not enjoy his on-stage act.<\/p>\n
Whatever the case,
\nRace<\/i> dares to call the shots as Mooney sees them. And for
\nthe most part, each shot hits the mark. Sure, Mooney isn’t as
\nsterilized with his comedy as someone like Bill Cosby was\/is — and
\nthat’s why I’m thankful that such an album was made. Anyone can
\nrecognize the cultural differences and similarities that we all
\nshare. Mooney glorifies as many as he can fit in a short time, all
\ndone with the same amount of irreverence he shows throughout his
\nact.<\/p>\n
\nRace<\/i> is a comedy album that challenges all of its listeners,
\nno matter what race you are, to think. And while it’s not one for
\nthe kiddies, Mooney belongs on a pedestal with the likes of George
\nCarlin in that both were not afraid to face the slings and arrows
\nof criticism because they talked about subjects not normally
\ndiscussed in the open. Mooney reminds us what freedom of speech is
\nabout – and we all should be thankful for that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6076],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-36168","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-mr-paul-mooney","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36168","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36168"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/36168\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36168"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36168"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=36168"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=36168"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}