About

Nathan is a euphemism for the word "nigga" popular in hip-hop communities on Reddit, primarily in /r/hiphopcirclejerk. Originating from a /r/hiphopheads thread posted in 2014, in the following years the slang word also attained another meaning, being used as a derogatory term to describe those who dislike "mumble" rap and express preference for rappers which they consider lyrically or technically superior, most often Eminem, Logic, Hospin and NF.

Origin

On June 25th, 2014, Redditor Xnatedawg420X suggested using the name "Nathan" instead of the word "nigga" when rapping along songs (post shown below, left).^[1] On the same day, user shun-16, who commented in the thread, and another Redditor used the word "Nathan" in a humorous exchange in a comment section of a /r/hiphopcirclejerk post (shown below, right).^[2]

Spread

In the following weeks, the expression grew in popularity among users in /r/hiphopcirclejerk,^[3][4] also being used in /r/hiphopheads (example posts shown below).^[5]

In the following years, posts containing the expression appeared in many rap-related subreddits, including /r/rapmorelikecrap,^[6] /r/tylerthecreator,^[7] /r/eminem^[8] and others.

Starting approximately in 2017, the expression became associated with rap fans who denounce modern trends in rapping such as "mumble" rap and emo rap genres, and express strong preference for rappers they consider lyrically and technically superior, which often include Eminem, Logic, Hospin and NF (example posts shown below).^[9][10][11] Sometimes, this list is expanded to include Joyner Lucas, Macklemore and several other rappers.

Additionally, "nathans" has been used to describe white rap fans in general (example post shown below).^[12]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References