> It evolved out of necessity in the absence of education. Citation needed. My main exposure to black American English is through popular music (hip hop / rap

> It evolved out of necessity in the absence of education. Citation needed. My main exposure to black American English is through popular music (hip hop / rap), so take what I'm saying with a grain of salt, but there has been so much change in the vocabulary just in the 20 years that I have been exposed to it that, IMO, there's no way that it can be due to anything other than deliberate linguistic experimentation/innovation. You might be familiar with somebody who experimented and innovated with English in the same way: Shakespeare [1]. [1]: https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/macbeth-and-shakespeares-linguistic-innovation https://www.bl.uk/shakespeare/articles/macbeth-and-shakespea...