I really dislike commenting on these issues but when is enough, enough? Lil Wayne is a disgrace. We all know this but you know what? I no longer blame him.
From ThyBlackman.com:
“When a rapper says he’s gonna “pop a pill” then “beat that p*ssy like Emmett Till,” that’s when we know that he might have gone just to far”
Read more about what he said here.
Who was Emmett Till?
“Fourteen-year-old Emmett Till was visiting relatives in Money, Mississippi on August 24, 1955 when he reportedly flirted with a white cashier at a grocery store. Four days later, two white men kidnapped Till, beat him, and shot him in the head. The men were tried for murder, but an all-white, male jury acquitted them. Till’s murder and open casket funeral galvanized the emerging civil rights movement.” Read more here.
Lil Wayne and his ilk are relevant because of his masochistic fans. They are the fans who defend the violence in his music. They defend his sexism and colorism. And quite honestly they could care less about the blatant disrespect displayed by Lil Wayne over the murder of a young man who was killed because of whiteness. You know, the same kind Lil Wayne worships in both his music and his personal life. Why? Because Lil Wayne’s dysfunction is normal to them. They want to emulate him. So his lyrics should not be surprising.
What can we do? We can write letters and start a petition to have his music removed from the airwaves. But the most powerful thing we can do is not buy his garbage. Instead of that we should aim to support positive artists.
If you are Black and defend him please do me a favor. Don’t bother to comment here. This is something not worth you getting embarrassed on the internet for. Turn off the foolishness and get some self pride. Try opening up a history book and read about what happened to that baby. If you knew what happened you would not defend him.
I would also like to apologize to the Till family. We let them down when we let non-blacks and the criminal class define this junk as Black music. We knew this did not represent 99.9% of us but we allowed ourselves to be shamed into silence by those same people who happened to be the prime beneficiaries of negative Black images. Our silence in the 90′s equated to complicity because we did not speak up. And now we are dealing with the consequences.
I will no longer be an accessory to the crime of destroying the Black image. I am asking you to stop supporting people who disrespect our image and hate you.
Watch the Murder of Emmett Till here:
Read more about his and other examples of Black self hate here:
Black Men in the Entertainment Industry who have dissed Black Women that Black Women still support!!!(((WARNING: Laced with madness, the stupid, profanity, and hella colorism)))
BBG
*****UPDATE*****
According to the New York Daily News, in response to the outcry Epic Records has decided to pull what they called an unauthorized version and release another one without the offensive lyrics. A response by Epic says, “We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future’s ‘Karate Chop,’ which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics,” the statement said. “Out of respect for the legacy of Emmett Till and his family and the support of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. … we are going through great efforts to take down the unauthorized version.” Read more here.
Now lets get something done to end the equally offensive misogyny, violence, colorism and self hate in rap and R&B music.
lil wayne is..just disgusting.i was never a fan of this fool and definitely will never be!
I am not saying he is right or wrong but that is what freedom of speech gives you… The RIGHT to say what you please… And Lil Wayne doesn’t really drop albums like that, more mixtapes than anything which is free… And most rappers don’t make MAD money off of album sales more so shows and appearances. Lil Wayne probably makes more money off of his artist than himself if you are seek to “hurt” his pockets…
You dont know what Freedom of speech means….. Freedom of Speech Means you can say what you want and NOT be arrested by the state or the Govt. Which even then isnt completely true. You Cant say you will to kill someone, you cant say you will kill the president, and you cant yell fire in a public place.
Freedom of speech does not shield you from consequence. I wish more people would learn what it really means. Since I dont see Lil Wayne in Jail because of what he said..
Please do not come on here with that freedom of speech bull. No one is trying to limit his right to say what he feels. We are simply disgusted that this is what he chooses to say.
I was going to say the same thing.
not a huge lil wayne fan but this is a general statement for all hip/hop fans or any one who chooses to listen or state an opinion about music. ITS JUST LYRICS! if you want to find something of substance read the NY times or the WSJ. Music is entertainment thats meant to be politically correct of right. Artists or entertainers are great because they know how to push buttons and up their follower count on twitter. And everytime ppl choose to start these threads or blogs about them just reinforces their need to be more provocative. Any publicity is good publicity!
Sad thinking…. things like lyrics, and supporting people of worth is absolutely important. Particularly for the black community. Theres nothing in all of society that shapes our society that is more powerful than media.
You tell that to the Till family. You tell that to parents of Black children who think this idiocy is what they need to aspire too. Just lyrics? Words have more power than you think. By the way, he is no artist. He is an exploiter of low self esteem and Black self hate. I hate what rap music has done to my community.
Once and for all, let’s straighten out the “freedom of speech” myth. Freedom of speech is not some kind of all-encompassing force field to shield you from the consequences of what you say. Just as Lil Lame has the right to spew all the ugly, ignorant, misogynistic lyrics he likes, those who hear him also have the right to express their disgust and contempt. And when you cross lines you have no business crossing, those whom you’ve offended have the right to call you on it.
[...] ← Previous Post [...]
Hip Hop’s Down-Slide
I am deeply saddened by hip hop music. It aint what it used to be! Hip Hop (higher inner peace, helping our people) is anything but hip hop nowadays. It used to be an outlet where a poor black girl or boy had something to relate to. It was something that looked like them and positive at the same time. Now hip hop is ashamed of its own color, and behaves backwardly like a carriage before a horse. You have rap artists with skin as beautiful as night, or as brown as an Indian summer, with women in their videos that look as white as snow, portraying an image that looks nothing like them, and nothing like the women that gave these successful artists the blessing of life, their mothers. Black men and women of integrity need to stop supporting this form of hop which is tearing our nation down. Nobody should have to look in the mirror and hate what they see, because the song playing on the radio is teaching them to do so. For black women especially, we support this culture, that doesn’t support us. We provide funding, we buy it over the internet, and we dance to it at the clubs. When sadly, this very music we support, only objectifies us and puts our value at a price far less than what we are really worth. And for men it sends out an equally disturbing message; basing their worth off how much money they have, what car they drive, how many women they can have sex with, and worst of all; how low their pants can hang off their behind without falling off, sometimes so low as to show their shame. The standard of hip hop seems to be at a down-slide getting lower by almost every album that hits the shelves. Recently hip hop went lower than low and put a fallen hero, Emmett Till, into a verse having to do with sex. There was an outrage, but that should only be the beginning. As a nation we need to stand up, and wake up. For some of us the lyrics are hypnotizing, and keep the party jumpin’, but when the party stops, the quiet comes in, then thoughts of regret.
We need to ask ourselves, is it time to take a stand? If the answer is yes, the next question should be how you can take a stand. There’s nothing wrong with obtaining financial success, but doing so through flagrant ignorance is something that our children will have to pay for, and may be too high a price once we’re through with all the spending. What happens when our daughters grow up to hate their color? Or think that they’re worth less than a woman with lighter skin, instead of basing their substance off their inner character. Money cannot shield us from emotional pain, low self-esteem, or self-destruction. Yet all of these things can turn into generational curses, which can take a lifetime to correct. Music gave us hope in times of oppression, and now seems to be helping aide in our destruction. We want to breed leaders, but instead our music is clouding our minds, and leading us to moral decay with no signs of slowing down, unless we as a people make the decision to pump the brakes. In the sixties and seventies there was a hippie generation, with messages about free love and pot, but that generation also stood up to injustices, and stood together. With that in mind, the hip hop community should stop co-signing for what’s “hot” and think about how our actions will affect us in the long run.
Music is one of many great gifts God has given us to influence the world, so why should we choose to handle it like fools? We must correct this issue instead of quietly accepting it, while in the back of our minds we know something is immensely wrong here. It’s time to speak up. We must teach each other what’s right, in order to correct our wrongs. If we roll over on this fight, we roll over on each other, and our children, giving them the impression that the way of life hip hop sings about is OK. As a black woman, I will never forget how Harriet Tubman helped free slaves, and how black men and women have stayed strong through injustices. We are a people to be revered, and yet have subjected ourselves to humiliation. If the beat stops, and the money isn’t as abundant, and the champagne bottle goes empty, we are all we have. I’m not looking for Hip Hop to be as it was, I’m hoping that as time goes on it can, and it should, get better. With an even bigger hope that this music goes back to building on another up, instead of rapidly tearing each other down.
-Jermaine Hill
[...] ← Previous Post [...]