The truth is we live in times of scarce morality and rampant iniquity. The product can’t help but reflect the cracked mold it has been shaped in. How can we get mad at rappers for perpetrating overly materialistic life styles when the country spends so much it can’t figure out how to keep its credit score from dropping? How do we condemn an artist for endorsing violence against a hater yet we won’t come up with viable solutions to curb gun violence on our streets?
We, as Black people, are faced with a myriad of issues and a majority of them didn’t come from a CD or Mp3. However, we would rather boycott Wayne than talk about education reform. Even if there was a movement big enough to derail Weezy’s career in a substantial way, don’t you think there will be another rapper right behind him talking about making it rain on Rosa Parks or some other ignorant mess? If Lil’ Wayne is gone, it won’t be long before Big Fred takes his place.
Maybe most perplexing is why we seem unwilling to allow rap music to simply be entertainment instead of making it this hypnotizing, all powerful corrupter that automatically feeds on and manipulates the masses. While I certainly agree that there is power in Hip Hop, it becomes problematic when we make it the one authentic voice of our community instead of seeing it as just a part of a larger spectrum. But if you want to make it that voice, why not listen to it and try to understand the problem. Maybe if Jeezy had well paying jobs in his neighborhood that didn’t discriminate he wouldn’t push crack. Maybe if society could evolve from its patriarchal bias and actually value women Too $hort’s favorite word wouldn’t be bitch anymore. The scariest thing is that our leadership seems to prefer to move back to the self accountability approach to solve our problems. This is problematic in that it not only paints us as instinctively nefarious who aren’t already trying, it also labels attempts to examine institutional and systemic factors as lazy and unwarranted.
The late Eric Wright, better known as Eazy-E said it best when he compared rapper’s to street reporters. They’re telling you about what they see in the places that they live (whether they are participating in it at the level they claim is a different story). As long as there is no good going down around us someone will be able to package it with a hot beat and a catchy hook. While rappers present an easily identifiable target to lash out at, at some point we are going to have to stop being content waging a battle with our entertainers and begin to focus on the war that is being waged on us as a people.
That’s your problem. You do too much singing. It’s time to stop singing and start swinging! ~El-Hajj Malik El- Shabazz (Malcolm X)
