What's on President Obama's iPod? A wide range, he told Rolling Stone magazine last week, from the jazz of John Coltrane to the ballads of Maria Callas. And more: "My rap palate has greatly improved," Mr. Obama noted. "Jay-Z used to be sort of what predominated, but now I've got a little Nas and a little Lil Wayne and some other stuff, but I would not claim to be an expert."MOFO! Obama be boostin' de "most virulent racist stereotypes"!! That is messed up sucka!! No doubt some leftie bloggaz be preppin' fo' de epic POTUS smackdown! Or, wait crickets in Compton! NO!! Homies, you be doin' the hypocrite jam!
Expert or not, that's the wrong message for the president to be sending black America.
Does Mr. Obama like Lil Wayne's "Lil Duffle Bag Boy"? In that song, the rapper implores young black men to "go and get their money" through round-the-clock drug hustling. And with Lil Wayne, it's not just an act: The rapper is currently serving a one-year term on Rikers Island after being caught in New York with drugs and guns stashed in his Louis Vuitton overnighter.
Lil Wayne is emblematic of a hip-hop culture that is ignorant, misogynistic, casually criminal and often violent. A self-described gangster, he is a modern-day minstrel who embodies the most virulent racist stereotypes that generations of blacks have fought to overcome. His music is a vigorous endorsement of the pathologies that still haunt and cripple far too many in the black underclass.
Thus President Obama has conveyed his taste for the rapper behind lyrics like:Put that white widow weed in the cigar and puff
look, ma, I'm trying to make a porno starring us
well not just us, a couple foreign slutsNaming thuggish rappers might make Mr. Obama seem relatable and cool to a generation of Americans under the sway of hip-hop culture, but it sends a harmful message—especially when, in black America, some 70% of babies are born out of wedlock.
And get this, my man!! De prez be down with some Jay Z:
Listen man, get a crate, some crack and some house slippersOuch! Can't touch 44, yo!
a newspaper, a lookout boy, and get your chips up
or get a gun, a mask, an escape route
some duct-tape'll make 'em take ya to the house
So what? You could find examples like this in literally any genre of music, and there is plenty of rap that isn't violent or misogynistic. There is plenty of rap which espouses conservative political viewpoints too, but I'd guess it forms a minority.
ReplyDeleteIt's not the genre, but the president's endorsment of if. Obama's boostin' racially derogative stereotypes, and aren' the lefties supposed to be up in arms. Hypocritical much?
ReplyDeleteJust as I'm sure your parents didn't approve of Rock and Roll, you now disapprove of Hip Hop. You don't get it, because you're old.
ReplyDeleteIsaac: I don't "disapprove" of hip hop. I disapprove of the glorification of gangsta thug life, and the mainstreaming of mysogyny, violence, and anti-intellectualism among black youth. There's some cool rap out there, so don't pigeonhole me, MOFO.
ReplyDelete