Are You Married to Your Emcee??

In good times and in bad…
In felony arrest and conviction…
Through rehab and relapse…

As long as you both shall live??

That’s how a lot of people are about their favorite artists. Who can blame these members of the talented few for thinking they are above anything mortal when they walk out onto their balcony and overlook a sea of Stans chanting their name? Crying, screaming… arms wide open; wishing all you would do is jump down into their arms. Then they could die what the Spartans call… a glorious death.

But why?

Why are you ready to tap dance on your homeboy’s face just because he thinks your artist is lame? Why is it that we can hear a song and emotions come out of nowhere? We can feel the palpitations increase, invoking feelings, thoughts, memories… a glimpse of a time when we may have been better off. Or, maybe worse. Do they touch your inner being with such power that we just can’t stop our arms from going into the air and our legs from heading for the nearest section of laminate wood flooring?

Could be.

It’s more than just music for some of us. I mean… Pac and B.I.G. had the entirety of the country claiming sides… and cautious was the man who didn’t claim a clique.
But neither of these men were saints. Just like most of us. They were human and made human decisions. B.I.G. had multiple arrests from assault & battery to drug charges. Pac was no better. He had been arrested about 8 times by the time he made it to his early 20’s.

So what I want to know is… why we stick by our favorite artist or celebrity when they are flat out wrong. You had folks sending death threats to the chick in Colorado for making whoopee with Kobe and accusing him of rape. You had folks threatening death and dismemberment on the second family that accused Michael Jackson of child molestation. You had folks ready to riot about R. Kelly and his little girl/pissin’ fetish. You had folks cheering on OJ as he ran from police. Folks ready to stand by Jay-Z and his Ginsu incident with Lance Rivera. Mike Vick and his hardiness for pit bull squabbles. Lil Wayne is on drugs (no big secret there). T.I.’s buying guns. Back in the day, they even said Snoop killed somebody.

All of these folks have had people standing behind them even when, in a case or two, they might have been wrong… or at least had a hand in their own undoing. And in most cases, those same supporters would have turned their backs on family for doing the same thing. Would’ve cut them off quicker than it would take a crackhead to pawn a Playstation. It’s a little disheartening to think that just because someone is talented that people will actually look past their human-ness. Refuse to believe that their idol could actually do something like that.

Those that have read a few of my posts know that I’m a Dungeon Family fanatic. But I don’t know if I qualify for Stan status just yet. Example… Andre 3000 was arrested almost 2 weeks ago for doing 109 mph in a 65 mph zone. I didn’t rally the troops. I didn’t set up a protest in front of the court house with a marker-ridden poster board; chanting “Free 3000”. I didn’t try to petition Barack Obama to give him a pardon. I just said, “Damn bruh. Slow it down. But, at least no one got hurt.” But after reading some of the comments on various sites, I saw that folks were really upset like it was the policeman’s fault for taking him to jail.

“Why did they pull him over? Punk ass crackas! Always fuckin’ with a nigga!”
“What was the problem? He was just testing out his ride. Ain’t that what a Porche is for?”
“I can’t believe they took him to jail. I mean, a ticket would have been enough.”

Now, I’m not an advocate for the “Take Every Black Man To Jail Campaign” but wrong is wrong. Dude was doing 109. Anyone that has broke 100 on anything (and I have) knows that at that speed it is VERY easy to fuck up. The slightest shift to the left or right and… queue the slow singin’ and flower bringin’. Now, I don’t believe he was trying to hurt himself or anyone else and he could have very well just been having a good time. But, I do agree with the officer on this one. He was “an accident waiting to happen”. It wouldn’t have taken much, at that speed, for him to fly into the median wall or skid into someone.

Anyone that has driven in Atlanta knows that people jump right in front of you on the interstate, oblivious to the fact that you are even there. If he was out there, and a teenager on a cellphone had jumped on the interstate in front of him, not following proper merge protocol, and he slammed into the back of her, killing her instantly. Would these same comments have been posted? I doubt it. Because then they would have been insensitive. What if it was your significant other with your child in the car? Would “they always fuckin’ with a nigga!” be the first words out your mouth? What if it came out that the officer saw him, did nothing, then 2 miles up the road he smashed into your mother? Would you still say, “Ain’t that what a Porche is for?”

There could have easily been an accident waiting for him around the next bend. Or a street crew working around the next curve… And I believe I would have looked at him as guilty. Would you? Now there’s no way to know if any of this would have happened. But, all of it is a possibility. And that possibility is really the only thing keeping all of us from pushing 100 at any given time.

Point is… we watch celebrities make stupid mistakes every day. And letting it go as if their celebrity status actually makes them immune to our shame-on-you *side-eye* doesn’t do any of us any good. There are people whose lives have been touched so deeply by these celebs’ talent that they are willing to go to war with anyone that opposes their views. Even if it means supporting them when they are wrong. And I’m just not able to do that.

Bless!