Lil Wayne vs. Willie Lynch??

Ok… If you haven’t heard by now, Hip Hop has racism on the ropes and any moment now we will hear “FINISH HIM!!” and everything will be ok. At least, that’s what Jay-Z said. So it has to be true right? I’m just playin’, but on the real. Jay-Z basically said that Hip Hop is the single most effect tool in history to ever battle the beast of bigotry. Don’t get ya Coogi in a bunch. Just to be fair, here’s the full quote so you don’t think I’m taking one line and making it bigger than it is. This is what Mr. Carter had to say about Hip Hop’s effect on salt & pepper relations:

“…it has changed America immensely. Hip Hop has done more than any leader, politician or anyone to improve race relations. Racism is taught in the home… and it’s very hard to teach racism to a teenager who idolizes, say, Snoop Dogg. It’s hard to say, ‘That guy is less than you.’ The kid is like, ‘I like that guy, he’s cool. How is he less than me?’ That’s why this generation is the least racist generation ever. You see it all the time. Go to any club. People are intermingling, hanging out, enjoying the same music…”

While I agree with Mr. Carter on a few of his points, the majority of this whole statement is utter and undeniable bullshit! Especially the part “Hip Hop has done more than any leader, politician or anyone…” I’m sure his publicist went into cardiac arrest after hearing that shit.

Seriously Jigga?
Hip Hop?
Really?
Fuck Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, huh?
Stokely Carmichael?

Sidney Poitier, Marcus Garvey, The Temptations, Bill Cosby, Maya Angelo, Louis Armstrong, and countless other people that have fought and died for you to have the right to say that type of bullshit.

The official beginning of Hip Hop is debatable. Depending on who you ask, benchmarks to mark its birthday vary. But, in my short research, I found a site that said “The Official Birthday of Hip Hop is November 12, 1974”. I would have put it a much later than that but, let’s go with it. That means Hip Hop is, at its oldest, in its mid 30’s. And you want me to believe that something that has impacted an entire race for 500+ years just took an “L” because Wayne told us to “Please say the baby.”? Jigga, please… just stick with writin’ bars and poppin’ bottles. I guess since you’re retired, just pop bottles and enjoy Beyonce’s company. But please, don’t answer any more impromptu questions about serious matters.

I know y’all want me to cut him some slack. And I know y’all are sayin’ “But B.C., he didn’t mean it like that. What he meant was..” Daaaaaaaaa, Shut the fuck up! I know what he meant. He does makes a very valid point. His delivery is just severely off. I’m sure when someone brings it up to him he will recant and do a Soulja Boy “Nah, nah… that ain’t what I meant” move. At least I hope. I’m a fan of the dude and don’t want to think someone I like is a fool.

But, he’s right, racism is taught at home. And it would be hard to teach a teenager that loves Snoop that Snoop is just a nigger and niggers are nothing but parasites… I agree. But… what racist parent waits until their child is a teenager to actually try to “teach” them racism? That shit starts at birth. These kids have lil black figurines hangin’ by their necks on the mobile over the crib. Mobile doesn’t even play “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”… More like “Nigger, Nigger there you are.” These kids grow up hating. Their parents aren’t playing Tupac & Biggie. They don’t go to T.I. concerts. B.E.T. is probably blocked on their cable box. By the time these kids reach teenage years, they have been hating people of color for a looong time. So Mr. Carter’s backup info to his statement is not valid.

All of us are influenced by the music we grew up listening to regardless of what color our parents were. I will admit that there are some that fell through the cracks. But no more than the regular amount of free thinking people that always do. These kids that think Snoop is cool don’t necessarily have racist parents. They might have a couple prejudice bones lodged in there but they aren’t card carrying Klan radicals. They are just scared at the fact that their kids might be going over to the “dark side”; metaphorically of course. What parent wouldn’t be scared about their kid walking around the house yellin’ about how the police ain’t shit and they gonna get more hoes than Lowes? Who could blame them when just about every role that a black person plays in a movie or on tv is a killer or drug dealer. They aren’t racist. Ignorant maybe. But not racist. And that brings me to the point that I feel Hip Hop probably does just as much damage as good. There are so many stereotypical elements in Hip Hop that some of it should be considered a hate crime if you play it above level 3. Majority of what’s out right now is garbage and it gets kids to covet stupid shit and indirectly makes them do stupid shit to get it. So making an “Oh lawdy lawdy… what would we’s eva do wit’ out Hip Hop” statement like that pisses me off.

But he has a point. This generation is showing much more promise than those in the past. You can definitely go to a “mixed company” club and see a lot of folks co-mingling and having a good time. But Jay must have his money blinders. You know… those things that folks get when they get to a certain plateau that changes their perception of reality. A lot of people that don’t give two shits about you will be real friendly to you when they think they might get something in return. So maybe Jay is looking at this through the Jigga-man Dolce glasses instead of the Sean Carter bootleg blue blockers. These clubs he speaks of are full of people that really don’t care who’s there. They are there to have a good time. You won’t see a black guy that hates white people in there any more than you will see a white person that hates blacks. While you may get a double shot of prejudice here and there, just keep in mind that tolerance is the chaser. So again, Jay… your supporting evidence does not hold water.

Hip Hop can’t kill racism. Education is the only thing that can kill racism and THAT is why this generation is so much more tolerant than the thousands before it. Information is so readily available that these kids are able to learn and make decisions for themselves whether they don’t want to like someone or not. Our parents (or us; for the grown folks) couldn’t get on the internet and learn about stuff for ourselves. Kids today have the ability to question everything, with the immediate ability to refute anything. But, that has nothing to do with Hip Hop. It has everything to do with intelligence!

Bless