People want to hear the truth . . . .
or at least a healthy percentage of them do.
Folks are tired of hearing bullisht; many of whom happen to be our youth.
Now some of you may say that gangsta rap is misogynist, vulgar, and violent- and I believe that’s true.
However, I don’t believe that gangsta rappers have the monopoly on misogyny.
We live in a very misogynist world.
We live in a very violent world.
And if it’s not the world you live in, that’s great- but it most certainly is representative of some the disenfranchised.
Yes, it is true that many of the disenfranchised don’t glorify gangsterism- but it is sadly not newsworthy.
Gangstas rap about what they live, what they see.
While I don’t defend their choice of life, I do defend their right to voice it.
I believe artists of the greatest depth speak on what’s true of their experience.
What should gangsta rappers message be about?
Beautiful landscape, a solid education, coming from a stable home environment with both parents?
The first time many folks from N.O. saw some these things were when they were displaced from the flood.
It’s cool if you don’t want to hear all the negative things they speak on, but it doesn’t make it any less true.
However, a good number of folks did- which is why Tha Carter III was the biggest selling record of 2008.
The people decided, and so it is.
A decent portion of those purchasers are suburban kids who live in a world completely different from the one Lil’ Wayne grew up in.
Well, . . . . maybe not so different actually as it’s our world and we all live in it.
One of the things that ghetto youth and suburban kids have in common is that they see the hypocrisy in what they are told the world is like and how it really is.
Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE New Orleans, but it is one of the most violent cities in this nation.
On Mardi Gras day alone this year there were 13 shootings and one murder.
It’s a dangerous place to live.
Brotha always walkin’ ’round with a horseshoe on his grill (i.e. an unpleasant disposition on his face).
Like Katt Williams says, “Whatchu bangin’ at breakfast, nigga?”
It’s true.
Walking around in the ghetto like you’re on vacation at Disneyland connotes weakness.
I scoff when cats tell me in other cities, “Man, be careful- this is the dangerous part of town.”
I’m like, “Please! Have you ever walked through the St. Bernard or the 1.5 (housing project)?”.
Housing Project.
Now there’s an interesting term.
Just whose “project” is it anyways?
I digress . . . .
The ghetto is a war zone.
That’s why at times you can hear the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire in the rhythm of Wayne’s lyric.
These sounds are in his head and he puts it forth in the form of music.
You may say it’s not music, but life is rhythm and rhythm is music.
If nothing else, great hip-hop is always rhythmic!
You may not want your kids to hear it, but the truth (or anything else) will surface to those who seek it.
Lil’ Wayne is THE TRUTH.
I’m not suggesting that everything thing he says or does is right, but he speaks from the core of his being.
Kids, as well as adults, are sick of being told lies and are tired of how the story is spun.
Great artists speak most sincerely, most dierctly- of their experience.
If that’s getting BJs on the back of a tour bus, so be it.
The irony is- Wayne’s most likely getting them from the daughters of parents who are amongst his most vehement haters.
Wayne said in his interview with Katie Couric that he’s a role model for his kids, not yours.
Some may question how HE can be a model parent.
LIke him or not, he’s the embodiment of the American dream.
He’s taken his meager beginnings and turned them into an empire.
Those two kids of his are going to be beneficiaries of a decent education, compliments of their now suburbanite dad.
He can provide them with things he didn’t have.
I feel the criteria of a model parent is that you try to make the life of your child at least a little better (if not a lot) than your own.
Now THAT’S evolution!
I’m not saying that even if you are able to identify with Lil’ Wayne’s struggle that you will like his music.
Everything ain’t for everybody.
If you haven’t heard it, I encourage you to check it out free from judgment of what you like or expect.
I think it’s important to stay up with the times- even if it’s not your bag.
It’s current, timely, truthful, and REAL.
A valiant effort from one of the greatest artists of our times.
- Nicholas Payton
….And The Truth Shall Set Your Mind Free.
VERY TRUE AND VERY REAL. I tell folks all the time… if you don’t like it…. change it… and the only thing that would change the message is the situations cats grow up in!!..
Amen brother Nick. I love/hate it when cat’s from other places give me that line. Granted, I’m nothing close to your average “gangsta”, but still I’m like “c’mon seriously, I grew up in the 3rd ward, McDonoughville, and Marrero, what do you possibly have here, in Sunnyvale, NJ (or wherever the f^@%), that I need to worry about?”.
My jr high/high schools were in New Orleans’ suburbs (Helen Cox jr./West Jefferson high), and both are probably more violent than the overwhelming majority of American cities. On my first day of seventh grade, this cat fractured this other cat’s skull (who happened to be sitting right next to me) in multiple places, by repeatedly beating him in the head with a padlock, and this was before the morning bell even rang. We hadn’t even been assigned to our homerooms or lockers yet (hence the cat having a padlock handy), and a 12 year old was on his way to the hospital, with what turned out to be permanent brain damage, and another was on his way to Revard Juvenile Detention Center for a couple of years. On top of that, nobody even seemed to blink an eye. All these women teachers, just kept doing their thing like nothing happened. They didn’t even wipe up the trail of blood, that went from the scene of the crime, to the door that homeboy was carried out through (it was still there 2 years later, just a little worn away). It was just another day at the office for them. Imagine that shyt happening in suburban Milwaukee or somewhere similar, the women teachers would have been screaming and crying, and they probably would have shut school down, at least for the day. This of course was just the first of (and comparatively, one of the more mild) countless acts of violence I saw at “school” over the next 4 years.
As far as I’m concerned, unless we’re in Detroit, or Gary, Indiana, save your breath, and even then, I’m wise enough to figure out where I should, and shouldn’t be at any given time.
Sorry for the long-assed post, it’s just that an incident that happened to me last night, a few hours before I read this, had me thinking about this very topic.
Oh, and the line I was referring to, was: “I scoff when cats tell me in other cities, “Man, be careful- this is the dangerous part of town.” I thought I quoted it at the top of my other reply. I guess not.