Blaming sexually suggestive lyrics or lyrics encouraging drinking and drugs is to simplify the issue. There have been lyrics in Jazz and Blues since back in the 20's that glorified sex,drugs and alcohol . Listen to Minnie The Moocher or a host of other songs from Shake ,Rattle and Roll, I'm your Pusher to Sexual Healing . Now in know way am I comparing Lil Wayne to Marvin Gaye, but the point is those types of lyrics are not new. Jay Z, who has Obama on speed dial, used to talk about "Big Pimping" and having 99 problems" but a B*&^% Ain't one! I really could go on for days talking lyrics in Hip Hop, but we have to start teaching our kids what's fact and what's fiction. If we don't like what BET is showing, we can turn the TV off . This issue is bigger than BET or Lil Wayne anyway. They are just cogs in the machine. The problem is the Viacom's and Clear Channels. They are the ones that make this type of mindless music and entertainment available to the masses. It is still up to us to turn the dial or change the channel. We have that choice. If we don't support it they will stop making it. In the words of Black Sheep "The choice is yours, you can get with this or you can get with that !!"
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Self Destruction
"BET Has Become The New KKK" is what the headline screamed. This week after the BET awards noted finance scholar and activist Boyce Watkins, stated that BET is the new KKK. He said that by accelerating, financing and supporting the “Lil Wayne gospel” to a community that is already dying, BET has effectively positioned itself as a new and improved version of the KKK. I admire and respect Dr Watkins, but calling BET a new and improved version of the KKK is off base. I am by no means a fan of BET , for too long they have been a shucking, jiving new millennium minstrel show. A friend of mine calls it Black Embarrassment Television. I admit to calling it a coon show on several occasions, but BET and Lil Wayne have never as far as I know lynched,hunted down or murdered any black people . According to Dr Watkins " The Ku Klux Klan has been regularly criticized for encouraging violence against African Americans and terrorizing our community. But the truth is that the Klan does 'nt have much power anymore, and their thirst for African American blood seems to have waned a bit. At the same time, Lil Wayne and artists like him have made a habit of encouraging Black men to shoot one another, to abuse or murder women, to consume suicidal amounts of drugs and alcohol and to engage in irresponsible, deadly sexual behavior."
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Wow…BET… You could write every day, for the next week, and not address all of the issues there. But I digress…
I cannot tell you how many times I have made the exact same argument regarding older music and the perception of it versus current music. There are extremely raw themes present, throughout the history of music, from opera, to country, to rap. Acceptance is all about the packaging and the generation. Back in the day, rock-n-roll was the enemy. Later the devil became heavy metal and rap. I love “Hey Joe” but the subject matter is very dark. Each generation clings to their own and belittles the new, totally missing the point or the real issue.
We must educate, inform, and create an atmosphere of balance for our children so that they make the right choices. We cannot rely on any outside resource for that.
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