A Letter to Lil’ Wayne

The social media space is abuzz over a video by two young ladies taking rapper Lil’ Wayne to task over his music. The video (http://theybf.com/2011/03/02/10-year-old-girl-raps-an-open-letter-to-lil-wayne-about-his-derogatory-lyrics) features two African American girls about in their tweens addressing the lyrics in Mr. Wayne’s music that over index on disrespecting women. The girls tell a story in their letter over a track used in Wayne’s music to ask the rapper to think about what he is saying and the impact it has on their lives and the lives of other young girls. The video is super cute and you want to applaud these mini lyricists for taking on the topic that grown rappers won’t discuss for fear their records wont sell. That’s another benefit of social media; if mainstream record companies want to shut their doors to conscious artists or those who have something contrary to say to the chart toppers and money makers, they can turn to the internet.

For me, this caused me to think about what we consider art and acceptable forms of expression in music. Oprah recently shared during a tribute show to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King that after disagreeing with the constant use of the “N” word in rap songs, namely in Jay Z’s music, she now understands this “expression” comes from the artists’ unique experiences in the communities they struggle to survive in and that they are simply telling their stories in their authentic voice. I vacillate between whether these expressions are art. Eminem has talked about his use of incendiary lyrics in his music and how it is his art, his create expression. But, he doesn’t dare curse or speak that way at home in front of his young daughter. I’m not sure about his veracity but he made it sound so true and believable and I was riding out with him for a while on all hip hop being art…and then I hear that crap from Wacka Flacka and I’m checking myself like is this art or is this slop to generate money? Is the way Lil’ Wayne talks about women in his music the same way he would want someone to address his cute daughter? Or are the two mutually exclusive? Two different debates, not related to each other because the quality (or lack thereof) of the content in the music can be chalked up to “artistic expression” and ain’t everybody gon’ like what you do, say and create as an artist. Can we measure the impact this music has actually had on the disintegration of society or are we all just jumping to a conclusion based on what we don’t like? I seem to have more questions than I do answers for this one. As an American though, I do assume we all have equal access to artistic expression whether or not it hurts people. We are so quick as a society to condemn anything with anti-Semitic undertones or something that is racially insensitive but when it comes to dissing women, it’s just not that serious for a good number of people – some women included. My hope would be that we at least see growth and support in the mainstream music world of songs that support and empower women instead of always making them the object of sexual servitude. Then at least we will have a balance of more “art” to enjoy or criticize.

Oh boy, here comes Kanye West with his Monster video…who will write a letter to him?