Apologies in advance for this long post but I’ve really got to express my feelings on this whole issue.
When I was a teen I would’ve been
at him jumping Rondo and saying at least a rapper lived up to his raps. In fact, as a teen I was devastated when 50 exposed Ross as me and my friends really though he ran the black underworld
but as a black man nearly the same age as King Von this shyt is beyond sad. I didn’t even like King Von but I’ve taken a break this week from all negative rap and have just been listening mostly to neo-soul.
This issue is deeper than rap but we can’t deny rap validates and glorifies this lifestyle. Even squares like Drake have changed to a more gangster image. I was listening to NWTS a few weeks ago and he was saying basically ‘I didn’t grow up in the hood but I’ve visited a jail before’
like why does your blackness need to be validated by such a negative experience? Now this same Drake is saying ‘sick of these nikkas, sick of these nikkas, hire some help, get rid of these nikkas’
and we’re just cool with it. Some of these rappers sound more like white supremacists.
I suggest every black person reads ‘post traumatic slave syndrome’ as the sister that wrote the book articulates my point better than me. Basically, we have been taught not to value our lives or other black lives. These same dudes get harassed by police every day but wouldn’t even consider shooting one yet would start beef with a brother just for looking at him the wrong way. Reason being they know there’s no consequence in killing their own and even if there was, they already see their own life as meaningless so they don’t fear any consequences.
I was watching the Malcolm X film yesterday and one part stood out for me. He wanted to be a lawyer but his racist teacher shot down his dreams and that led to him being a street hustler. Fortunately (or unfortunately depending on how you see it since the Nation killed him) he found his purpose in jail and crucially a FATHER FIGURE to model himself after since the KKK killed his real father. But these hood dudes don’t have father figures as their dads are either dead or in jail. It’s a crazy endless cycle. This is the system white supremacy has intentionally built to keep a lot of our brothers and sisters down.
The solution is clear, the hood needs positivity and opportunities so they feel they have value and a purpose. However, it’s been a lot harder to execute and we know why
. Finally, these rappers and labels as a whole need to stop promoting such negative music. Of course these killings were happening long before rap existed but that doesn’t mean rap is blameless.