Wishful Thinking: After President Obama Closes Guantanamo Bay, Can He Shut Down Gangsta Rap too?
Watching President Obama and First Lady Michelle dance their first official dance to Beyonce’s cover of Etta James’ “At Last”, at the Neighborhood Ball, I was so overcome with emotion that I actually wept. However, soon after Jay-Z took the stage, I cringed. You know that collective cringe many black people feel anytime they hear gangsta rap songs chock full of criminal, misogynistic, and gross materialism references? It’s that cringe you feel when you hear anyone, especially a black person use the N word as if it doesn’t carry the pain and oppression of an entire race of people.
When I saw Jay-Z take the stage, I naively thought that he would have written a G rated rap song about the Obamas who represent the best of all of us. I imagined a rap song that would have extolled the virtues of education, hard work, and an unyielding love of family and country. I foolishly allowed myself to get a bit excited, thinking that I would finally be able to dance to a mainstream rap song that portrayed blacks in their most favorable light. But, by the time I heard the second verse of Jay Z’s “History”, my shoulders sank as I listened to the lyrics. Here is a sample from verse 2:
So now I’m flirting with death, hustling like a G
While victory wasn’t watching took chances repeatedly
As a teenage boy before acne, before I got proactiv I couldn’t face she
I just threw on my hoodie and headed to the street
That’s where I met success, we’d live together shortly
Now success is like lust, she’s good to the touch
As I quickly came to grips with the fact that on the day the first Black man was inaugurated as the President of the United States of America (POTUS), the day our ancestors probably never imagined possible, the day the world saw the very best of us, the day the world saw that America truly is the country that any minority can dream of the stars and actually touch the sky, I became offended and incredibly disappointed. How could you Jay-Z? How could you compare victory to a woman you are lusting after? How could the words death and G come out of your mouth on a day like that? How could you rap about hustling on the street on such a magical day? How could you reinforce those ugly stereotypes about black men that President Obama is the complete antithesis of?
And more unanswered questions swirled through my mind. Was there no publicist, manager, friend, confidant, hangers on, or family member in either Jay Z’s or Beyonce’s circle who asked, “Does anyone think this is an appropriate song choice?”. “Do we think POTUS and his First Lady would approve of this song?” “Would they let Sasha and Malia watch Jay Z’s performance?” “Is this what the planet Earth needs to see and hear when Barack and Michelle Obama have shattered every negative generalization and stereotype about black men and women?” Did absolutely no bells go off prior to his going on stage?
So, just when you think it cannot possibly get worse, my cringe turned to absolute horror when I turned to Fox News to watch “The O’Reilly Factor”. And what do I see? A video http://vodpod.com/watch/1303201-video-bill-o%E2%80%99reilly-vs-jay-z-young-jeezy from a club appearance in Washington DC during Inaugural weekend where both Young Jeezy and Jay-Z are spewing the most vulgar and profane words about former President Bush. I am no fan of Dubya, but even he deserves the utmost respect in public as our former Commander in Chief.
Here are two of the most offending lines that came out of Young Jeezy’s pottymouth:
I wanna thank the motherf*&%#r overseas that threw shoes at George Bush…Keep it movin’ b*&%h, because my president is motherf*&%#g black, n***er!!
And not to be outdone, Jay Z chimes in:
“You can keep your p***y, I don’t want no more Bush… No more white lies, my president is black!!”
So, as my shock and awe waned and I finally fell asleep, I dreamt of President Obama taking the podium and announcing that he is shutting down one house of horrors (Guantanamo) and for good measure banning another one (gangsta rap). But, when I woke up, I reminded myself that two wars, a sinking economy, record unemployment, a housing crisis, global warming, and the Middle East will surely take precedence over the scourge we know as gangsta rap. Because gangsta rap isn’t President Obama’s problem, it’s ours.
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Kelly,
You are so not alone. I felt the same way. until I saw the performance, i thought Jay Z was among the intelligent – I mean, anyone that could amass almost have a bill. can’t be too stupid right. But then I had to ask myself. How did he make that paper. By selling the most degrading images of black men and women to our youth.
You’re right though, this shouldn’t fall on our president’s shoulders. My hope his that his presence and actions will speak in an even louder voice to our youth and older community to make us want to do better. I mean, look at the influence the William sisters and Tiger has had on our participation in those sports.
We, like any other people give our best performance when we can see a goal in reach. If you show us not only how its done but someone who found achievement in that area, we tend to participate for ourselves. I pray our president has that effect.
Brilliant! But I’d argue that, appropriateness and civility considerations aside, Jay-Z and Young Jeezy sadly bring up the fact that the gangsta rap mentality is alive and well.
Did I want to witness such a crass display of vulgar racial bravado at one of the most amazing historic moment in recent memory? No. But in a way, Jay-Z and Young Jeezy remind me that as long as race continues to be viewed as a measure of separation in lieu of personal accountability, we’ll still see these types of idiotic stunts now and then.
Let’s just be thankful that neither Jay-Z nor Young Jeezy were invited to write and recite the inaugural poem.
I think one of the answers to your blog is that we as(black folks) are expecting to much. Yes. Rappers/entertainers,thugs, and other various other BET black folks are at one end of the rope of community pride,and dignity. They are still pulling us back down the mountain every opportunity they get.
Unfortunately the black folks that celebrated with pride and dignity are never going to be news worthy for the Fox news audience. As far as they are concerned, we are all on on the dance floor gyrating to Jay-Z.
Your blog is well written, and serves the purpose of letting us realize how far removed our community is from collective,and common goals.Hopefully the presidency of Obama will plant a positive seed in our five year olds. They may just realize that being cool is not the most
important thing in life.
Love the blog Kel, and I completely agree. Great balance of wit and intellect here. Bravo.
Kel, thank you for summing up JayZ’s rant so eloquently.
I look forward to reading more of your posts!
Christina
Kelly, I can’t begin to tell you what a tremendous contribution your commentary is to helping people understand not only the historical significance of this Presidency, but also the unique challenges President Obama faces. Your perspective and insight reveal the enduring opportunity for understanding America’s diversity.
Kel, thanks for the insightful perspective, however we must remember that not all Black folks understand the significance of President Obama’s election to the highest office in the free world and what that means for Blacks globally. Many folks are caught up in the hype and the excitement of his presidency and fail to give him the respect he deserves as the first African American President or at a minimum, the respect that the Office of the President is due. Referring to President Obama as my “m..f black n..r”, is the ultimate disrespect. As to Jay Z, his lyrics are so passe. I expected more from him. Gangsta rappers can really make a valuable contribution by penning and singing about the positive impact President Obama will have on people all over the world. We should all try to contribute in a positive way to our legacy, because history will judge President Obama by the acts and deeds of all of us.
As a fan of so-called “gangsta rap” I can absolutely agree that referring to President Obama or any black person as nigga is insulting and derogatory. However, lets keep in mind that Jay-Z, Kanye West or any of these other sold called gangsta rappers have a lot of influence with the youth. Although this is politics it is also a business. Selecting these individuals to perform at the inauguration balls is Obama’s camp confirmation that these individuals were able to attract young voters, that would not have necessarily participated in the voting process. Whether or not you agree with the content these gangsta rappers were able to mobilize the youth, draw huge voter registration turnouts and endorse President Obama. His favorability in the polls is not only attributed to the 35 years and older crowd. Does this mean by President Obama allowing them to perform at these functions lessens his “judgment” as the Commander in Chief? Does this mean his message of equal opportunity has been tainted by allowing these gangsta rappers to perform? Rappers often use sometimes vulgar language and violent scenarios to get their point across. And guess what? It works.
I am absolutely aligned with Kelly and her assessment. If I had a magic wand, I would wave it and cleanup some of the ‘lead-me-astray lyrics that spew from the mouths of some of today’s rappers. To the person (Ripton)who sadly says it works… think about your conclusion and then think about where our young black men (in particular) are going today. Nine out of ten times…there is nothing inspiring about rap lyrics. And that our young black children are eating it up says something about their mentality — created by the anti-nurturing environment that these rappers have constructed. As we are all on the cusp of a new beginning with a historical leader at the helm, we should take stock of where we have been as a people and how far we have come… and try not to further contaminate and push our communities backward (in the light of change) with lead-me-astray-lyrics.
It doesn’t work.
I am not a fan of ganster rap but I do like rap if only they clean it up , JZ and Kanye West performed at the inauguration balls and it clean. Just clean it up.
Love your blog Kelly
This is amazingly well-written, and I can relate. While my reaction to the colorful language expressed by Jay-Z is not as strong as Kelly’s, I can certainly understand that a more professional presentation would be expected at an event so prestigious as an inaugural ball for the newly-elected president. I get that “the people” need to be able to relate, and I would even expect such a performance at a nightclub, where a raucous celebration is a requirement, but at a ball, really? If this is what continues to be portrayed as “black culture” on a national level, in a public way, at a formal event, how can we expect people to take us seriously and look past the stereotypes? But then again, the liberalist in me says, let art be art; if that’s they way he connects with people, then I guess he’s onto something. Or is that the problem…?