I promised my eldest son that I would listen to the latest Cd by Rapper Lil' Wayne before I dismissed his lack of judgement. So with headphones on I settled down (!) for a 77 minute joyride in the presence of "the greatest rapper of his generation".
Without being unduly unkind - there was some definite skill in wordplay demonstrated throughout. There was the presence of commercial and annoyingly good backbeats and samples. "Lollipop" is an insiduous track that slides into the subconcious before you fully realize the overt oral sexual overtones.
Of course I was listening to the 'unclean' version - and therein lies a problem. How clever a wordsmith do you have to be to use f*@# or m-F or b**tch a thousand times - I can get a dose of that everyweek in my Jail GED class - unfortunately many young black males live in a distorted "WAYNE'S WORLD" but without the bling and the arrogant self promotion.
I wish my son had been exposed to REAL afro-american writing and poetry from the likes of James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and even Gil Scott-Heron before he rose to acclaim Mr Carter as a great poet.
I wish that I could say that my afternoon with Lil' Wayne had a redemptive purpose or an educational, uplifting outcome. Instead I was left with the impression that he is symptomatic of a problem, not an attempt to be a solution, to the plight of the oppressed minorities, whether racially or economically. I am looking for a voice to arise out of the urban landscape that not only speaks truth to power but does it in a way that brings life! Up to this point there has only been one in my lifetime - Martin Luther King, and there is only one who can truly set people free by his word and that is Jesus Christ!
No comments:
Post a Comment