Talib Kweli recently gave his opinion on Rick Ross' "U.O.E.N.O." lyrics, saying that Ross' apology for the date rape lyrics was unacceptable. Now the socially conscious rapper has once again called out a mainstream rapper for questionable lyrics. This time it was Lil Wayne's controversial Emmett Till line that was criticized by Kweli.
While talking to AHH, Talib Kweli demanded that Weezy apologize for his line, "beat the pussy up like Emmett Till." The lyrics were featured on Future's "Karate Chop (Remix)" but after the media caught onto the line in question, the song was soon edited without it, and that version was called a leak. Epic Records released an apology for the line following this, but Wayne has yet to do the same.
Kweli went on at length to explain his opinion on the line, and says how it goes beyond just Lil Wayne and into general culture.
"My opinion, I think that Lil Wayne should apologize to the Till Family. But, its not for me to say, its for him to do. That’s what I would do. That’s what I think is the smart thing to do, especially since you apologized to LeBron for the Miami Heat thing. But, from my perspective, wherever he’s at with it in the world, and his mind space and the surroundings around him are not necessarily making him aware that he needs to apologize. The surroundings around him are making him aware that, “You know what? You live in Miami. You should apologize.” Do I think that’s a little backwards? Yeah. But, I think that its a little hypocritical of us to put that squarely on Lil Wayne’s shoulders," Kweli said.
The "Prisoner Of Consciousness" rapper explained how lyrics referring to 'beating the pussy up' don't only fall on Weezy F. "We been listening to dudes talk about, “We gonna beat the pussy up” records with all different sorts of metaphors before the Till family got affected. if we are going to encourage that and like it, we as a community gotta take the blame. I think its very convenient for people to take a certain line from a song that’s still creative. We’re not talking about censorship. We don’t wanna censor nobody. But I do think its a bit hypocritical. There is a line in the sand you have to draw. This is the part I find hypocritical. When you criticize Lil Wayne and it doesn’t stop. It becomes ‘He’s a monster and he’s destroying Hip-Hop. I wish he would die. I wish he would stop making records.’ When it goes to that, thats not something I can condone. And that will also make an artist say, ‘Well, fuck what you gotta say. My fans support me.’ What I think its the better way is through outreach and unity in Hip-Hop – finding the similarities rather than the differences. That’s why I work for these artists. For me, its art first. When you judge whether or not I should be working on an artist, the only thing you should judge is the song."
Check out the video of Talib sharing his thoughts below.
