The New Black America

In August 2006, Baltimore radio station 92Q hosted its annual Back-2-School Jam. Primarily targeted at urban middle to high school aged students, this year headliners were r&b/pop artists Neo and Chris Brown and southern rapper Lil Wayne. Early in the show, it was announced that Lil Wayne would not be appearing. Many of the concert goers knew that it was because he had been arrested the night before in Philadelphia for possession of illegal narcotics. Less that an hour before the concert was scheduled to end, and to the astonishment of fans, Lil Wayne came on stage- minus the entourage, blinged-out attire and other key components of a typical rap concert. He acknowledged his arrest, apologized to his fans and performed in lieu of a proper set-up. The fans went crazy. With nothing but a mic in his hand, Lil Wayne was regarded as the best performer of the evening.

Lil Wayne returned to Baltimore, for the first time since the Back-2-School Jam, this past Thursday to perform at Morgan State University’s Homecoming Concert. Arriving to the concert without a hitch, Lil Wayne again delivered a performance that made the crowd wild with excitement. When Lil Wayne performed his hit single “I Make It Rain,” which chronicals the rapper’s wealthy lifestyle and frivolity with money, he threw what has been estimated at over $1000 into the crowd. This ignited the crowd from excitement to frenzy. Several people were hurt as fans began to fight over the money; two were taken to the hospital. This weekend Lil Wayne was arrested for his involvement in the riot and charged with reckless endangerment.

The shenanigans of rappers would be called a PR nightmare by most, but the black community has embraced them and called it “keeping it real” and “street credibility.” For a rapper to be respected, he has to practice what he preaches including, but not limited to, all the promiscuity, drugs and violence that has characterized the genre.

It’s bad that Black America accepts this type of buffoonery because they feel that they can “relate.” What’s even worse is that they have not realized how corporate America has taken it, commercialized it, turned it into the most lucrative music genre and gotten rich at the expense of Black America’s dignity and self-respect.