Can I get a shout out to Snoop
Dogg? As I summon the self proclaimed
"Doggfather", it is because he is the best.
Snoop is the symbol of RAP, and at
this point he is in the best position to make this
request a reality. I say this because his tracks and
the rhythm with which he lends voice to RAP has
become so recognizable that he should be able to
fullfill my request. Let me start at the beginning.
When I was coming up, we used to listen to Earth
Wind and Fire. Their lyrics were about
astrology, mysticism and world religions. As a
result, we tried to study Transcendental Meditation.
We listened to James Brown, who told
us to dance, and to be "Black and Proud",
and we dressed in native african garb, and did the
"popcorn". Rick James
lamented his affair with "Mary Jane"
, and I'll be darned if I didn't fall in love with
her, too. The Isley Brothers had a song called "Between
The Sheets", and at the age of 15, I heard
the immortal words - "I'm pregnant"
for the first time. So apparently we are what we eat,
so to speak. As kids, we listened to the music,
mimicked the lyrics and incorporated the words into
our daily lives. Lately the community has been
reeling under the pressure of the senseless murders
of our young people. I've been shamelessly quiet on
the subject until this past week, when somebody elses
problem became my problem, and I lost a kid that I
knew and cared about. I failed to cry for the last
hundred to be killed. How about you? Have you shed
your tears, yet or will you wait until the next
hundred fall? This is where I feel that Snoop
Dogg will come in handy. He recorded a song,
in which he said "Never hesitate to put a
nigger on his back." Not that these are the
worst lyrics being represented by RAP artists today,
but it sums it all up. Obviously, if we have learned
anything from our history, as it was directed by our
music, we should see clearly how the violent content
of today's music may help orchestrate the violent
outcome that we are experiencing. They put 2Pac
on his back, and it didn't stop. They put Biggie
on his back, and it didn't stop. Now they have put my
friend Keith on his back, before he
was even old enough to grow a full beard - and I'll
bet it still won't stop. The Klan must invest
heavily into the record labels that promote Rap
music. I think that Snoop and the gang, need
to find something else to talk about. It's as
simple as that. Snoop can change his direction at
anytime, and begin to talk about another aspect of
life. The music is great , and If he wants to RAP
about making money - no problem. If it's about sexing
up the female population - no problem. If they all
want to RAP about hitting the pipe and dropping off
into a long sedated stupor - no problem. If there's a
young rapper, still trying to shock the world enough
with his crass and violent lyrics, to get a recording
deal, he'll just have to RE-WRITE it. If they are
truly as creative, as they arrogantly boast of being,
surely they can get they're message across without
the offensive messages. I want to see Snoop lead the
way, because I think he is smart enough and now, old
enough to see that he could really be "running
thangs around here". No matter what Snoop decides to
do, we as grown folks should under no circumstance
put up with this madness for another day. We can
control it, if we want. I'm calling everybody
out. Rappers. Just find something else to
RAP about. Will Smith did it, and he's making more
money than any of you. But if the Rappers can't check
themselves, I'm calling out the Producers to enforce
some lyrical re-writes. If that doesn't happen, I'm
calling out the record companies,
distributors, radio stations, MTV, BET,
Soul Train, and the Grammy Commission, to
simply not recognize songs containing violent
content. Failure to do so is nothing less than an
agreement among men to allow and indeed sanction the
murder of a kid for which you may end up having to
cry. It may seem that I'm talking censorship - well
so what, it's my opinion and I have the right to
express that too. They say that they are just "keeping
it real," but the only thing in life that
is really and truly real is death, and we are
allowing it too much power over our lives.
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