UPDATED: Lil Wayne's musical name-dropping of Civil Rights icon Emmett Till landed him in the middle of a Chicago controversy Wednesday afternoon, one which drew in the Rev. Jesse Jackson to get it resolved.
Earlier this week, "Karate Chop," a new track by Atlanta rapper Future, began circulating online. The song features a third verse rapped by Lil Wayne (aka Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.), which begins:
Pop a lot of pain pills
'Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels
Beat that p---y up like Emmett Till
Till was a 14-year-old Chicago boy who brutally murdered in 1955. Days after reportedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, two men took Till into a barn, beat him savagely and shot him in the head before dumping his body in a river. Till's family insisted on an open casket at the funeral, and photographs of the boy's beaten, misshapen face helped to ignite the Civil Rights movement.
Airickca Gordon-Taylor, founding director of the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, issued a statement Tuesday saying the song is "disappointing, dishonorable, and outright disrespectful to our family."
"My agenda is not to be disrespectful to Lil Wayne, even as much as I feel he's been disrespectful to my family. We just want Emmett's name removed from that song," Gordon-Taylor told the Sun-Times later Wednesday afternoon. "That entire segment is very misogynistic and promotes domestic abuse toward women by our own race.
"But it also shows total disregard of where you've come from. He wouldn't even be out there rapping these stupid lyrics without the sacrifice Emmett made. Personally, I think Lil Wayne should just go ahead and apologize to my family. It's hurtful."
Gordon-Taylor's foundation sought to reach out to Lil Wayne and contacted the Rev. Jackson for assistance Wednesday. She was asking for the song to be withdrawn for distribution unless Till's name is removed. The foundation's Facebook page yesterday posted a message encouraging followers to call Clear Channel Communications to voice their disapproval of the song being played on radio.
"Karate Chop" has circulated online but is not yet available for sale.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Gordon-Taylor got just what she wished.
The Sun-Times participated in a conference call between the Rev. Jackson and Antonio M. "L.A." Reid, president of Epic Records, the label handling Future's music, in which Reid confirmed that the version of "Karate Chop" currently online had been leaked without authorization.
"This is not the official version," Reid said. "We understand the sensitivity of this."
Jackson added that the official recording "has removed those lyrics from that song."
This is not the first time Lil Wayne has dropped Till's name. In "Swizzy," from a 2007 mixtape, Lil Wayne also uses Till as a metaphor for violence, "Beating up your block / Yeah, I get my Emmett Till on." Even Chicago native Kanye West mentioned Till in "Through the Wire," on West's 2004 debut album: "On the plane, scared as hell that her guy look like Emmett Till."
"I'm pleased, and my family's pleased," Gordon-Taylor said Wednesday evening. "I expected people would see the wisdom of acting on this, I just didn't know how long it would take."
But she said she's learned something about the generational divide within the black community as a result.
"Reading the comments at different stories online in the hip-hop community, the only people opposed to our cries to remove Emmett Till's name are from young people," she said. "They don't understand the indignation of that statement and using Emmett Till's name like that. Many of them haven't been educated as to who Emmett Till is and the impact his murder had on black people. They have the attitude of, so what?"
Mentioning Emmett Till, that's one thing. Fine, even. But to mention him in that way? Not on.
why the shock? he is another in a long line of ignorant rappers that have no clue about history unless it involves the last bag of weed they smoked.....
Just about all of Wayne’s lyrics are dumb as hell but that tops them all. It’s stupid on so many levels it makes me want to puke. The Grand Wizard of the KKK couldn’t come up with something more sexist and ignorant to black history than that.
Not cool. Not cool at all.
I am all for freedom of expression but with it you must exhibit respect and responsibility which Lil Wayne and others are not doing. As a human being I am ashamed of them and as a Black mother I am disgusted by their actions.
This guy crossed the line. May he be eaten by dogs. An enemy to our people
Just goes to show the lack of education in our communities, he would never disrespect someone that meant so much to the south, his money ain't long enough to save him, the disrespect of his history is sickening, but he skateboards, they pay them to be what they want them to be, not what they are and the new age rappers are fine with that, if 2pac was alive the loser wouldn't exist. I bid farewell to my lil homie collection, along with lup
Wouldn't mentioning him in a popular song be a good way to educate people on who he is?
This over political correctness needs to stop, it's a song not a freaking political statement, especially considering a black man was burned alive this week by the LAPD. Get your priorities straight.
The thing is that this isn't the first time he has used the man's name in his lyrics... Where was Rev. Jackson and everybody then??? Lil Wayne said "beating up ya block yeah i get my emitt till on"
In this case, no. Mentioning his name has not educated anyone who needs the lesson. It's apparent that young people aren't any more educated as to who Emmett Till is since they don't believe it is offensive.
Comparing Dorner (that' who I assume you mean as the black man burned by the LAPD) to Till is just ridiculous. One was brutally murdered for whistling at a white women the other likely committed suicide after he killed at least 4 people.
No way does this educate anyone. Educating would be putting a line about how he suffered and how unfair a young man was treated. Equating what Emmett did to rape is totally out of line and wrong. Anyone that REALLY knows the story, knows that this is not educating. With rappers being in the forefront for our children, it can be seen as a political statement to a 13 year old.
There is generation gap in man ways of rap music today and hip-hop 25 years ago. Things that these rap artist say today, would not be accepted by radio and many other forms of the media then. Moving forward is always a plus, but how it's done is the problem. The artist and the listening audience of today are careless, and only care if it promotes money, sex, and violence. Public Enemy was a moving force of entertaining yet motivational music with the music they made, along with groups such as Brand Nubian, X-Clan, BDP, etc. Artist today are out to prove immortality and toughness, they are clueless as to the results of their lyrics. If this guy (Wayne) put thought behind what he was saying and not just looking for meaningless metaphors, and prompting how much of a WHORE he is, he could use is popularity for something positive and still earn a decent dollar. You can't be in your 0s forever, unless you plan on dying! With all the broken families he's created via his unmoral actions, you would think he would learn that Kharma will come back to affect him and the HOES he mentions in his songs will end up being his daughters!
I Understand what emmett tillman death stands for to African american(black) people but i believe we need to get to a level of understanding where race is no longer a factor. I Just believe all of those people before us who sacrificed their lives long before me ,the meaning of their courageous acts have been lost.What I believe they desired was equality as (1 people) and to no longer be defined by the color of our skin.
I mean no disrespect toward anyone
"Wouldn't mentioning him in a popular song be a good way to educate people on who he is?"
Where's the education in that song, in that lyric? Here's a name for you= "Louis Bessinger." Does that name mean anything to you? Put it in a song= "Beat that p---y up like Louis Bessinger." Anything? Not that there is anything to mean, I just made it up.
The name alone means nothing, you need to know the history. Quite frankly, making that murdered boy into a euphemism for sex is beyond wrong.
" it's a song not a freaking political statement, especially considering a black man was burned alive this week by the LAPD. Get your priorities straight."
Vert well then, if it's okay for Emmett Till's name to be so used, then try this on= "Gonna do Dorner to you yeah you so hot you making me Dorner you gonna burn in bed you gonna catch fire."
Thank you Ms. Gordon-Taylor for speaking up for Emmet Till and the meaning of his life to the civil rights movment/history. And thank you for recognizing the lyrics for what they are - misogynistic to all Black women and women all. It's way past time for the elder statesmen of rap music and so-called male Black social and political and business leaders to actively and very publicly campaign against the proliferation of obscene, hate, racist and sexual-violence filled lyrics. Bet there are still adults today who were youths and young adults back in the day who think ludacris is the correct spelling of ludicrous. Really. And for what - just for a dollar? Promote education, building a business instead of selling and pimping our people.