Why I Still Hate Lil Wayne (Not Just His Music)

A few weeks ago (or last week?)  HOT 97 DJ Peter Rosenberg dissed Nicki Minaj's music at Summer Jam, prompting her boss Lil Wayne to pull her from the show.  Lil Wayne's response to Rosenberg and why he pulled Nicki? "First and foremost Nicki Minaj is a female, I don’t know what anyone else believes, but I believe females deserve the ultimate respect at all times no matter, when or where or how."   Now Lil Wayne has always been a walking hypocrisy, but this one may take the cake.  Rosenberg's rebuttal to Wayne's response is spot on.  Lil Wayne shows NO respect whatsoever for women in his music.  He has been degrading them and relegating them as an elaborate part of his lifestyle for his whole career.  Furthermore, what Rosenberg said was not sexist in the slightest.  He simply doesn't like Nicki's music.  

I have successfully ignored Lil Wayne for the last year, but this situation just brings up all those old feelings of disgust again.   Music is a matter of taste, I get that. and I won't speak on the quality of Weezy's music.  What I can speak on, however, is the lack of integrity that this dude has consistently shown.  He raps about Bloods, but admits he doesn't know much about the Bloods and Crips.  He brags about his ability to "not write" and freestyle, but his inability to actually freestyle has been exposed several times.  He compares himself to Martin Luther King, and then basically calls Oklahoma City team officials racists for not getting him a courtside seat last minute to a sold out Western Conference Finals game, while never accomplishing anything positive in helping solve racism.  He glorifies drug use, which is not new for rappers, but the extent of which Lil Wayne tries to make sipping lean and smoking weed look cool is insane.  He made songs chastising GW Bush for his inaction after Hurricane Katrina, and when asked what he would ask Bush, given the chance, he said: "I'm a gangsta.  Gangstas don't ask no questions."  What?!  Does he think that makes him sound cool?  Or maybe he was too uneducated on the topic to give a real answer.  

This man is looked up to by MILLIONS of young teenagers around the world and has been absolutely nothing but a terrible influence to all of them.  I understand it is not his job to be a role model, but when he does things like compare himself to MLK or make a plea for women to be respected, it seems like he wants to be regarded as one.  Kids do see him as a role model.   The cheesy "motivational" quotes you can find sprinkled throughout his gigantic catalogue make their way onto Facebook walls and twitter feeds every minute.  People care about what he has to say.  It's too bad he doesn't say any of it from the heart.  This is my problem with Lil Wayne.  It is the embodiment of "Fake", the definition of hypocricy, yet is somehow regarded as "real."  This is why I wince every time I am called a rapper.  I am one, but if Lil Wayne is what people think of when you say the word "rapper", I want no part in that.

All of this brings up a much larger debate about the entertainment's industry's influence over people, and whose responsibility is it (kids, parents, government, artists, etc.).  I don't want to speak on that.  Regardless of who's to blame, there is no doubt that Lil Wayne is a bad influence on our society as a whole.  That sounds over-dramatic, but his lack of integrity and ability to make all the wrong things matter most is a terrible thing for impressionable minds to see every day.  You and I may see a lying, talentless clown, but plenty more people see a cool, well-respected, multi-millionaire who's achieved that status by doing and saying all the wrong things.  To say that has no effect on people, I think, would be false.

My next blog posts will ease off the haterade.

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