My sudden outbreak of old-ness aside, there's something inherently infuriating that comes with watching a millionaire entertainer act out like a 5 year old, whilst attempting to retain the rough and tumble attitude and broken english that we've come to associate with the high crime, inner city population. Wayne, at one point, lays his head in his hands and refuses to answer the line of questioning that Jones's attorney presents, only answering with reductive mumbles of "I don't recall" and "I can't remember". Later in the video, when asked what image he is presenting to the media- Wayne again shoots down the question, is told by the presiding judge that he must answer, and decides to inform the attorney that "he [the judge] can't save you in the real world". One can extrapolate that Wayne saw the judge's support of the line of questioning as backing up /siding with the attorney and wanted to remind him that rational debate has no place in his world and violence would reign supreme if the joust were happening in a different context. It's really just an embarrassing 6-minute display of the apathetic and anti-intellectual approach that is "cool" to a substantial block of young people. It's par for the course for Lil Wayne, we've seen this and much worse from him before....but god damn is it frustrating to see him thrive while there are tens of thousands of infinitely more talented (and better adjusted) artists that aren't able to scrape by.
AUTHORS NOTE: I'm having a hard time defining this culture without giving the impression that I'm racist or a class-elitist. I'd hope that the reader can identify with what I'm referring to when I talk about the "thug life" attitude that is seen in every walk of life- white, black, hispanic, or otherwise.
I've been fascinated by this subject for some time, admittedly as a guilty-pleasure endeavor, but I want to know what makes these guys tick. In Wayne's case, here's someone who was brought up in the music industry and was prominently featured on a #1 record at age 17 (he was discovered by music mogul/Cash Money founder Birdman at 15), holds the current all-time record for most #1 Billboard Hot 100 singles, and is estimated to have a net worth of around $95 million. With such incredible and historic success, one might expect Wayne to be a positive force in the world (or even just to himself and those surrounding him), but he's been able to consistently prove that he's still an unassimilated and uneducated low-life through his behavior in the public eye and an impressive rap sheet. This gives him continued credibility in the eyes of his fans, who demand their wealthy idols continue to live the "thug" life. It's similar to an indie music fan obsessing and raging over the mainstream popularity of a previously undiscovered band...with one key difference: no Animal Collective fan is pining for Avey Tare to be arrested on a felony weapons possession charge. It's an old and oft repeated story- Tupac stood trial and served time for a shooting, TI spent time in jail for possession of some heavy duty firepower, Lil Boosie was (until recently) on death row for a fatal killing, and the list goes on and on. The culture of gangster rap is terribly destructive and perpetuates the cyclical nature of crime and stalled momentum that plagues the inner cities.
Lil Wayne also has a history of acting out on camera. I'd recommend the documentary "The Carter" to anyone willing to put up with an hour of grade A, god-tier immaturity. He's known for latching on to trends and meshing them into the culture he's pandering to, the best example of this is his "new" obsession of skateboarding. I'll leave out the details, as this EXCEPTIONAL display of his skillz should paint the picture for you. This is all extremely frivolous, if you don't consider that he uses these platforms to claim that he's promoting "positivity" and that anyone who is critical of the shallow attempt to expose his brand is a blind "hater". It's another common theme in the world of BET to use buzzwords like positivity to stick a better public persona to their name. They aren't promoting positivity in any sense, and I believe they do quite the opposite.
I hope for a world where we can leave this flavor of nonsense behind. If more inner city youth were listening to and taking to heart artists like Mos Def or Talib Kweli, they'd be inspired to do better for themselves and see how they can make real progress for themselves and their communities. Wu-Tang legend GZA recently announced a series of albums centered around the theme of science with lyrics that he hopes will "hook a new generation on [his] love of science." GZA is not from a privileged family, was not given any spectacular opportunity that might have sparked this; it's a personal quest that came about from a moment of revelation when he discovered the illuminating magic of science. If GZA can sell as many records as Lil Wayne, we might just be okay.
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