Rappers Wearing Skirts

Recently Lord Jamar has been in the news for some pretty incendiary comments. Those topics range from Macklemore to White People’s places in hip hop. Out of the controversial statements he’s made there are so many journalistic opportunities to respond to. But one of his statements caught my attention and forced me to address it in this blog post because it’s something that’s more recent.

“First of all, it’s not just jabs at Kanye West. It’s anybody promoting the feminization of the Black Man in hip hop culture.” ---Lord Jamar, SOHH.com

I speak to a lot of people on a lot of different blogs and hip hop websites. And when this story appeared or when a subject similar to this one appears in which a Black Man is wearing a “skirt” of some kind, you pretty much hear the same type of words that Lord Jamar spoke. For example, when a recent photo of Mos Def aka Yasiin Bey emerged of him wearing a Kente cloth wrap, the hip hop fashion police were at it again.  Bloggers called foul and labeled it a “dress”. Homophobic words were peppered throughout numerous hip hop comments sections.

photo credit: didy b via photopin cc

“How dare he?” “What was he thinking?” “Dude is weird anyway.” The judging was swift and mean. It was yet another case of a rapper that had fallen victim to the feminization of Black Men.

When Omar Epps from classic hip hop movie Juice showed up on the show The View in what some perceived to be a “skirt”, Lord Jamar got into a bit of a Twitter battle with Marlon Wayons (who defended Omar) about the incident.

To a lot of hip hop purists there appears to be a secret agenda to “feminize” the Black Man and to make hip hop more digestible to the masses through visualized feminization tactics. Some hip hop heads believe that “real” hip hoppers should never wear skirts or anything other than baggy jeans and a baseball cap. They believe there is a secret agenda that exists, set up by pro-gay rights people to infiltrate hip hop.

And I strongly disagree.

First, these people always seem to pop off when anyone wears anything different than their chosen attire (Lord Jamar). People like Lord Jamar label themselves as strong, righteous Black Men. Yet when they speak, their ignorance betrays them and reveals that they are really nothing more than ill-informed conspiracy theorists in dark closets. Why?

If you take it back to the motherland (Africa) you will see that these so-called “skirts” that most hip hoppers are complaining about are there. And they have been there from the very beginning! For instance, the Maasi Tribe has worn and continues to wear their traditional garb. These masculine men wear numerous bright colors and unique print within their clothing. To the Maasi Tribe the items are their clothing. But to most of you American haters, they’re “skirts”.

If Lord Jamar and people like him would take some time to do a little bit of research, even on the internet, their so-called “knowledge of self” would stand out less as a slogan and more as actual truth. Even when Omar Epps revealed that his attire during his visit to The View was a tribute to his ancestors and his African roots, Lord Jamar refused to accept it. One can only hope that he learns more about who he is and where he came from.

I know that I’ll have a few people to state that traditional African clothing is different than skirts. To them I would say this; it had to begin somewhere. To me the word ‘traditional’ only means “extended period of time”. But one African brother had to be the first person to put it on. Just because you’ve been programmed to believe that “only women wear skirts” and didn’t do the knowledge for yourself doesn’t mean that your ignorance is an excuse.

Now if Kanye West, Mos Def, Omar Epps, and numerous others walked into a Macy’s Department store and made the purchase in the women’s section and then openly stated that they were trying to make hip hop softer for the masses, Lord Jamar would be absolutely correct. But that’s not the case.

But let’s keep it even realer. Let’s name some Black Men that actually wore skirts.

Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall, Chris Tucker, Flip Wilson, Jamie Foxx, Wesley Snipes… I could go on and on. But none of their bank accounts seem to indicate that fewer people purchased their works because of the perceived “feminization of Black Men”. And these men wore actual women’s skirts and makeup! How long has Eddie Murphy been in the game? How many of his movies do you own? I’ll bet a million of you dudes saw Jamie Foxx in the movie Ray. I’ll even bet Lord Jamar saw it. But he didn’t protest it because Jamie Foxx was dressed up as “Wanda” on In Living Color. And before some of you come out of your mouth and say, “Rapping is different than acting” I would submit Rick Ross as my proof that hip hop is on par with acting. Ross took his name and his persona from another person and was actually a prison guard. Next!

Me as a person, I would never wear that type of gear because my preference is jeans. It is what I’m accustomed to and what makes me comfortable. But I’m not going to judge someone who chooses differently. We as hip hoppers need to understand that the world isn’t always against us. Sometimes we do it to ourselves. Conspiracy theories aside, one man is responsible for his own behavior. While trends do emerge and some people do ultimately follow suit we are accountable individually.

Lord Jamar is right in his viewing of fashion trends. A lot of men are choosing to push this button. But it’s based on fashion trends and not some conspiracy against Black men. What can we expect in the age of Facebook and Twitter? We are a nation of followers and biters. We are the “like button” generation.

We have to stop judging entire blocks of people based on our phobias or ignorant and unsubstantiated theories. We hurt far too many innocent people when we do this. While Lord Jamar may be correct in detecting a certain pattern or fashion trend, attacking someone because you don’t agree with that trend is out of bounds. You govern your life. Just simply say that you don’t get down with it. You don’t know what motivates others. 

Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj and The Problems With Young Money

Cash Money Records has held the rap game in a strangle hold for the last few years. Through the label of Young Money, Cash Money Records has made a place for itself within hip hop history as few could have predicted. There have been very few record companies as consistent and that have persevered through industry changes so well.  Since its beginning in 1991 Cash Money has forcefully taken a hold of the music industry and muscled out the competition (No limit Records) by providing a more talented roster of artists that straddle the fine line between hip hop and mass appeal. Under the leadership of Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams Young Money have utilized this recruitment tactic to the fullest and in doing so have sold millions and millions of records while further solidifying their position in the rap game.  Through the years Cash Money Records has remained firmly in tact while other companies have come and gone (Bad Boy Records, Rocafella Records).

Image courtesy of J Fry / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

But a serious crack has emerged in the armor of Cash Money Records. And it’s coming through the same label Cash Money currently anchors. Young Money. There seems to be a growing level of disagreement in the ranks. Records are not being sold at the same level as their predecessors. Rumors are starting to emerge.  Leadership seems to go one way on some days and then another way on other days. What is going on?

It is my personal opinion that unless the leadership at Cash Money and Young Money makes drastic changes, we are witnessing the end of the domination of Cash Money and quite possibly the end of Young Money. Let’s take a look at these issues and how each “visible” member has contributed to the recent decline.

1.       Bryan “Birdman” Williams and Ronald “Slim” Williams: All successes and failures begin at the very top. The leadership of a company displays the corporate culture, behaviors, and motivations of its staff and team. Most of the blame usually and should ultimately be placed here. Birdman can’t decide if he wants to be a rapper or a CEO. He feels the need for public validation in the same ways that Diddy jumped into almost every one of his artists’ videos and danced around like a clown. Cash Money Records jumps into business ventures without thinking. One minute they’re a perfectly viable record label. The next minute they’re diving head first into dumb oil and gas investments. After seeing the success that Jay Z had with sports management, new rumors are starting to circulate about them jumping into sports management as well. They’ve also signed more than enough vanity acts to rival Andre Young. Limp Bizkit, Bow Wow, Mystikal, Paris Hilton (what was that about) and Busta Rhymes. And of the artists that truly have talent and are signed to the label? They’ve chosen to put them on the backburner, none of them seeing the true shine they deserve to have. Cash Money/Young Money released a compilation that many viewed as a tossed bone to that group of artists; it was an act to placate them. And the dismal promotions and sales showed it. There’s not a wonder that the world is confused about Cash Money. The owners don’t seem to have focus and they jump in any direction.

2.       Lil Wayne: As the CEO of Young Money Records he’s been the man mostly responsible for its success. He’s also been more than responsible for several of its failures. With his incarceration in 2010, during the height of Young Money’s success, the event sent several shock waves through his company.

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     One, the artists that he so heavily mentored and advised began to make ill-advised moves. Sure he advised from jail, but being in jail limits you to being at arm’s length. And when you have such a large company as Young Money had grown to be, it proved to be an issue. His incarceration also killed T-Pain’s move to the label (but seeing how badly T-Pain has recently fallen off, I wouldn’t necessarily call that one a bad move). Ultimately jail and probation changed Weezy. Sobriety revealed a new version of Lil Wayne and the public was not pleased. The albums he released sold decently, but content-wise were horrible. He made inappropriate comments about Emmett Till and caused an uproar in the African American world.  Lil Wayne lost focus and started skateboarding. Next he started telling the world that he would be retiring soon. All of these factors definitely had an impact on his artists as well as the label.

3.       Drake:  Drake has been killing it with sales. He’s absolutely been on fire. But so has his “diva” streak. Instead of accepting his new popularity with grace he’s been quick to lash out against anyone that doesn’t agree with everything he says. He’s engaged in unnecessary feuds with R&B artist Chris

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     Brown (dude you’re the number one selling hip hop artist, why are you fighting over a woman). He’s attacked a hip hop legend in the media (Common) but cowardly refused to respond to his outright challenge to an MC battle (and this again is rumored to be over a woman). Drake kicked Future off of his tour because of Future’s perceived preference towards his own music. Drake got angry at Kendrick Lamar for Kendrick’s verse on “Control”, although Kendrick didn’t release or reveal the track (Big Sean did). Also the “Control” track wasn’t even included on the any commercial album (which made Drake’s anger that much more confusing since he alluded to his belief that Kendrick’s release of the track during the same time that he released his album, kind of made him mad). And when Kendrick called him out for it, once again Drake chose to speak to the media instead of taking things in the tradition of the hip hop greats and engage him in lyrical combat. That was seen as a cowardly move by most hip hop heads. Next is the “Amen” debacle. Drake is Jewish, which isn’t a problem, unless you get on a track with Meek Mill called “Amen” and you openly support the words being said and are considered offensive to many African American Christian families.  It came across as exploitative. Why not make a track about the Jewish faith and say the same types of things to exploit your own religion? Add all of those things up and Drake has a big chunk of the problem on his plate.

4.       Nicki Minaj: When Nicki arrived on the scene she showed so much promise and opportunity. Here was what hip hop truly needed. A woman. And not just any woman but a woman with the lyrical skill to break down misconceptions and sexist views about women and hip hop. But since signing to Young Money Nicki has done nothing but reinforce those bad views. Her contribution to the big crack in Young Money is just as bad as her peers. Her skin has seemed to become several shades lighter.

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     Instead of teaching women to be respected and to try to solidify her status as a real MC, she’s created “Barbies”. Unlike the best female MC to ever do it (MC Lyte) Nicki has taken Black Women back to being objects of desire instead of intelligent women with minds. Nicki released an album (Pink Friday) that was so un-hip hop that few could actually believe it was labeled as such. In the album she pushed forward pop singing and sexual behaviors like a woman intent on penetrating the Billboard Charts. Hip Hop fans were disgusted. Her next move was to American Idol as a judge. A hip hopper on a pop show? Who was advising her? Reaching a new audience isn’t a bad look for anyone but don’t you first need to solidify your hardcore hip hop fans? Only time will tell if this gamble of hers paid off. Next she released an offensively titled song with the photo of Malcolm X on the internet promo. The swift storm and anger she created currently threatens her new album sales unlike anything she could’ve done. Occasionally she shows promise. The verse she spit on Kanye West’s “Monster” killed every single artist that appeared on his album. The whole thing. But hip hop is about consistency and if you don’t learn that rule first, you won’t last long.

 These issues have currently put Cash Money and Young Money in the positions they are in. The issues are correctable and there is plenty of time to right the course of the ship. But someone had better pay attention to what’s going on and fast. Hip Hop has a short amount of patience.