Why We Should Care About The Attempt To Purge Hip-Hop
Many of today's social "think they are fighting for" justice warriors believe racism is one of our country's biggest problems. Celebrity worship is a much more dire issue. Believing Adele or Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson should be beacons of morality is almost as asinine as believing all white people are inherently racist. Adele and Fiddy are entertainers: not teachers, principals, wardens, pastors, or police officers. In the words of Charles Barkley, they are not role models.
Many think they should be. Quavo, one-third of the Hip-Hop group Migos, is looked up to by more black children than Ben Carson, who is a world-renown brain surgeon. Among the three Migos rappers, Quavo is the only one with a high school diploma, which he received at age 29. It is this idolization that awards many rappers godlike influence, despite their massive shortcomings. When those same entertainers fall short of someone's lofty expectations, contentment broods and foster the urge of canceling.
According to poll data by REVOLT, Hip-Hop is the genre of music that Zoomers (Generation Z) relate to the most. With some municipalities around the country still under COVID lockdown, Zoomers have had more time to study the artists creating the music blaring from their earbuds. Some of these Zoomers lack the depth of knowledge and understanding of the origins of Hip-Hop. For that matter, some also lack the history of free speech: what it means and what it took to get it. Hip-Hop is a pillar of free speech. It started as an underground form of political and social expression in the late 1970s, but later on, it branched from the Bronx and gained a wider audience. Hip-Hip IS American history. Zoomers who have zero understanding of their history are continuing the push to cancel American culture.
They went for the jugular.
First in their crosshairs is Eminem.
A TikTok user who did not understand the nuance and layered sophistication behind one of Em's better songs in his catalog, "Love The Way You Lie", took exception to a bar in the song: "If she ever tries to fucking leave again, I'm a tie her to the bed and set this house on fire." The text in the TikTok video read, "Yesssss let's cancel him."
The #canceleminem2021 movement has not been particularly successful. Millennials have come out in droves defending the 15x Grammy Award winner, including this cringeworthy but effective defense of Eminem:
Canceling Eminem probably will not happen. Even though Em himself has gone "woke," he has too strong of a support system to be wiped away from existence. (Interestingly enough, Em is getting attacked by the very people to who he has been catering his music towards. Just like this shirt says, "Live By The Woke, Die By The Woke.") Em has even hit back with his own retaliatory video titled "Tone Deaf".
Here lies the more significant issue: who will they come after next? The Cancel Culture vultures will not stop. They will find a new target. There is a good chance the next target will not have the support that Eminem does.
Let's say they go after Kanye West. Ye does have an avid fanbase, but his antics routinely drive his fans bat crazy. His marriage to a Kardashian did not sit well with many; neither did his support of Donald Trump. His latest gospel effort, Jesus Is King, also rubbed people the wrong way in today's society that discourages religious beliefs.
What if they went after someone lower on Hip-Hop's totem pole? 50 Cent is on the uncancellable list, but his former G-Unit cohorts may not be. Tony Yayo, Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and The Game have all made music promoting gang activity, violence, and misogyny towards women. The video for "Tip Drill" is still defining St. Louis rapper Nelly 18 years later.
The battle against censorship of Hip-Hop has to be fought from within the culture. In 2018, Kendrick Lamar threatened to pull all of his music from Spotify if the music streaming platform removed R. Kelly's music. Spotify tried to roll out an initiative to remove artists promoting "hateful conduct". R. Kelly and deceased rapper XXXtentacion would be taken down, but Gucci Mane, who has been arrested numerous times and assaulted a military veteran, would remain untouched? YoungBoy Never Broke Again was charged with attempted murder in 2016. His music remains on the platform.
In the "woke's" conquest to cancel everything, their standards are all over the place. Eminem is subject to cancellation, but not Gucci Mane?
Hip-Hop is one of the last bastions of free speech in this country. None of it should be taken away. However, it may not be a battle that the fans can fight. The artists themselves must be at the forefront on this one.
