Chief Keef is stepping in line on the list of rappers (and I use that term extremely loosely) that are taking their sexual and violent lyrics much too far.
People were still discussing the state of Hip Hop after Lil Wayne used one of the most violent scenes of the Civil Rights Movement to describe sex and Rick Ross bragged about slipping a molly in an unsuspecting woman’s drink.
Well Chief Keef has taken all eyes off of Rick Ross’s lyrical blunder by blatantly rapping that if a woman doesn’t give him head, she will lose her life.
“You ain’t gonna let me f**k and I feel you, but you gone suck my d**k or I’ll kill you,” he raps on an unreleased track.
The lyric resulted in immediate backlash and petitions working to get the rapper’s (once again… using that loosely) music banned from schools and any functions with children in Chicago.
“The Girls Like Me Project” is one of the biggest groups pushing a petition right now as they beg others in the industry to support their cause and stop the glorification of rape and violence.
“As an artist on a national label, Interscope Records, Chief Keef and his label mates have the ability to mass-produce messages that glorify rape and murder of girls. His platform allows him access to influence minds and psyches of impressionable students in CPS. While it may be a challenge to stop radio stations from promoting this message, school officials have the authority to exercise their moral obligation which calls for the boycott of music that promotes rape or any kind of gender violence. Many DJ’s claim students aggressively demand Chief Keef be played, however, you can set the boundaries to the type of music your students are exposed to.”
Of course, Chief Keef’s lyrics and background adds another discussion topic for Lupe Fiasco and Talib Kweli’s public debate about the origin of ignorant lyrics.
Chief Keef grew up in Chicago which is standing out amongst other cities for the high death rates and gang violence. So is his background to blame for the music he is producing?
Or is it the rapper’s lyrics that create the negative environment?
Either way, it is time for responsibility to be taken and for the excuse of “this has been going on for years” to be torn to shreds.
The fact that this has been going on for so long is just evidence of how much it is impacting the youth and hip hop culture.
An article on TheGrio explains:
Violent words — hit, bang, beat, cut, smash – have been re-appropriated to refer to pleasurable, consensual sexual activity. It is not surprising, then, that sixty percent of Black girls have experienced sexual abuse before the age of eighteen. The Beat Bang Theory (double entendre intended) dictates that masculinity be defined by the authority — indeed, the right — to objectify, dehumanize, violate and destroy women, all while rocking a microphone.
This is about more than a company saying they won’t use a rapper’s image for their product anymore because of their questionable lyrics. This is actually about more than just a few petitions and school bannings.
Eventually we are going to have to ask the question of not why is society accepting this music, but why is it being created and approved of in the first place?
Until then, we’re all sitting with our hands clasped praying that Hip Hop will eventually rise from its death bed and return to its original state of being poetry with a beat.
