Lil Wayne is in a lil bit of trouble, but for once it has nothing to do with his health! It’s about his music!
The Young Money rapper came under fire recently for some of his lyrics in a song called Karate Chop in which he compares the death of Emmett Till to a sexual act!
For those of you who can use a quick brush up on your history, Emmett was a 14 year-old African-American boy who was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955, and his highly publicized death was considered a pivotal breaking point for the Civil Rights Movement.
Needless to say, the Till family was NOT amused with the lyrics and Epic Records decided to pull the song from their website.
Well, Weezy got wind of the news and he wrote an apology letter, saying:
“It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist├óΓé¼Γäós song has deeply offended your family. As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.”
A word of advice, Mr. Wayne: if you’re trying to sound sincere, DON’T mention that your attorneys are making you write this!
He goes on to say:
“Moving forward, I will not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in my music, especially in an inappropriate manner. I fully support Epic Record├óΓé¼Γäós decision to take down the unauthorized version of the song and to not include the reference in the version that went to retail. I will not be performing the lyrics that contain that reference live and have removed them from my catalogue.”
Well, we guess that’s a start, even though he never actually says sorry for the nasty lyrics!
So did the Till family accept his sort-of apology? Simply put, NO!
Airickca Gordon-Taylor, a rep for the family says the letter fell WAY short:
“While it├óΓé¼Γäós commendable that he has vowed to respect the legacy of Emmett Till and his memory to ├óΓé¼╦£not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in his music,’ this statement falls short of an apology, as none is mentioned.”
Hmmm. Looks like they noticed too!
We’re not quite sure how rappers keep finding themselves in these situations with controversial lyrics when it can all be avoided by simply NOT WRITING controversial lyrics!
Seriously Weezy, we promise you’ll be writing a lot less apology letters in the future if you just take the time to think twice next time you write down some rhymes!
[Image via WENN.]