An explicit rhyme on Lil Wayne's new song, "Karate Chop," has gone one step too far — even for the totally-un-PC rapper. The lyrics tying sex to the death of 15-year-old Emmett Till — who, more than 50 years ago, was infamously beaten beyond recognition for whistling at a white woman — were bad enough to get a response from a spokeswoman for the Till family. "I just couldn't understand how he could compare the gateway to life to the brutality and punishment of death," she said.
Cultural critic and music writer Dream Hampton took to Twitter to call out L.A. Reid, chairman and CEO of Epic Records, for his hand in the decision:
It would clearly be way too much to ask for Lil Wayne to attempt to make constructive or positive references to African-American history — so we wish he'd at least show the tiniest measure of respect by keeping the references in his sex-and-violence anthems contemporary. At least in February.
Listen to the song here.
Read more at Thy Black Man.