Lil Wayne’s musical name-dropping of Civil Rights icon Emmett Till landed him in the middle of a Chicago controversy this week, one which drew in the Rev. Jesse Jackson to get it resolved.
Since the drama kicked off, Epic Records has decided to take down a new Future remix leaked over the weekend with a vulgar Lil Wayne lyric that offended the family of Emmett Till.
Earlier this week, “Karate Chop,” a new track by Atlanta rapper Future, began circulating online. The song features a third verse rapped by Lil Wayne (aka Dwayne Michael Carter Jr.), which begins:
“Pop a lot of pain pills…Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels…Beat that p—y up like Emmett Till”
Till was a 14-year-old Chicago boy who was brutally murdered in 1955. Days after reportedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi, two men took Till into a barn, beat him savagely and shot him in the head before dumping his body in a river. Till’s family insisted on an open casket at the funeral, and photographs of the boy’s beaten, misshapen face helped to ignite the Civil Rights movement.
Airickca Gordon-Taylor, founding director of the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, issued a statement Tuesday saying the song is “disappointing, dishonorable, and outright disrespectful to our family.”
“My agenda is not to be disrespectful to Lil Wayne, even as much as I feel he’s been disrespectful to my family. We just want Emmett’s name removed from that song,” Gordon-Taylor told the Sun-Times later Wednesday afternoon. “That entire segment is very misogynistic and promotes domestic abuse toward women by our own race.
“But it also shows total disregard of where you’ve come from. He wouldn’t even be out there rapping these stupid lyrics without the sacrifice Emmett made. Personally, I think Lil Wayne should just go ahead and apologize to my family. It’s hurtful.”
Gordon-Taylor’s foundation sought to reach out to Lil Wayne and contacted the Rev. Jackson for assistance Wednesday. She was asking for the song to be withdrawn for distribution unless Till’s name is removed. The foundation’s Facebook page posted a message encouraging followers to call Clear Channel Communications to voice their disapproval of the song being played on radio.
