“Beautiful Black woman, I bet that b*tch looks better red”
– Lil Wayne, Right Above It
Retouched by BTDSGNS
So this quote is taken Lil Wayne’s extremely popular song Right Above It. When I first heard it I wrote it off as a lyric or even considered that he meant the color red (considering he is allegedly a member of gang). However, while doing some research for a response to Miss Major Substance’s Method Man Vs Natural Hair piece, I realized that other people were angry about Lil Wayne’s lyric. In addition to blog posts and outraged comments, I found a post on Bossip from a young lady that confirmed suspicions on the lyric. Allegedly he told her the difference between her and is brown skinned daughter is “that she a dark skinned billionaire and you are not.” While I do respect the fact that people, even celebrities, have the right to freedom of speech, Lil Wayne’s increasing comments on his preference between “black” and “red” women, with the above quote being the most ridiculous, needs to stop. He has a huge social impacts, his fans are engaged and ready to respond, making his comments even more poisonous. A great example of his social media prowess was 2/16/2011 when within 37 minutes 194,000 plus Liked his Facebook status (per his request of course).
Lil Wayne's Facebook Comment
I wish I could say that this fascination with a lighter complexion only plagued the black society of America, but that would be a lie :(, it is certainly present in the Caribbean. The perfect example of this is Vybz Kartel, an extremely popular Jamaican dancehall artist, who has completely bleached (yes BLEACHED) his entire body, and has become noticeably lighter. When questioned about this, his response was that it allowed for his tattoos to be more visible and compares it to tanning.
Vybz Kartel: before and after
What do you think about these issues? Is Vybz right, is bleaching comparable to tanning? Should Lil Wayne proclaim his desire for Red Bones and disrespect black women? What about Method Man’s rantings about natural hair?
242indc 