Lookin' Ass Ni**as & The Bitter Ni**as Who Took Offense

You know, it's easy to be a part of a mob throwing stones at an individual who's behavior/actions/opinions you don't agree with. It really doesn't take much to pick up a rock & throw it. Only thing you really gotta put effort & concentration into is hitting your target. Now, when it comes to thinking about WHY you're so opposed to what's being said before picking up the rock, that's a different story. Especially when the target has had more than their fair share of critics before (this writer included). Mob mentality comes into the picture & takes over without a second thought.

Nicki Minaj. My only problem with her song "Lookin' Ass Nigga" is the historical appropriation of one of Black Culture's most revered figures. I really have a problem with any rapper who name-drop people from history without knowing who they are & what they contributed. Where's the context? Don't use it for entertainment purposes and get tight when people call you out on it, or ask you to drop some knowledge on the subject. Over the past 15 years or so, the corporate takeover of hip hop culture has basically whitewashed the cultural significance of our history, which is inextricably linked to the creation & progression of hip hop. You think Lil Wayne coulda got away with that Emmett Till line during the Golden Era? William Roberts out here recklessly tossing around Trayvon Martin's name like he's actually making a statement. Fred Hampton Jr. told Jay-Z to keep his father's name out his mouth (and rightfully so). Mixtape rappers mimicking Black Power/Civil Rights images with no couth, turning freedom struggles into capitalist marketing strategies. Selling out the ancestors for a dollar & a buzz shouldn't be tolerated. Respect our story! Too many people shed blood for it to be told truthfully.

Now, I'ma touch on my real issue with Lookin' Ass Nigga: Most of her loudest critics are patriarchal men who ARE using historical appropriation as a veil to express their anti-women sentiment towards her. THAT'S MY ISSUE.

To you bitter-ass, patriarchal boys: Y'all really gotta chill. Stop altogether. You look pitiful. The same emotions you accuse women of being caught up in come out of y'all in the most passive-aggressive ways. Now, despite the picture posted along with Lookin-Ass Nigga (which really was my only problem), her words ring all too true. It looks even more ridiculous for all these male rappers (signed, unsigned, known, unknown ) to be coming out with responses, using x amount of bars to basically say the same thing:

"How dare you have an opinion on how we act! Know your place! Let us project our insecurities and suppressed emotions upon you and don't complain about carrying that baggage! You lucky I chose you to carry my baggage, cause I coulda got another female (preferably white) to do it!"

It's like The Convention Of Bitter Nigga Tears going on right now. Statuses and memes expressing egotistical damage of hilarious proportions. Meanwhile, The Committee of I'm Not Idris Elba creating poetry to open for Cassidy & Trey Songz. Chey B, Tariq Nasheed, and Tony Gaskins are the keynote speakers. Michael Baisden is broadcasting live via podcast. Steve Harvey is getting the Lifetime Achievement Award. Convention members hashtagging their flawed logic for their respective Twitter timelines (wait, that happens just about everyday). To cap off the festivities, they all partake in a choir rendition of It's A Man's World/No Pigeons.

Black women having agency & expressing their opinion is that much of a threat to your lethargic attempt at mimicking patriarchal white supremacy? Why would y'all even want to emulate that fuck-ass belief system? Why would you want to alienate the only group of people that cared for you? Fought for you? DIED FOR YOU. Absolute power is that important to y'all? The concept of shared power demasculates you somehow? You're feeling good about yourself comes before the liberation of our women & children? I'm not saying that brothers don't have a right to have high self-esteem, but how can you consciously do that with your foot on someone's neck in order to make it possible?

Fuck all of y'all & y'all frail-ass egos. If your manhood is based on your conquering & dominance of women, along with others who you deem unworthy, you already lost. In contrast, I'm not sitting here saying I'm winning. I know I'm in competition with myself to be a better man than I was yesterday. It ain't about brownie points, being a "nice guy", or seeking approval from any specific demographic. At the end of the day, it's about liberation. For myself, my Sistas, and every group of people who are marginalized, erased, co-opted, colonized, exploited and being denied their human right of dictating their own destiny. And when y'all choose to uphold values that keep an oppressive institution alive & thriving, you get in the way of that liberation. Which makes you an enemy.

When you co-sign the blatant disregard of a past that's STILL FIGHTING TO BE RECOGNIZED TRUTHFULLY, you're an enemy. When you attempt to silence voices who call out hypocrisies & speak from their own experiences, you're an enemy. When you witness any of these transgressions, yet remain willfully silent as it destroys and ruin lives, you are an enemy.

These are the real Lookin' Ass Niggas out here. Y'all ain't low. Your intentions are clear as day. So, hide behind that weak thought process & that glass house belief system if you like. I follow through when I throw my rocks.Never hiding my hands. And I always hit my target. Enjoy the falling glass around you.