Respectfully, This is the dumbest thing I've seen come from the mind of a black man all year. The ignorance and idiocy of this tweet make my head hurt. As we know, this tweet is in reference to the recent arrest of Tekashi 6ix9ine on federal conspiracy charges, among other things. As some in the thread noted, he had a strong point, which was that the amount of people happy that this man is in jail is a little appalling (note: I expressed some form of happiness upon hearing this news, not because I want to see any man in a jail, but because it serves as an example to young people who promoted a man that trolled a lot of people and incited people (mostly black) to try to harm him. I will expand on my position on a later post). Which was great, until he said the title line of this post
Hip-Hop is an expression of black culture. Unfortunately, this art form was created and pushed forward during the height of the crack era and high crime in American cities. Therefore the relation between crime and hip-hop is near impossible to break at this point. Even as things became safer across the country and a newer generation of kids are born into less dire situations like those in the '70s and '80s, the themes of crime still reign supreme. Cultural movements such as stop snitching lined up perfectly with these crime themes and were promoted heavily in the culture, dramatized perfectly in the boondocks episode "Stop Snitchin".
Compounding these things are individuals such as Casanova 2X. Individuals who lived a life of crime, fucked up, had to sit in the box and serve time, and got out of the system to get into the industry have a unique responsibility. They have a responsibility in their music to talk about the perils of street life and how they usually lead to a jail cell or a casket. Meek Mill is a shining example of someone who lived the street life and after going to jail post-stardom, revamped his career to share the message to the youth that crime doesn't pay. Artists such as Casanova is a cancer of the industry. Being someone that is a street individual and using your platform to glorify violence means that regardless of the success of legal money, the life of crime is a more powerful drug than the dope they used to sell to the fiends. It also means that mentally, they haven't really learned their lessons and are doomed to repeat their mistakes.
The reason more than anything that triggers me about Casanova is the fact that because he is a verified "street nigga" that has made it in the industry (sort of) and promotes violent themes regardless of the second chance given to him in life means that he is an influence on young individuals to only commit crimes, but also pursue a music career while doing so. As a young man myself, I clearly see that those younger than me are the future leaders that we will need to keep things moving forward in a positive direction. It makes me sick that these young people get so influenced by artists promoted by record labels owned by either white and/or Jewish individuals who push, among other things:
1. Gun Violence
2. Prescription drug use
3. Selling drugs
4. Having sex with many women (STD's are cool)
5. Spending money on designer clothes, jewelry, etc.
It's ridiculous. Comments like this just show why black people garner so little respect in the country because people can point to edge cases like Casanova and say "well look at this hood dude, he would say he would rather his opps be dead". They can rightfully claim that these individuals are ignorant and pretty bad people, while simultaneously copying the things that they introduce into the culture and be influenced by it.