Growing up, I listened to teen rappers like Bow Wow and Lil Romeo. They rapped about playing basketball and school crushes, things that most would consider normal for young men. But this upcoming generation of teen rappers has set a new standard of norms and one rapper in particular is causing a lot of controversy.
Early this summer, 13-year-old Chicago rapper Lil Mouse released his video “Get Smoked”. The video shows the young boy throwing up his middle finger, pretending to be holding a gun and flashing stacks of money as he raps about sex, violence and drug dealing. The song has been noted as an example of the current state of the Chicago rap culture. 17-year-old Chicago rapper Chief Keef, who glorifies the same lifestyle portrayed in Lil Mouse’s song, recently signed a deal with Interscope Records. But the glorification of “thug life” is also a major setback for the city, considering that Chicago is urgently trying to reform itself by reducing gang- and drug-related violence. Recently, the city’s homicide rate has risen up nearly 40 percent.
In a recent interview by The Grio, Lil Mouse’s manager stated, in defense of the teen rapper, that Chicago has more killings than Afghanistan so yeah people have guns, he doesn’t. It’s all about the message. Ice Cube was on the cover of Kill at Will holding a gun. He wasn’t promoting violence he was sending a message. Everyone is uptight. A lot of people have insecurities. At the end of the day [Lil Mouse] has loyal fans. They know it’s not like that. He plays baseball and is an honor roll student.
After watching the video and listening to the lyrics of this song, I’m not sure what type of message Lil Mouse was supposed to be sending but it’s not one that a city struggling with drugs and high crime rates needs. I’m not sure why a child was chosen to deliver such a message either. As stated in an article by the Chicago Sun Times, what’s taking place in “Get Smoked” is child exploitation and depicts behavior that is detrimental to the moral development of a child. That can’t be ignored.
BMWK, what are your thoughts on Lil Mouse, his parents ,and the current state of hip hop?
I think that his handlers should be jailed for child endangerment. His parents should lose custody and he be placed in boot camp.
i feel the same way!
And this is why I am so in my child’s business. He probably has some young minded, lecherous parents who are counting on him to bring home the bacon so they can get the phone bill out of his name.
Wow Shica..you summed it up perfectly.
Simply sad!
” A lot of people have insecurities. ” ( about what? the murder going on in Chicago )
What a load of bull, if he is an honor student why does he need to rap about that type of stuff, and better yet, his parents have to be the craziest people to think this is okay. Comparing him to Ice Cube a man who clearly has changed his life, doesn’t rap about that stuff, and was born of a different era is not a suitable comparison to a little boy who probably hasn’t had his little balls drop yet. This is crazy, and trying to justify this is what’s wrong with Black America today. When you look at our Median Income 4,700 per year compared to Hispanics who are around 7K, and compare that to Whites who make an average of 44K this is when people need to wake up and start raising children to be more than rappers, basketball players, and whatever else. My son wouldn’t have a damn manager, he wouldn’t have time to be making videos, cursing, throwing up middle fingers, glorifying sex, or any of that because for one if he did, he’d have no teeth, and second you can’t make any sort of video in military school. WAKE up parents, stop letting these rappers, basketball players, and housewives of the hood influence you and your children. your children are carbon copies of you, you should be influencing them, you should be urging them to be smarter than you were, making a better living than you did, get a better education that you did, strive to take full advantage of the luxuries of living in a nation like America, a nation that people are willing to die to get to, and do anything they can do in order to have a better life.
We are to far behind the rest of the world, and those in our country to take this lightly. This is sad, and pathetic.
Ella, I’m in agreement with you 500%, this is sooooo sad and ignorance is so bliss.
Sooo SAD
I agree we need more positive music out there but he is telling a story, there are numerous books out there that are talk about money, power and greed, but we call those best sellers. This is entertainment, we don’t down the director, and the writer of the Batman movie.
This is not entertainment it is accommodation of foolishness. I can barley teach a class without one or another young man or woman bursting out in “raps” which are belligerent, insolent, negative, disrespectful and very distracting. Their MINDS are trapped there (literally). In the repeating of the sounds (and the words)…. The MUSIC (rhythms) creates the space to implant the message words, which remain in the back (or front) of the mind. IF WE accept and accommodate this type of behavior it will only grow (IN THEIR MINDS). Why is this encouraged in our communities? Merely 60 years ago we were fighting to go to school, now our children come to school to fight. Why at this tender age of brain growth and development that this young rapper parents didn’t CHOOSE to implant his mind with honor, common unity, respect, generosity, love, loyalty prosperity and high moral lessons and values. (like we use to learn as children they called them fables and tales stories that taught a MORAL lesson) WHY MUST they rap about killing drinking smoking sexing and disrespecting. WHY CHOOSE THAT????? if it is not to perpetuate and accept THAT as our future reality being prophesied by the child who sees the future of himself and his peers. Some of us may not be aware but WORDS and SOUND have POWER…power on the elemental level…EVERY sound carries a vibrational signature recognized by the mind/body and is DIGESTED…some of us can expel the bad stuff, for many of us it STICKS TO OUR GUTS because our MORAL values are underdeveloped or we have none to value.
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