The family of Emmett Till became furious with Lil’ Wayne after the lyric “beat the pu**y up like Emmett Till” found its way onto the remix of Future’s single “Karate Chop.” The family wasted no time in voicing its anger – successfully getting Future’s record label, Epic Records, to remove the controversial line from the song. Since then the family has turned its sights onto Mountain Dew, pressuring the soda company to drop Lil’ Wayne as an endorser. Hoping to not trip and stumble over the effort to make a sincere apology like Rick Ross, Wayne has issued a formal apology to the family.
Wayne writes: “As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.”
He went on to say that he’ll never reference Emmett Till or his family in his music, “especially in an inappropriate manner” nor will he ever perform the lyrics that contain the reference.
Wayne closed his letter by saying: “I have tremendous respect for those who paved the way for the liberty and opportunities that African Americans currently enjoy. As a business owner who employs several African American employees and gives philanthropically to organizations that help youth to pursue their dreams my ultimate intention is to uplift rather than degrade our community.” [Miss Info]
As for Rick Ross, it’s still too little, too late with his second and more sincere-sounding apology. When asked about Rick Ross, Reebok CEO Uli Becker said: "It's unfortunate because he's a great guy, he just has stupid advisors around him." Welp. [Footwear News]
In faux-shy news, Ciara was asked about the not so mysterious “N” tattoo on one of her fingers. You see, her boyfriend Future’s real name is Nayvadius Wilburn and given he has a “C” tattoo on his finger, it doesn’t require a great leap to conclude they’ve got hood love and they’re not afraid to show it. Nonetheless, CiCi played coy when asked about it by MTV Jams, telling the host, “It's a tattoo and it represents something special. It's my first and I think only tattoo but we'll see." She also noted, “I'm with a person who makes me feel good. And makes me feel good in the universe." Aww and all that. [MTV]
It’s not enough that LL Cool J is shouting out Robert E. Lee on songs dedicated to thinly-veiled racism, now Deion Sanders is making friends with one of the media’s greatest working racists. This week, Glenn Beck tweeted that Deion Sanders “is one of the good guys. We spoke of family, God and doing the right thing…” I wish that meant not lying on President Obama or insinuating various idiotic conspiracy theories, but that would make way too much sense. “Must Be The Money” will never sound the same to me again. [Glenn Beck’s Twitter]
"My Brown Baby" founder and frequent EBONY magazine contributor Denene Millner doesn’t mince words on your cousins criticizing Beyoncé for the way she does Blue Ivy Carter’s hair – or I guess, doesn’t do their hair if you let them tell it. Millner says in response: “There is no need for Beyoncé to rush things, especially just because a bunch of losers—no doubt, many of them so improperly snatched they have nary an edge or kitchen to speak of—are acting the fool on Twitter, ignorantly suggesting that something is wrong with a 1-year-old child’s hair.” The same can be said of folks mad the girl is in jeans and not a skirt every day of her life. [My Brown Baby]
In a recent interview, Clive Davis essentially blames his second wife for him taking a swing at same-sex loving. According to the legendary record exec, he was all about vagina until his second wife ruined it for him. Davis explained: “I wasn’t bisexual until my second marriage failed. I was a total heterosexual – married twice, four children, and totally attracted to women. Neither of my marriages failed for the reason of sexuality. So, it was really only after my second marriage failed that I opened myself up to the person, not the gender.” Whatever makes you feel better, Clive. [Ronald Matters]
Congratulations are in order for Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon. The two, who just celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary, renewed their vows in a fairytale ceremony at Disney Land – the perfect way for a woman who refers to herself as an eternal “tween” to mark the occasion. The 150 guests included Jermaine Dupri, Da Brat, and Diane Warren. On Tuesday, Mariah tweeted: “Happy 5th(!!!!!!) Anniversary to the Best Husband in All The Land & 2 years ago pon de delivery.” [Rap-Up]
Amber Rose really, really wanted to have her baby with Wiz Khalifa by way of natural birth. However, once she found out the baby was breeched, she opted for a c-section. The couple appeared on The Ricki Lake Show to discuss their change in opinion.
Amber said: “At 37 weeks, one of the midwives said that the big lump on top by my ribs was the baby’s head. My midwife was like go to the doctor, get an ultrasound and confirm that he is breeched. Once I confirmed it with the doctor, I decided to have a c-section. At that point, I just wanted my baby.”
Wiz added: “When I found out that he was breeched, it made me feel nervous at first because you don’t want to hear anything bad about a pregnancy. You want it to go how you plan it. Of course it wasn’t with the plan of how we wanted it to happen but as mentally prepared as we were for the water birth we had to get as prepared for the c-section.”
The couple did make an effort to turn their son’s head, only to no avail. They say they will shoot for a natural childbirth for their next child. [Necole Bitchie]
Despite numerous false starts and promises, Lil’ Kim is still promising a comeback album. She has announced that producer Bangladesh will executive produce the new album and its first single. Now, there are rumblings that she might work with Rihanna. I imagine these rumblings were created and exist solely in the minds of Team Kim, as evidenced by a rep for the Queen Bee responding to the talk with, “I can’t confirm anything.” Keep hope alive, though, you never know. [Rhymes With Snitch]
In the third installment of his interview series with Hard Knock TV, legendary Houston rapper Scarface takes shots at those riding the wave of “trap music.” Scarface said, “For somebody to come out and make a trap beat besides Shawty Redd, whatever his name is, the dude that originated trap music. If you are not him then why are you biting his shit…Why does every fucking record sound like one long ass song.”
Days prior, Face Mob took shots at the “whitewashing” of hip-hop, adding, "There's no f*cking way you can tell me that it's not a conspiracy against the Blacks in hip-hop. Because you put out f*cking records that make us look stupid, that make us look dumb." He likes Kendrick Lamar, though. [Smoking Section]
Michael Arceneaux is a Houston-bred, Howard-educated writer and blogger. You can read more of his work on his site, The Cynical Ones. Follow him on Twitter: @youngsinick.
