Jadakiss: Make Way for the New Bad Guy

by

Min. Paul Scott

My favorite scene from the 70's flick, Scarface was when a drunk Tony Montana stumbles out the door of a restaurant dissin' a group of rich folks (probably right wing ultra conservatives) exposing them as hypocrites. (You! You're not so good..You just know how to hide..) In 2004, make way for the new bad guy,

Hip Hop artist Jadakiss.

For those who are not down with the latest news and grooves from the world of Hip Hop, Jadakiss is under fire from Bill O'reilly and the crew for his song 'Why' which commits to CD some of the top 20 questions that Black folks discuss every day at the barbershop, beauty supply store or in line at the local 7-11.  But what has the Conservatives up in arms is one line in the song where he metaphorically questions the presidential role that set the political climate for the events of 9/11. (Heaven forbid!)

Jadakiss is not the first Black person  to come under fire during a political season, as every election needs a token big, black boogeyman to scare white folks into voting. From Willie Horton in the 80's to Sister Souljah  (who was dissed by the Democrats) in the 90's,  politicians need a black scapegoat to lay the sins of society upon. This year's poster child just happens to be Jadakiss.

Although, the topic of controversy on the surface is being played out as outrage over a rap lyric, a far deeper issue is the outrage by white America over the audacity of a loud, young, black gangsta rapper to have a political thought in his head and the courage to articulate that thought to a beat so funky that it that makes Grandma get up and jam.

I am sure the Conservatives are sitting around in their political war rooms right now asking ?Who told that nigger to think ?'  This society is used to putting the Black community in a small box and has reduced predicting our behavior down to a perfect science. Put crack in the community and they'll sell it to each other, drop a couple of truck loads of semi automatic rifles in tha hood and they'll kill each other, give them two turntables and a microphone and they'll rap about selling crack and killing each other. So any deviation from the norm throws white America into a tizzy.

I am sure that when the first Right Winger was surfing channels between Fox News and the Country Music Network and stumbled upon the 'Why ' video with all those Black folks marching down the street holding up the Black Power fist he must have been quite disturbed. (BUFFY, GET ME AN ASPIRIN!)  Although, many of them say that they are concerned that a mob of gun totin' thug gangsta rappers will ride into their suburban communities pillaging their quiet neighborhoods, the real fear is that these so called thugs will develop a political ideology/agenda and question why so many Black folks live in poverty and then demand an answer..

In an excellent article by Fayemi Shakur, it was suggested that the Hip Hop community should stand up and support Jadakiss'  right to FREE speech. This same call should be magnified and echoed throughout the Black Nationalist/Afrocentric community, as many of us have spent years begging and pleading for our Brothers and Sisters in Hip Hop to become more politically conscious. So when a Brother steps forward and says something that brings down the wrath of white America, we can't run in the house, lock our doors and do the 'ain't nobody here but us chickens' routine.

We should seize the time and bombard all the Conservatives on TV, radio and in newspapers with emails and phone calls exposing the hypocrisy of the Right wing. Have they forgotten that history lesson that we were forced to learn in 8th grade about 'not agreeing with what someone says but defending their right to say it?'  Maybe they skipped class that day.  We should remind them of the previous attacks on rappers who have had the courage to speak TRUTH to power, Chuck D, Professor Griff,  etc and make the proper connection since so many of them suffer from historical amnesia.

On the hook of  'Why',  crooner Anthony Hamilton, rhetorically asks the burning question 'Why they wanna do me like that ?' It's funny how sometimes when you throw a question out to the universe, the universe answers back..

I know that this whole controversy has shattered the dreams of Hip Hop enthusiasts who dreamt of the day that the Lone Rap Ranger and his posse of conscience rappers from the Ole School Corral would ride in to Hip Hop Valley to usher in a new age of Conscious rap.

But until the X-Clan reunion, I'll settle for the image of Jadakiss bum rushin' the stage at the Republican Convention and kickin' an uncensored version of 'Why'.