The Life and Times of Little Nigger Jim: “Death to the AutoCOON”

The Life and Times of Little Nigger Jim

By @jimflamez

I have always had respect for what Lil’ Wayne does and has done. I grew up on Cash Money and I respected his ability to flow without cursing and be so good at such a young age. As he got older I grew away from his brand of music as it was directed toward a younger audience. All the while I still enjoyed much of his music. As time has passed, so seems his sense of sensibility and his grip on reality. His ability to attract an audience has been outstanding, for much of the last three or four years, Lil’ Wayne has been a big man when it comes to album sales and fan appreciation.

As it seems his drug habit has grown, so has his popularity an unfortunate correlation indeed. When I first heard the song “I Feel Like Dying” I began to become very worried for the young man. He obviously was dealing with a lot after Katrina as many residents of New Orleans shared in the loss of much of all that they knew. I gave him a pass. He was drowning his sorrows. Shit, I actually liked the song, as sad as it is for me to admit. It was catchy, but so is syphilis.

Now we have the pen ultimate coonery. I know I am a bit behind, but as I stated above, I really don’t follow the cat. The song “Whip It Like A Slave” which he performs with the class of rap music, “Dem Franchize Boys”. Now let me be perfectly clear, I really don’t mind “trap” or “coke” rap. You get what you expect out of it. It serves its purpose and reaches a certain audience. I am not here to argue its merits. I am here to say that I was disgusted by the song.

The song, if it were adjusted just a bit, is perfect for what it intends to be, a dope dealer’s anthem, nothing that far out of the norm. Weezy’s verse is vintage Weezy. Good word play and metaphors. The beat is nice. I could see myself riding round I-465 listening to this…if only one thing were different. It was not this song. With a hook of “I wake up in the morning, take a shit, shower, shave/ Stand over the stove and whip it like a slave/ I whip it like a slave, I whip it like a slave/ Stand over the stove and whip it like a slave,” what else could go wrong?

I should not have asked. Lil’ Wayne kicks off this mess with this jewel: “New day new yay/ Bet I whip it like Kunta Kinte/ Talking sugar, talking dough like a ben-YAY/ I take a brick, karate chop it like a sensei,” great word play, horrible words. Do they not have any knowledge of how bad slavery was and how instead of using their talents to better our world and to bring a younger audience closer to its history they use it to show just how much of a slave they really are.

The master (corporate music) doesn’t even have to pull out its whip. The slave itself does all of the work for them and helps to maintain a certain social level amongst its people. Those who are the biggest fans of Wayne and this type of music, the young and the underserved, are the exact group that needs songs that discuss the rich heritage of blacks and their beauty instead of using this most terrible atrocity to coin a catchphrase.

I do not look to rappers, actors and athletes as my role models, but unfortunately many others do, especially the kids. Any grown man or woman who doesn’t understand the difference between reality and fiction are fools and what comes to them will, but the children, all puns aside, are the future. How can they have one when their past is being pimped out by coons such as these, and by the way, fuck Lil’ Wayne.

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