Once upon a time in a universe far, far away, HipHopDX used to host blogs. Through Meka, Brillyance, Aliya Ewing and others, readers got unfiltered opinions on the most current topics in and beyond Hip Hop. After a few years, a couple redesigns and the collective vision of three different Editors-In-Chief, blogs are back. Well, sort of. Since our blog section went the way of two-way pagers and physical mixtapes, Twitter, Instagram and Ustream have further accelerated the pace of current events in Hip Hop. Rappers beef with each other 140 characters at a time, entire mixtapes (and their associated artwork) can be released via Instagram, and sometimes these events require a rapid reaction.
As such, we’re reserving this space for a weekly reaction to Hip Hop’s current events. Or whatever else we deem worthy. And the “we” in question is I, Andre Grant, and the one-and-only Ural Garrett. Collectively, we serve as HipHopDX’s Features Staff. Aside from tackling stray topics, we may invite artists and other personalities in Hip Hop to join the conversation. Without further delay, here’s this week’s “Stray Shots.”
Was RZA Just Advocating Common Sense Or Something Else?
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Andre: It is not lost on me that RZA is trying to keep his children alive. Esquire’s 1968 issue featured a recalcitrant James Baldwin strung to the end of his nearly infinite rope by the Civil Rights movement public revelation of just how white folks used to treat black folks, especially in the south. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot dead like a dog just before the issue was published. The first question in the piece was, “How can we get black people to cool it?” I felt, fucking suddenly, hot in the chest at the audacity of the question. Who’s we? Was the interviewer already siding with the violent mass of racists practicing the racism sinking deeper into the backs of Americans of African descent? Then, James, calm as a vanilla sky retorted, “It is not for us to cool it.” Right! I thought, how could they have been the one’s to cool a fire they had not begun? And here we are, some forty-eight years later asking ourselves the same question in its many forms. The we has changed, though, to include a great many more individuals. I guess that’s the point of a growing, inclusive democracy. Yet, the question remains nearly the same. “How can we get black people to cool it?” This time, the question took the form of one about the neo Civil rights movement #BLACKLIVESMATTER.
To see RZA light up like that made me think something demure was coming. And, well… It did. He told stories about how he wanted to be like the fictional cops in Starsky and Hutch and Baretta. Note: My parents did raise me on Perry Mason and Matlock so I’m naturally more partial to the defense rather than the prosecution. He, then, ran through the list of things you say when you’re uncomfortable. He thanked the cops. He divided them between those who do their jobs with integrity and not half-thoughts and hatred. He referred to some fictional, normative American mythology about inviting cops into your home for milk and cookies. But it was as he turned round that bend that I began to cringe. My mind began to whisper, no, no, no. Don’t do this! But he did. He made the claim you’ve heard so many times before. He talked about how black kids dress. He talked about hoodies.
He did it himself. He answered the question that’s become so ingrained in our society that he damn near volunteered to answer it: “How do we get black people to cool it?” If black people dressed differently, then we wouldn’t elicit fear in law enforcement. Then, of course, black people could cool it, right? If they just didn’t look so damn scary then they wouldn’t shoot us, unarmed, within seconds, and then, finally, out of harm’s way forever, black people could begin to cool it! That’s how the argument goes, now. It’s the argument of Don Lemon and of Geraldo Rivera. It’s the argument of the frail liberal consciousness. And it doesn’t matter who is saying it. It doesn’t matter if one of the grittiest producers and emcees from one of the grittiest groups of all-time says it. It is an elixir of prosperity and of triumph, and that pale green liquid begs you to say stuff like that. That’s the stuff that the winners say.
But it’s not that simple. If it were, then everyone from Princeton graduates to dope boys, children playing at a park or a guy crawling out from under a wreckage wouldn’t all feel that same blinding fear when red and blue lights flash and sirens sound. That fear is a feeling so deep that it screams of truth.
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So although respectability politics crept into RZA in that moment, I forgive him. That question, the question of how to get black folks to chill, how to placate the American black enough so that they don’t have to be hated, is an American standard and it’s not going away anytime soon. It was answered correctly one time, though. Here’s what James had to say: “I am not the one to be cooled… I suggest that the mayor of every city and the President of this nation go on the air and address the white people for a change. Tell them to cool it.”
Ural: Look, I get it. RZA is richer and probably more successful than I’ll ever be. He’s reached a level of cultural acceptance and prestige that accountability toward those who oppress minorities just isn’t his concern. This is why he feels comfortable saying, “I think that’s another big issue we’ve got to pay attention to is the image that we portray that could invoke a fear into a White officer or to any officer.” To be completely blunt, it’s the same level of respectability politics that normally grabs successful black men and women once that level of prominence is reached. It’s no different than messages put forth by everyone from Don Lemon and Bill Cosby to Larry Elder. What makes RZA’s statement more disturbing than the individuals mentioned is that his attainment of wealth specifically came from the same people he’s essentially demonized. Remember Cosby’s infamous “Pound Cake” speech that justified murder by the police? See how far that got him once he got his “nigga wake up call.”
Being completely honest, I consider myself a Wu-Tang fan. Wu-Tang Forever was one of the first albums I bought when I became buying age and it could be considered in my top-ten albums of all time. Hell, I have a hilarious story of getting spanked for getting caught rhyming the words of “Dog Shit” verbatim in my room around eleven-years-old. With that in mind, let’s not pretend as if RZA wasn’t a beneficiary of music that promoted degeneracy. Here’s an example from “The Wolf:”
“Bitch, suck a dick and die, forty-five lit the sky/ Fool, let the shit fly, split, right between your eye/ Nothing like that little slit split in between her thighs / Sitting on the nine, apple head, bitch, let it ride / Hickory Dickory, block, niggas is slippery / Glocks tucked down my socks, secures my victory / You like fourth period, son, you’re history / White girls with big ass, I check them/ suspiciously/ Vanilla praline, had the saline/ Stuffed inside her jeans, made the niggas day dream”
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The release of that Digi Snakes bonus iTunes cut was only released less than ten years ago. Of course going back to various RZA verses on “Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuthing Ta F’ Wit” begs the question: how serious can this guy be? For someone who once warned you to “Protect Ya Neck,” he comes off as a pseudo tough-guy who gets nervous when in a room full of white folks. Makes sense as to why he would make those comments to Bloomberg who wouldn’t question his statements rather than someone who’s followed his storied career, which also allegedly involved ties to the Italian mafia.
Adding more insult to the racial injustice injury, he mentioned his kids not wearing hoodies and clothes that don’t scare white police officers. So does this mean RZA and company are going to refund me and thousands of others the money spent on Wu-Wear hoodies that he made millions from? Suits, ties, and approachable attire didn’t protect Martin Luther King or Malcolm X from getting assassinated. Anyone who knows about the case involving University Of Virginia student Martese Johnson knows it doesn’t matter much today, either. As an African-American male lacking a criminal history, my constitutional rights allow me to wear a hoodie at any time of day without technically worrying about death by police that are employed through taxes I pay. Aesthetics matters none in the face of white supremacy and it’s a shame RZA hasn’t realized that yet. Then again, this is the same guy who reacted to subpar sales of subpar Wu-Tang albums by shafting the remaining buying fans he had left through the single album auction processing for Once Upon A Time In Shaolin.
Andre Grant is an NYC native turned L.A. transplant that has contributed to a few different properties on the web and is now the Features Editor for HipHopDX. He’s also trying to live it to the limit and love it a lot. Follow him on Twitter @drejones.
Ural Garrett is a Los Angeles-based journalist and HipHopDX’s Senior Features Writer. When not covering music, video games, films and the community at large, he’s in the kitchen baking like Anita. Follow him on Twitter @Uralg.
