[Opinion] F*ck Lil Reese & Our Desensitization To Ignorance That World Star Hip Hop Has Created
This is personal.
If you co-sign Lil Reese or World Star Hip Hop, I’m judging you…harshly. Call me jaded or overreacting but as both an African American and a man, I’m ashamed of the atmosphere that has been created within our society. It’s an atmosphere that rewards ignorance and has become extraordinarily numb to violence. An atmosphere that is quicker to pull out an iPhone and record instances of extreme violent behavior in an effort to see their video on WSHH rather than pull out that very iPhone and dial 9-1-1 or do something to prevent it.
While it is true that American society has been a bloodthirsty group for decades, it has never gotten to the point where we feign no regret when we witness a savage beating on camera. Instead, violence is greeted with laughter and pageviews. I don’t blame WSHH for creating it, I blame them for endorsing it and giving it a platform that just so happens to have an African American behind it.
Furthermore, I blame the society that has ensured that WSHH is the #1 urban “hip hop” site (I use the term “hip hop” loosely) on the web because they cannot go a day without seeing a video where a male bus driver uppercuts a woman, or a random reality “star” (I also use that term loosely) taking off their clothes to extend their 15 minutes of fame, or minorities presenting themselves as a group of sexually charged savages who value ignorance over substance. It’s our fault for allowing this to be a sustained business model. We’ve done it to ourselves. But let’s be clear, we aren’t the only ones watching it.
Today you have Lil Reese and his relentless throttling of a young woman on camera and his unapologetic stance on the video hitting the public. If you haven’t seen it yet, Lil Reese — who is part of Chief Keef’s GBE crew — is caught on camera arguing with a female at a house party. The argument turns violent after the girl shoves away Reese’s hand as it pokes her in the face. What happens next is a jaw dropping display of violence where Reese pummels the young lady until she is prone on the ground. Even then, Reese is stomping the helpless girl as onlookers laugh and cheer him on.
I was sickened after witnessing this video. And my first thought was to take a long, hard look at the society that has met this kind of behavior with a record deal, fame and fortune. Meanwhile, Reese took an unapologetic stance on Twitter stating “The haters tryna see a mf Dwn lol Dey gotta b broke and bored wanna upload sum shit from years ago damnn we winnin it’s 2 late… #3hunna.” Right, good job indicting yourself. Shortly after, he followed up with this.
F*cking brilliant.
Well versed! Same sentiment towards reality TV crap like Jersey Shore, which is thankfully and finally being pulled off the air. Unfortunately, the digital side of things will keep these videos/TV shows archived for many more years to come. Keep doin’ yo thing!
Your comments aren’t off base but I have just a few things to say/add. One I look at the scene and it goes back to the age old thing of WHERE ARE THE PARENTS?. If he is only 18 now, why do I see a gang full of TEENAGERS hanging out, theirs going to be something to happen where you got weed probably alcohol involved happens everywhere even your local bar. But these are children using drugs acting as adults with no real sense they need mentors and in some cases mental health treatment.
you also bring up Trayvon Martin, you say these stereotypes are being put out there by US. funny thing is black boys and black men have been getting beat and robbed by your Zimmerman types for over 200 years in this country. So your flash in the pan argument doesn’t apply there.
With the entertainment industry which is totally different from the real issues. Celebrities are people. some are groomed for their “job” which is to entertain some are coming from different environments is Chief Keef and Reese from Chicago, where we know what has been going on for decades. They are NEW they do not know the ropes and on top of that they are KIDS. So don’t attack a child, offer some help, some strategies for improvement and stop bashing for the sake of it.
I enjoyed your article
Dre u took the words out of my mouth man it saddens me to see the state of our youth. Keepdoin what u do and being a great example of what a man should aspire to be peace
MM,
Blacks have been persecuted in this country for centuries–without question. However, we are talking about progression, right? A black president. Black CEO’s. Black congressmen, judges, Senators, etc…? I believe Dre is talking about perpetuating the nonsense. Taking ten steps back, while taking one forward, feel me? When you have people like WSHH promoting this shit, how do you expect the paradigm to change? It can’t, that’s the point. As a white man, I can’t speak all-knowingly about certain things, but I can see the anger Dre is releasing. Like he said, and I’m paraphrasing, “if we, as black america, can’t stand up for ourselves (women), who will?” The ‘fear’ of black america is being pushed by a ‘black’ website. It’s astoundingly backwards, immoral, and plain wrong. And that’s where you get Martin and Zimmerman. If our culture wasn’t promoting the ‘fear of black’ and change was allowed to breath and thrive, then perhaps forward-thinking individuals would have thought, and not shot Trayvon. But when you have sites–black sites–like WSHH promoting this ‘fear’ how are you supposed to facilitate change? You can’t. There’s no call to responsibility. And I, as a man in this world, can’t help but be furious too. Because at the end of the day, the more ignorant people we have in this country, then indirectly, the bigger asshole I seem like.
Thank U! So tired of this Bullshit. And where are the Women that work in the Hip Hop industry I have yet to hear a word from them…Is there nobody to stand up for Black Girls. We are Urging everybody to boycott Chief Keef when he comes to FAMU’s homecoming..HBCU’s should not support this Foolishness ie Spellman!
First off that’s not lil Reese’s account you idiot. Get your facts together before you talk you’re foolishness
And this is why we created http://www.worldGOODhiphop.com out of disgust for worldstarhiphop….a true hip-hop video aggregator site that posts real hip-hop videos, social commentary, interviews, sports, business oriented content, motivational speakers, etc. The opposite of worldstarhiphop…
Yes, that is Lil Reese’s account. So, get YOUR facts straight. And hit those books and learn proper grammar while you’re at it. Excellent article, by the way. Sad, but true.
ANDREAS HALE: THE FUCKING TUPAC SHAKUR OF 2012 HIP HOP. YOU ARE THE REALEST WRITER IN B-BOY CULTURE AND THE CLEAREST VOICE OF UNCOMFORTABLE TRUTH ON THE INTERNET.
I was young, dumb and full of rum, drugs and cum too. I’m a young Black North American male. I loved ‘Juice’, ‘Boyz n the Hood’, ‘Menace to Society’. I had friends who lived various parts of the criminal lifestyle that is psychologially and violently projected at the lives of these innocent young men. My twin brother stole cars and sold drugs. Some other friends sold guns and crack to pay for stolen studio equipment that some people used more productively than others. Then my Snoop-Dogg-soundalike, freestyling, basketball-playing friend went to jail for murdering a crackhead.
The line was drawn. Their gang was named after an idea in the movie ‘South Central’. Half of us were doing music and dabbling in the selfish and self-destructive criminality that hip hop crawled out of in the streets of every city and ghetto, and the other half of us were doing crime and dabbling in the music that was blowing up in the early 90′s.
I look at these new generation rappers and ask “do they fucking know ANYTHING about hip hop history?” There are ENDLESS rappers who notoriously were caught doing dumb shit and were perpetrators of “When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong”, long before Dave Chappelle made those brilliant skits. Rappers were beating women (Dr. Dre, Big Pun), causing violence, terror and murder (Death Row, various legendary places in NYC like Queensbridge, Harlem, Brooklyn, the Bronx, etc.) and fucking up their lives and their future in every conceivable way… LONG before the internet.
If these kids paid attention to things that THEIR HEROES went through not even 10-20 years ago, they might be smart enough to not follow in the footsteps of anyone whose career path walked their future into a dead end, either metaphorically or literally.
We have to be on some Hip Hop in 1988 shit. There can be NO FUCKING TOLERANCE OR DIMINISHING THE DEPTH OF PHYSICAL SAVAGERY AND MENTAL SICKNESS that we are doing to our brothers and sisters and each other, and we CANNOT become complacent or ignorant to any of the thousand degrees of genocide we struggle with on a daily basis, as civilization does its best to turn into hell on earth.
Let’s go the other direction and make a little more ghetto heaven.
At least for the unprotected women and children, if nobody else.
I subscribe to your entire philosophy and every single word you write, Andreas. Thank you.
This is the best article of the year, in my eyes. The second best one was your “Officer Rick Ross: Hip Hop went from ‘Keep It Real’ to ‘It’s Just Entertainment’” which is the most succinct and on-point description of hip hop’s transition from the 1995/Mobb Deep/Wu-Tang/Chronic era to the bullshit that is 2012 hip hop culture that I have ever seen.
EPMD’s saying “Rap Is Outta Control” has been something I’ve said since 1992. Ain’t a damn thing changed.
Amazing article … this truly wraps up all this foolishness that these young ignorant minds consider “entertainment” in a nutshell; well done, thoroughly impressed that there are still people out here in this crazy world who understand what’s right & wrong, & who truly value good morals !
Hey I was reading Ms.Magazine and I usually dont listen to rap because all those mainstream ones gave me the wrong impression… from the magazine I heard of Angel Haze and she is amazing! If I look for artists like her I would really enjoy it I am a huge metal head and nobody even seems to point out the misogyny in the community but its not too bad, for example cannibal corpse has a song fucked with a knife but they also have blunt force castration lol