Rappers Rick Ross and Lil Wayne are both showing the world how to
screw up and lose deals with big time companies. Rick Ross lost $3.5 - $5
million in a Reebok deal. Why would Reebok drop someone as famous as Rick Ross?
Controversial lyrics. In the song “U.O.E.N.O,” Rick Ross raps the following
lines: "Put molly all in her Champagne, she ain't even know it/ I took her home and I enjoyed that/ she ain't even know it." Due
to these disgusting lyrics and protests against it, Rick Ross just makes
himself look bad. Lil Wayne lost a Pepsi deal over controversial lyrics as
well. In the song “Karate Chop,” Lil Wayne raps “Beat that pussy up like Emmett
Till.”
Even though we have the freedom of speech, and rappers always express anything they want through lyrics, Ross and Wayne are making fools out of themselves. Not only are they losing money through good deals, but both their images are being tarnished by stupidity.
On the other hand, should lyrics be changed to keep deals? Does the potential for high profit deals change the substance within music? Even though the lyrics are vulgar, isn't that the intention of the artist?
Check out this link to read more about this current event.
I think musical artists should be held some of the same standards as professional athletes. If athletes make certain statements to the media that are considered degrading of the league they play in the team they play for, they can receive a fine. Obviously this would be a lot different for music, because musicians are aloud a lot of freedom and they shouldn't have their lyrics monitored for the most part. However, certain lyrics, such as the ones you mentioned by Lil Wayne and Rick Ross, should be measured in how offensive they are. These lyrics are promoting rape as well as poking fun at a horrific event in history, and they cannot be tolerated. At the same time, there are tons of hip hop lyrics that are considered offensive, fines can't be handed out for all of them. there are lyrics are killing people, about drug dealing, about using woman for sex, but these lyrics are not being condemned on a regular basis. Now I am starting to change my mind as I write, because controlling this problem through fines may not be the right solution. Maybe its just up to citizens and sponsorship companies to not associate with artists who record such lyrics, and the artists will suffer in that way through a loss of revenue. It's also good to document these events through journalism and reporting, and all the negative exposure will influence other artists to avoid using offensive lyrics.
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