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On May 18, at approximately 3:10 p.m. in Los Angeles, Roderick Anthony Burton II was gunned down in a shopping mall. Known to the music industry and fans alike as the 21-year-old budding hip-hop talent, Dolla, Burton’s memory has quickly become marred in the debate that rappers are falling prey to the same violence they glorify in their music.
Once the story broke in the press, ignorant and racially driven comments about rap music and its artists began to spring up on various Web sites.
“There are some ‘good’ rappers, but come on people, what other musical genre has so much violence surrounding it? Country? I don’t think so,” wrote a commenter listed as, “John.”
“Hip-hop and rap, as they are celebrated today, has [sic] ruined black music and is [sic] destroying the black community!”
Whether or not you agree with “John” and the countless other detractors of hip-hop music and culture, it would be more than disrespectful to Burton’s family and his memory to simply write him off as another rapper who fell victim to the music he so loved. In reality, outside of his music — which is actually devoid of the misogynistic machismo prevalent in rap — Burton was a true family man and great friend.
What you haven’t read about in the newspapers and blogs was that after his father committed suicide; a very young Burton did what he had to do to help provide for his family. When Burton’s sister was sent to prison for a drug conviction, it was the “thug” who took on the responsibility of raising his niece and nephew before he was even legally able to drink alcohol.
The saddest part about the shooting death of Burton is that we didn’t just lose another rapper; we lost a family man and another strong black man to senseless violence, not rap.
–gavin philip godfrey
