T.I. took a moment to address Lil Wayne’s recent comment about Black Lives Matter. According to his Instagram post, T.I.’s kids showed him the comments Lil Wayne made about Black Lives Matter while on “Nightline.”
“I am a young, Black rich mother——,” Lil Wayne said. “If that don’t let you know that America understand [sic] Black mother—–s lives matter these days, I don’t know what it is. That man’s White, he’s filming me. I’m a n—. I don’t know what you mean, man. Don’t come at me with that dumb s—. My life matter. Especially to my b—–s.”
T.I. called out Lil Wayne’s comments by writing, “I don’t know what you’re going thru [sic], or what you are attempting to avoid, but this s— is absolutely unacceptable! You’re disrespecting yourself, bringing shame on your family name and tarnishing your legacy.”
T.I. continued by pointing out that Lil Wayne should step out of his comfort zone and recognize the oppression that continues to occur in the Black community. “Bro, if you don’t stand for something out here, all the money, jewelry, cars, mansions bandannas and hit records don’t mean s—,” T.I. wrote. “Our people are being oppressed! We are being hunted, captured and slaughtered out here daily! You have to get out of that bubble that you’ve been living in and get out here and educate yourself on what’s going on around us.”
T.I. even went on to say that Lil Wayne was not representing himself as a Black man. “I may have to assist your growth and development, but you must stop this buffoonery and coonin’ you out here doing,” he wrote. “You looking like somebody who has something to gain or lose by pretending like it’s not as bad as BLM making it seem and you’re not aware of an issue that needs to be addressed. That what would be considered ‘Uncle Tom s—.’”
Lil Wayne posted “F— ya” on Twitter hours after T.I. released his post.
While T.I. may have gone a bit too far by calling Lil Wayne out of his name, it was important to speak to Lil Wayne about his rant.
Although T.I. and Lil Wayne have both been significant artists in rap for over 15 years, they have been molded differently outside of music throughout their careers. T.I. experienced trouble with the law early in his career and could have been forced to spend decades behind bars. But he allowed Atlanta’s civil rights leaders such as John Lewis and Andrew Young to mentor him. Lil Wayne may not have been exposed to such strong leadership on a consistent basis.
Lil Wayne will learn from this situation and could actually find ways to think more about issues facing Black America. T.I.’s post was brutal at times, but it was a message that needed to be sent.
