Popular rapper XXXTentacion recently released a music video for his most popular single “Look At Me”, which shows the 19-year-old rapper placing a noose around a child’s neck and then hanging him. The video, which was directed by X himself, starts off with his track “Look At Me, a childish song about violent sex; however, the rest of the video features lesser known track “Riot”. From there on, the video focuses on racial injustices in America and features reenactments of the murders of Emmett Till, Heather Heyer, Philando Castile, and Rodney King.
Towards the end of the video, X is shown on a stage with a black and white child. He points towards a noose and then points at the white child. Then X wraps the noose around the young boy’s neck and pulls on the rope as his legs shake before his death. The music video is then wrapped up with a poetic lecture about racism by X.
The Florida-based rapper tries to bring light to America’s history of racially charged violence; however, lynching a young child is arguably not the most effective way. X’s point is valid, but it doesn’t hold much weight coming from his history of violence and seeming unwillingness to learn from his mistakes. He has quite the criminal record that includes a one year sentence for, robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon. X was released from prison in the spring of 2017 and is currently awaiting trial aggravated battery of a pregnant victim, witness tampering, and false imprisonment.
Pitchfork released the testimony of victim Geneva Ayala in September 2017, which detailed a pattern of domestic abuse. Whether or not X is guilty, he’s facing serious charges and he has failed to take them seriously in his responses to the charges. In a series of Instagram stories, X denied the charges and claimed that Ayala and his critics were plotting against his success. He followed up by claiming that he will “fuck y’all little sisters in their throats…anybody that calls me a domestic abuser, I’m finna domestically abuse y’all little sisters pussy from the back”.
X’s comments on the charges against him mirror his sexually violent lyrics that are present in the majority of his songs. While I believe that art should not be censored, I also believe in the value of critiquing and analyzing art. X’s lyrics and his subsequent actions set a terrible example for his young, impressionable, and fame-obsessed audience. One song with an important message about the current state of racism in America does not absolve X of his past and does not excuse him from being held accountable for his irresponsible response to his domestic abuse allegations. Rather, it wastes the important message.
Rappers such as Kendrick Lamar, Joey Badass, Chance the Rapper, and J. Cole have made an important and conscious effort to set a positive example for their young listeners and have shifted the nature of their material towards more important themes. In 2015, Kendrick Lamar released his critically acclaimed album To Pimp A Butterfly, which fused elements of jazz, funk, soul, and spoken-word to address African-American culture, racial inequality, depression, and institutional discrimination.
After the release of the album, Lamar visited High Tech High School in North Bergen, New Jersey for NPR. The students had written essays, poems, and even raps inspired by Lamar’s album. “Something even – for me – bigger than mentoring is listening”, the rapper said in an interview with NPR. “And when I do that, we have a little bit bigger connection than me being Kendrick Lamar and you being a student. It’s almost like we’re friends, you know? Because a friend listens and we learn off each others’ experiences.”
X could learn an important lesson from Kendrick’s interactions with his young fan base. While he is still young himself – he’s only 19-years-old – X fails to realize the reach and impact his words have.
Similarly, Chance the Rapper has been using positivity to bring respect and important messages to hip-hop culture. At the young age of 24, Chance donated $1 million of his own money to the Chicago Public School system to support arts and enrichment programming. He has also been a strong supporter of ending gun violence in his hometown of Chicago and has actively fought to do so with the #SaveChicago campaign. For young impressionable listeners, Chance’s music and outside actions set an example giving back to your communities. A video that depicts the hanging of a child and joking about domestic abuse allegations does nothing to further the message that X pompously tries to preach.
X has built his reputation on shock and violence. He came to the forefront of rap music after his release from prison and has since gained popularity amongst young teens for his seemingly introspective lyrics. X’s words are resonating with his young fan base, but its time his actions start to reflect his deep, emotional stage persona. The point X tries to make in the “Look At Me” video is important, but the execution and his prior history negates the relaying of his message. Instead, it reduces it to just another controversy. The media only picked up on the hanging, which was unnecessary to make his point, and therefore, his message of racial inequality gets lost.
Quiet Company 