Family of Slain Civil Rights Icon Protest Lil Wayne Lyric
Lil Wayne is at the center of a new controversy that's not likely to have anyone rooting for him. The family of Emmett Till—a 14-year-old African-American tortured and killed for flirting with a white woman in 1955—is protesting the rapper for referencing the fallen Civil Rights icon for the purposes of a sexual innuendo in a recent remix.
In case you need a history refresher, Till had his eyes gouged out by several Mississippi men before being shot and killed, just for allegedly flirting with one of their wives. Till's mother had an open casket funeral to demonstrate the inhuman cruelty of his death, which in turn became an impetus for the Civil Rights Movement.
On Lil Wayne's verse for Future's "Karate Chop," he raps about wanting to "beat that p***y up like Emmett Till." Understandably, the surviving family was disgusted by the lyric and Rev. Jesse Jackson interceded on their behalf. Jackson asked Epic Records to pull the song, which they immediately did.
"We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future's 'Karate Chop,' which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics," the label said in a statement. "Out of respect for the legacy of Emmett Till and his family and the support of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. ... we are going through great efforts to take down the unauthorized version."
Lil Wayne has not yet commented on the controversy.
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