As President Franklin envisions a global village of Renaissance Men, Morehouse and Spelman college homecoming committees invited rapper Lil' Wayne to perform at the Homecoming Hip Hop Concert/Fashion Show.
At the last minute, he was jailed, leaving students to wonder whether he would perform. What some students may not know is that they were almost not allowed to have Wayne on stage. President Franklin believed that artists like Wayne fall outside his vision of Morehouse College as being Renaissance Men with a social conscience.
He feels that we have an ethical duty to our African-American village to not support people who tear us down with lewd and explicit lyrics. So the question is: "Is Lil' Wayne tearing the African-American community down through his music?"
Some may argue that they do not totally agree with most of his lyrics, but as a student government association, it is our responsibility to secure popular artists that will sell tickets. Should we do this at the expense of harming our beloved institution?
I feel that we could have striven for artists with better messages and that could encourage the students of this academic community to do things other than sell drugs, have wild sex, and hurt people. Some examples of such artists are Lupe Fiasco and Common.
As a moderate fan of the musicology of Wayne's songs, I understand his appeal to the general public; however, at the same time, I feel that we should have broken away from the norm and chosen a more positive hip hop artist.
Proponents may argue that people just like the music and would not try to emulate the lifestyles portrayed in the songs, but these proponents would be referring to rational individuals. The problem is that most of the patrons of hip hop concerts are not necessarily rational people. There were a number of teenagers and younger adolescents at the concert that are already considered impressionable and can easily be influenced by the glamour and fame of a rap star.
We, by inviting Lil' Wayne to our concert, were encouraging and perpetuating the cycle of violence and anti intellectualism in the West End community. We should have been stimulating intellectual growth, daring people to think instead of pressing the "quick buck" button.
It is not fair to classify all hip hop artists as non Renaissance Men or they all are tearing down our people, but I will say that we, as the protectors of the Morehouse image, should have been renaissance men. Our social conscience should have directed us to seek out an artist that better fit the vision and direction of this college and its new president.
