The reverberations of the now infamous Donald Sterling audio recordings have hit home in a multitude of ways, and the hip-hop community is having its own reactions, through its own way – the almighty Internet. Both Snoop Dogg and Lil’ Wayne responded in their “special” hip-hop ways.
The truth of the matter is the modern hip-hop arena of commercial contest has been almost devoid of light in terms of rappers speaking life into social issues and matters of importance to the community. In fact, the contrary has been said. The current flock of young emcees could easily be the most narcissistic of all time in a genre known for ego-maniacal behavior.
In a generation of young people who are sometimes ambiguous to the existence of racism in modern times, the aforementioned videos of Snoop Dogg and Lil’ Wayne are only the first of what is sure to be a flood of videos from people in the rap game. They are, language aside, impassioned overtures spoken in the language of the streets. For modern rappers, the bottom line of monetary gain is the bottom line, but the circumstances of Donald Sterling’s racist beliefs will certainly spark an avalanche of rap lyrics and Instagram response. Hopefully, none of them will be wack.
Here's Philadelphia-based rapper Meek Mills' take on the Donald Sterling affair via Twitter.
