Rising rapper Wacka Flocka has been the talk of the Hip Hop world this week after his interview on music video show 106 & Park, in which he left the set looking a complete fool. While being addressed on subjects of education and voting, the only response that he could come up with for either was that they were both cool and good, while admitting under his breath that he knew nothing about either. He continued to make a fool of himself when he said that if he had the chance to go back to college that he wanted to major in Geometry. Most people would know that Geometry is basically just the high school subject, and that it is a rare focus of study for someone in higher education. He was, however, very knowledgeable on the art of getting numbers from groupies at the video set. Afterwards, he knew that he had said the wrong thing as he wanted to reshoot the show for a segment airing on live television. I would just like to say that this article will not bash Wacka Flocka, because he did a good job of that on his own.  The video didn’t irritate me as much as the comments from viewers of the clip. There are many phrases in the African American community, which are used way more than they should be ranging from “No Homo” to “I’m just being real.” The one that really seems to get to me is the theory of “hating,” especially when it comes to the behaviors of celebrities.
While browsing through the comments of the 106 and Park video clip, I constantly came across people who actually believe that other people were hating on him when they proclaimed how ignorant he seemed to be. If a person criticizes actions which you make, this does not mean they are always hating on you. These are along the same type of statuses that I constantly see all the time on Facebook/Twitter.  No one is hating on you if you are walking down the street with blond hair as if you were Nicki Minaj. No one is hating on you if they criticize you for walking around the store while having to pull up your pants every five seconds. If you go around sleeping with several different athletes around campus, you’re definitely not being hated on. You don’t have it like that, you’re just easy. It’s not a good look and more than likely people close to you probably have some of the same thoughts, they just are afraid to tell you. If so many people believe you act a certain way, then maybe it’s time to take a look in the mirror. Everybody can’t be wrong. Most times we can’t see the way that we portray ourselves. While there are people out there who will have a problem with everything you do, some people tell you these things to help you.

The problem with the Wacka Flocka interview is that there are young people out there who actually look up to him. The message that I would take from the interview as a child is that even if you drop out of school and know nothing about what is going on in the world, you can still make millions off of nursery rhymes and get lots of girls. While Wacka Flocka probably has a small amount of cash to spend for a year or so, he is far from wealthy. This is what young kids don’t see. This is what the outside world does not see. The big pay day that these people receive from record labels are more or less a loan which is expected to be paid back through album sales, ringtones, and tour revenue. I don’t feel that it should be considered “hating,” to have a constructive criticism towards certain subjects. We should not be expected to believe that celebrities who commit crimes, shouldn’t serve time. We should not believe that it is acceptable to have negative stereotypes of African Americans present in the majority of the television programs.

Images such as these are these are the only images which ever seem to make it the general public. Whether we like or not, the rest of the world has decided to place African Americans in the same box. Some believe that we are shadows of what is broadcast on BET. We don’t really help the matter when we perpetuate these images on a daily basis just to show that we have the right to do as we wish. We glorify the images of people who we wish to prove that we are not on a daily basis. There are many positive aspects in the African American community which should overshadow the negative. Even though we don’t feel as if we are role models, the world is watching our every move. It is time to stop glorifying negativity, take a look in the mirror, and realize what we are really portraying.