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5/31/2022 - mr. morale and the big steppers
Mood: Emotional. Conflicted.
Trigger warning for rape, sexual abuse.
(Note: This was written on May 31st but I left it in my files for reasons unknown to me. I didn't bother reading this over and revising it so it might sound like the rambling of the madman. So be it.)
My God. Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers. What an amazing album. Auntie Diaries, even though it's been controversial, feels so revolutionary. A cis male rapper writing a song in support of his trans man and woman relatives? I'm shocked and in awe. I understand the focus on trans fans' reactions but I am DYING to know what the rest of the cis male rappers are thinking about this. Whether they wanna admit it or not, Kendrick really is the GOAT, so they're gonna have to learn something from this.
There's a lot I could say about this album, but I'm not a music critic, so I kinda just want to hone in on something specific that I haven't been hearing many people talk about. Well, they have been kinda talking about it, and that's the fact that Kodak Black was included on the album.
I gotta start off by saying that I'm not trying to excuse anything that Kodak Black has done. He's a rapist. I'm not a Kodak apologist, I don't even like the guy or his music for that matter. I'm not even saying that anyone should give him a second chance. I'm just trying to dig a little deeper into this situation.
So... we all know what Kodak Black did, right? He ain't a moral man in any way, shape or form. So why did Kendrick let a known abuser on his album? Doesn't it sorta make you wonder about Kendrick's history? As far as I'm aware, there's no allegations about Kendrick out there, but this is maybe the second time he's shown some form of support for an abuser (again, to my knowledge). The first time was for XXXTentacion, when his music was about to be taken off Spotify, which was technically also related to R. Kelly getting taken off there too. It fits, considering that line off Mr. Morale where he says "I think about Robert Kelly / If he weren't molested, I wonder if life'd fail him". Clearly he's showing some form of sympathy and understanding towards these guys, but why...
I think it all makes sense if you just listen to Mother I Sober. I'm actually convinced that nobody listened to that song because if they HAD, they might understand the logic behind the decision to include Kodak. Now look, I don't want to make assumptions, but Kendrick specifically says he KNOWS that "every other rapper sexually abused".
I WILL say, though. Kodak, seemingly, has not done all too much to rehabilitate himself in the public's image. At least, not much that actually gets passed around in social media circles.He has done a bit of philanthropy after his... cases in 2016. But he seems to consistenly keep getting in trouble with the law- whether it be for something as minor as trespassing to more serious crimes like child neglect. But something that might need to be taken into consideration is the fact that Kodak has apparently been in legal trouble since he was in elementary school. He himself said that his only two options in life were to either sell drugs with a gun on his hip or rap.
Personally, I don't believe in the death penalty for anyone. I mean, there are some people I think the world is better off without, but I want to see a man be rehabilitated rather than killed if it's possible. It's fun on social media to talk about wanting someone dead and all, but I think it's some sort of American sentiment behind that behavior. We are used to cruel and unusual punishments in our criminal "justice" system, which aims to strip freedoms and lives from people as opposed to rehabilitate and reintroduce them back into society.
I don't think that, right now, we live in a world where forgiveness is possible. The structure of our society is built to cause harm to certain groups of people - and hurt people hurt people. There is no real justice or closure in our current criminal justice system. Abusers are locked up and killed and given no opportunity to change, never being forced to face their community and truly own up to their decisions. Should abuse victims have to participate in their abuser's rehabilitation? Of course not. But abusers can heal and go forward to treat people better than they treated their victims.
If Kendrick does intend to associate with Kodak Black, I do hope he can be a positive figure in this young man's life. It does seem like, in some way, Kodak wants to become a better person. That said, it's 100% understandable why some Kendrick fans wouldn't wanna stick around if this is the kind of person he intends to show support for.
Specifically - and this is important - people need to leave black women ALONE. I've seen more black women speak out about the inclusion of Kodak Black than black men, and frankly it is their right to call that out. There is a ton of misogynoir both within the black community and outside it, so I can't blame them for being more on guard about men they may have trusted standing alongside sexual abusers. It fuckin sucks. It's easy for a black man to tell a black woman they need to have more empathy for these kinds of people. Black women owe nothing to the agents of their oppression.
What I want to emphasize is that, if another black man is willing to hold space for another black man in the way Kendrick is seemingly doing for Kodak, I think that is worth at least something. I think it is a good thing. People, if they are in a position to do so, should provide support for others who want to and need to change. This is an important step to ending the cycles of abuse within our community. However, extending empathy is just not enough and black men need to learn to hold their brothers accountable.
Our community has a lot of healing to do.