Lil Wayne offered an apology to the family of Emmett Till for including lyrics in a song – ‘Karate Chop’ – which compares Till’s death to sex:
“ “Pop a lot of pain pills,” he rapped. “Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels / Beat that pussy up like Emmett Till.”
Yes, really.
Till’s cousin Airickca Gordon-Taylor was among those who condemned the lyric. “[It is] offensive not only to us, but to our ancestors and to women and to [the artists] themselves as young, black men,” she said in February. “Our family was very offended, very hurt … [and] disturbed by [the line].”
With the outcry from Till’s relatives and other civil rights activists growing, Epic Records cut Wayne’s verse from the “authorised” version of Future’s track and label boss LA Reid rang the family to apologise. But as of this week, the pressure hadn’t let up: supporters including Jesse Jackson were still calling for Wayne to be dropped by his primary corporate sponsor, Mountain Dew.
Weezy sent a letter to the family saying “As a father myself, I cannot imagine the pain that your family has had to endure. I would like to take a moment to acknowledge your hurt, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.” and promising never to use the lyric again on record or live, but the ’apology’ didn’t appease the family, Till’s cousin Airickca Gordon-Taylor said ”While it’s commendable that he has vowed to respect the legacy of Emmett Till and his memory to ‘not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in his music,’ this statement falls short of an apology, as none is mentioned.”