In the wake of Takeoff's death, Rap is back under the microscope. Since its inception, Hip Hop has been vilified regardless of its lyrical content, but when Gangster Rap emerged in the late 1980s and dominated the mainstream music scenes of Rap's Golden Era in the '90s, criticisms have only increased.
When news of a rapper being arrested, injured during an altercation, or killed in an act of violence, people quickly target Rap lyrics. Questions arise regarding whether or not Hip Hop is perpetuating a culture of violence, and according to LaKeith Stanfield, the answer is yes.
There have been several hot takes since the world learned that Takeoff was killed during a purported dice game. Stanfield shared a post that read, "If you are for gangster rap you can't also be for Black."
He didn't leave his followers with glaring opinion; the award-winning actor penned a lengthy caption defending his position.
"The dangerous toxicity associated with this glorified black serial killer and killed music and imagery got people thinking it’s cool to hurt those that look like them and ONLY them," wrote Stanfield. "It’s ok to embrace the realities of life in the harder areas but let’s think about NOT holding up this behavior in our circles. Let’s make it cool to embrace life, travel, and learn new things!"
Basketball star Nick Young had a similar response when he questioned why we never hear about stars like the Jonas Brothers fearing gun violence or becoming victims of such crimes.
Stanfield continued, "I know that the scope of issues we have to contend with is much larger than just this and that we have a lot of work to do in many areas to restore our hearts and minds after centuries of persecution and manipulation, but we have to start somewhere. At some level, we have to see our lives as valuable so that we think before we react and see another human when we look at a Human man."
The actor argued that "we must stop holding self-destructive sh*t up" and encouraged fans to "turn that stupid sh*t off."
Check out the message in full below and let us know if you stand with LaKeith Standfield on this one.
For more on this story, make sure to read: Quality Control Releases Statement On Takeoff’s Death: “We Are Devastated”