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Stevie Wonder has criticised rapper Lil Wayne for the insensitive mention of civil rights hero Emmett Till in the lyrics for a track.
Emmett Till was 14 when he was tortured and killed for allegedly flirting with a white girl in 1955.
His death went on to attract a great deal of media attention and gained support for the US civil rights movement.
Wayne references the teenager on a remix for Future’s track ‘Karate Chop’, rapping: “Pop a lot of pain pills/Bout to put rims on my skateboard wheels/Beat that pussy up like Emmett Till.”
Till’s family have already expressed their feelings about the lyrics, with Emmett’s cousin Airickca Gordon-Taylor telling the Guardian it was “offensive not only to us, but to our ancestors and to women and to [the artists] themselves as young, black men.
“Our family was very offended, very hurt,” Gordon-Taylor continued.
“We found it dishonourable to [his] name and what his death has meant to us as a people and as a culture.
“I just couldn’t understand how you could compare the gateway of life to the brutality and punishment of death. And I feel as though they have no pride and no dignity as black men.”
Now the Huffington Post reports that Stevie Wonder has joined the family in criticising the rapper.
The singer said: “You can’t equate that to Emmett Till. You just cannot do that… I think you got to have someone around you that – even if they are the same age or older – is wiser to say, ‘Yo, that’s not happening. Don’t do that.”
Wayne’s record label, Epic Records, have claimed that the line has since been removed from the remix of the track.
The offending lyrics have since been removed
A statement from the label reads: “We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future’s Karate Chop, which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics.”
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