The lyrics Lil Wayne felt ashamed by: “Removed them from my catalogue”
Lil Wayne was so ashamed of some of his lyrics that he completely banished them from his discography. Weezy featured on a remix of Future’s ‘Karate Chop’ in 2013, but his lyrics were met with plenty of backlash.
On the track, Wayne rapped, “Beat that pussy up like Emmett Till,” a reference to the 14-year-old Chicago boy who was tortured and lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman while visiting Mississippi in 1955.
The Till family expressed their disapproval with the lyrics, with Epic Records calling the song’s leak an “unauthorised remix version” and removing his line. Former Epic CEO L.A. Reid also reached out to Till’s family and personally apologised.
Lil Wayne felt inclined to write an open letter to Emmett Till’s family, apologising for mentioning his name as a way to better his wordplay. “As a recording artist, I have always been interested in word play,” he said. “My lyrics often reference people, places and events in my music, as well as the music that I create for or alongside other artists.”
He continued, “It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist’s song has deeply offended your family. 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.”
Weezy announced that he would no longer reference Till in his music and agreed with Epic Records’ decision to take down the version of the song with his lyrics. He also made sure to let the family know that he wouldn’t be performing the lyrics at his concerts, revealing he had “removed” them from his catalogue. “I have tremendous respect for those who paved the way for the liberty and opportunities that African-Americans currently enjoy,” he wrote. “As a business owner who employs several African-American employees and gives philanthropically to organisations that help youth to pursue their dreams, my ultimate intention is to uplift rather than degrade our community.”
Emmett Till’s cousin, Airickca Gordon-Taylor, called Lil Wayne’s lyrics not only offensive to their family, but also to their ancestors, women and young black men. “To compare his murder and how beaten and how bullied and tortured he was to the anatomy of a woman was really very disrespectful,” she said. “We found it dishonourable to his name and what his death has meant to us as a people and as a culture.”
The controversy forced Mountain Dew to cut ties with Lil Wayne, with PepsiCo announcing that the company had no plans to work with the Young Money founder moving forward. “His offensive reference to a revered civil rights icon does not reflect the values of our brand,” a company statement read at the time.
The ‘Karate Chop’ remix still exists online, except Emmett Till’s name is now censored. The song, produced by Metro Boomin, appears on the deluxe version of Future’s Honest album and has over 25 million streams on Spotify.