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A note to Slim Thug: You probably just need to be quiet for a while. It's not to say that your comments about black women were outside your rights to freedom of speech, but if you keep dissing the audience most likely to go out and buy your records, you are probably going to end up in the same poorhouse as MC Hammer. Don't get me wrong, black men love your music (at least I do), but the bottom line is that brothers don't buy albums books, or anything else put up for sale. When black women turns on you, though, it's a wrap, son. Settle down and go back to the studio; it's better for your financial health.
Related Article: Marc Lamont Hill Responds to Slim Thug's Take on Black Women
Related Article: Slim Thug Attempts to Defend his Comments about Black Women
On Wednesday, I wrote about the comments made by Slim Thug, regarding how he perceives white women to be a better dating choice than black women, as well as Columbia Professor Marc Lamont Hill's response to Slim Thug's words. It seems that the debate has taken on a life of its own, now that rapper Talib Kweli has joined the conversation. In a recent essay he wrote for Vibe Magazine, Talib Kweli was ever the diplomatic artist, as he showed respect for Slim Thug but also expressed his own concerns for his colleague's remarks about black women:
I think the people that are really angry are people who are taking the comments out of context and they're not really reading the whole blog. And when the commentors are reading it, they're really looking to see what's wrong with it anyway. Somebody hit me online and said what they got from it is he hates them and I didn't get that. What I got from the blog is here's a man who's confused about relationships and that wants to support the black family and that wants to see black relationships doing good. And at the end of the day, when you take out all the generalizations, he's really saying that black men and black women have to have better communication and respect each other more. He's calling everyone to task.
Talib Kweli, like the rapper Vigalantee (who actually made an ode to black women in a newly released song), is known for being more conscious and intelligent than many of his peers in the industry. He is also very good at maintaining good relationships. I would have loved for him to have started this debate instead of Slim Thug, but then again, the debate was likely accelerated by the media, who picked up on Slim Thug's words and ran with them. Kweli makes sufficient note that generalizations in one direction or another are never right and we need to stop stereotyping altogether. Of course, that isn't going to happen. What I most love about Talib Kweli is that he reminds me of what's good about hip-hop, because I disagree with VH-1 that everything about hip-hop deserves to be honored. Some things about the industry need to be dishonored as well. Here are more of Talib's words:
The thing that really bothers me is that the people who really took offense to it make generalizations all the time. If someone says men are all dogs, is that OK to make that generalization? Why is it OK to say that and flip it but for him not to express himself in a blog? They're both generalizations but the only difference is if you say, "N*ggas ain't shit or all men are dogs," there's no real explanation.
Being the ever-so-careful businessman, Talib Kweli also goes out of his way to remind fans to keep buying Slim Thug's music and to not abandon him as an artist just because he made offensive comments. What is most unfortunate for Slim Thug, however, is that this is exactly what fans do. They buy your music because they like you, and they stop buying it when they don't. Just ask Vanilla Ice, the guy who didn't lose a lick of talent, but lost every inch of album sales, all because his fans decided that he wasn't cool anymore. Slim Thug's comments were uncool, and therefore, Slim Thug may become uncool himself. This is very bad news for his managers.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here. 
Comments: (24)
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By: Just saying on 6/10/2010 12:50PM
TALIB IS WRONG WHITE people are the biggest buyers and supporters of hip hop . Black people don't buy new school hip hop its whites only. If talib was right and that BLACK FEMALES buy majority of slims music and hip hop ,then how come Talib albums don't SELL well even with BLACK WOMEN
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By: Just saying on 6/10/2010 1:03PM
Another thing SLim thugg Was a millionaire before he was a rapper so hes not like every other rapper( mc hammer or vanilla ice). Youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Me2j1zA864U
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By: Sheesh on 6/10/2010 12:58PM
The only time I've heard of Slim Thug's name was regarding his relationship with LeToya Luckett, a black woman HE cheated on (and btw, got the other woman pregnant).
Unfortunately, Slim echoes what so many black men say on a daily basis. What I fail to understand is why said black men continue to pick out the faults of black women and overlook their own. I mean, black men are not perfect. No one is perfect. All races have relationship problems, but our brothers want to make it personal. The constant berating of black women to "look in the mirror," is in the least hyprocritical because some of you FAIL TO DO THE SAME THING. We get put down, not just from our own, but from others. Some black men refuse to look at their behavior, but choose to project their failures on black women. It's tiresome and wrong. Just because women outside your race want to date you, doesn't mean you don't have issues. White women do not hold the key to perfect womanhood. If they did, they'd never get divorced.
Also, to Slim and all his cosigners, remember this: BLACK MEN ARE STEREOTYPED by the whole world. If someone were say, "Black men are worthless. They can't keep his black behinds out of jail, don't take care of your kids, don't respect your women, and are killing each other at a high rate, you would be insensed, furious, and call them racist. Well now, why do you think black women want it done to us, ESPECIALLY by YOU?
Brothers, if you think white women are better, that's your psychosis. I'm sure if Gary Coleman were to look down and see the picture his wife had taken of her and him on his death bed, I'm sure he would cosign you (read sarcasm). If you stopped being so whitewashed, you would understand that white men complain about their women all the time, but they don't make it a white woman issue, like SOME black men do. Why is that?
I'm sad at the state of many of my sisters and brothers. There seems to be a pathology growning amongst many of our people. It's like a cancer. Thank God for the stand up brothers and sisters amongst us. You make me proud.
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By: KC on 6/11/2010 12:29AM
I couldn't have said it better....KUDOS!
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By: jeandarc824 on 6/11/2010 9:51PM
Sheesh: Very thoughtful comments. For my money right on the mark. I'm a Black woman, much older than most of the people who write here, who had a relationship with a non-Black waaaaaaaay back in the 70's. What I realized was that I wasn't in love at all but that I felt more accepted by the white partner because of my looks which are those of a racially mixed person. Truth be told, I'm nowhere nearly as light as women who are called "high yalla"; I'm brown-skinned with a prominent nose and smallish lips. No big shakes. But I was more accepted (no ugly put-downs) by whites, so it was just easier to slide into a relationship with someone I didn't really care about.
I think Blacks males self-sabotage and live down to the stereotyping that's done by the media, accepted by too many of us as the truth, and so feed into a cycle which makes it appear as though they are in fact low-lifes who just can't do anything right. As far as not taking care of their own children, it's unfortunately a truism; many Black males refuse to support their children in any way, shape, or form and would rather go to jail to gain street cred than be a decent father. Why they don't mirror real men like Snoop Dog is anyone's guess.
Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks for a well-written response to the article. I hope we Black women and interested Black men continue to talk WITH each other about this subject. We have a lot of work to do, and it doesn't have one damned thing to do with whites.
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By: Vivian on 6/15/2010 3:05PM
All I have to say to this comment is, "THANK YOU,THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU FOR EVERY WORD YOU HAVE JUST WRITTEN!!!!!!!!!
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By: Sheesh on 6/10/2010 1:01PM
BTW, if Talib thinks I would support this bum (even if I was previously a fan), he's out of his mind. I would never, ever support a "brotha" that talked the way he did about me as a black woman. Unfortunately, there are some silly black women who will do just that, talking about "he's wasn't talking to me." SMH. Well then, you have free will to do so. More power to you, but I wouldn't give this loser one dime.
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By: Sheesh on 6/10/2010 1:03PM
excuse the typos
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By: dvine on 6/10/2010 1:17PM
sounds like he making excuses 2 me.. again slim thug can date the whoever the hell he want but don't now try to kick the black woman's back in because he wasn't treated right.. he's stereotyping. hell is it safe for me to assume that all men are cheaters just because my last man cheated?! He hates what he is - point blank.. i'm sure he's making his mother proud w/his comments..
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By: Tiffany on 6/11/2010 9:24AM
It is amazing to me how black women continue to support these idiots.
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