The family of Emmett Till has been demanding an apology from rapper Lil Wayne for two months. They even threatened to go after his corporate sponsors, like Mountain Dew to have the rapper taken off the payroll.
The feud between the family and the 30-year-old rapper began in February after the remix to the song "Karate Chop" by Future was leaked with Wayne's lyric "Beat the p-y up like Emmett Till." In the lyric Wayne was referencing to the fatal 1955 attack on Till.
The 14-year-old was brutally beat and tortured for reportedly flirting with a white woman. The murder of Till has been looked at as a historic moment during the Civil Rights Movement.
The family immediately demanded an apology and Till's cousin Airickca Gordon-Taylor wrote an open letter in Vibe to the rapper. In the letter she wrote: "When you spit lyrics like, 'Beat that p----y up like Emmett Till,' not only are you destroying the preservation and legacy of Emmett Till's memory and name, but the impact of his murder in black history along with degradation of women...The impact of your words left us in awe with our hearts in our mouths wide open."
Future's label, Epic Records, immediately issued an apology for the line and edited the lyric out of the song but the already linked version had begun to cause shock waves on the internet. Lil Wayne has stayed silent on the whole issue, until now. On Wednesday, the rapper acknowledged the family's pain in an open letter on Miss Info. He starts the letter off my explaining that as a rapper he does tend to play on words but offers what seems to be a sincere apology.
"As a recording artist, I have always been interested in word play. My lyrics often reference people, places and events in my music, as well as the music that I create for or alongside other artists," Wayne wrote in the letter. "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."
