Dear Lil Wayne,

I am sorry to hear about your recent incarceration, but I think that providing your address online and encouraging your fans to write you letters while in prison is a fantastic idea. Not only will it make you feel less alone, but it is also a smart way to gain feedback and use it in a productive manner.

My purpose for writing is to let you know that while I don’t respect some of your words, lyrics and metaphors, I really do enjoy your music. I can’t remember taking a joyride around my hometown without jamming out to ‘Something You Forgot’ or ‘Go DJ.’ And most of your tracks from ‘Da Drought 3’ are among my most frequently played songs on iTunes. Admitting my love for rap music, however, complicates my political and social views regarding feminism.

You have tremendous influence over your fans even though you’re in jail. You have the power to improve the status of women in your songs and music videos by no longer degrading females. By doing this, you would be inadvertently embracing feminism.

I may not be considered an expert on feminism and hip-hop, but my critique and analysis comes from my accumulated awareness overtime due to my personal experiences with the two movements. I can recognize the comparison of my experiences versus someone more involved in the hip-hop culture, but as an outside spectator and avid listener I am still able to examine the flaws.

I know that I’m judged on my choice of music because of my self-proclamation of feminism. Frankly, sometimes I even judge myself. Like most aspects of modern popular culture viewed through a feminist lens, hip-hop is a complicated subject matter due to its chauvinistic tendencies.

This leads me to inquire if and when double standards are acceptable or considered inappropriate: What makes my enjoyment of rap music any different from supporting other sexist venues, and should I feel guilty about the special attention I pay to one of the most chauvinistic genres of music?

It’s difficult to separate race and gender into two separate categories because they are so intertwined with each other. It’s impossible to examine women’s issues without disregarding what it means for members of different races and ethnicities. The beauty of hip-hop is that it encompasses numerous facets within this one musical genre. It can be pure entertainment and extremely political at the same time.

Hip-hop is informative. It’s political. It speaks to people. Your lyrics make a difference in the lives of millions of listeners, and there’s a great opportunity to make a difference with your individual choices within your music. If you lead by example, you’re capable of doing what the pioneers of rap in the 1970s and ‘80s did for racial barriers — use your influence to break down boundaries and create change.

In an ideal world, rap would stop objectifying women in music videos and lyrics; it would start fusing together with feminist ideals to enable a more comfortable medium. We’re not quite there yet, but I don’t see why the most influential rappers in the game, such as yourself, can’t use their power to create a mutual space for feminism and hip-hop to coincide, therefore sparking more innovative ideas and concepts.

Feminism and equal rights don’t have to be a scary concept — it could mean eliminating the possibility of the objectification of your daughter and even her daughter. The hip-hop movement has made valiant strides in terms of diminishing racism, and there’s no reason why it can’t do the same for issues relating to gender.

Progress and change are relevant in the hip-hop movement and culture as a whole, but maybe it’s time to specify the kinds of issues that still need to be addressed. I’m challenging you to keep an open mind to something new — make your next album less sexist and more ‘female friendly’ (I also wouldn’t be too disappointed if you decided to take a page out of Billy Joel’s book and write a song titled ‘Krystie Lee’).

Wayne ‘Lil Wayne’ Carter is currently located at the Eric M. Taylor Center in East Elmhurst, N.Y. Check out http://weezythanxyou.com for further details if you want to write him a letter.

Krystie Yandoli is a sophomore women’s studies major. Her column appears weekly and she can be reached at

klyandol@syr.edu

Published on April 19, 2010 at 12:00 pm