The Makings of a Man

Throughout my travels on the world wide web, I've come across so much idiotic nonsense. There seems to be entire generations of people that abhor education, knowledge, and refinement. (The habit of typing like you speak is crazy to me) Folks analyze the educational trends in this country and across the world lay the blame on a multitude of forums; music, television, film, videogames, drugs, poor teachers, etc. I've always said that everything begins in the household, and I continue to stand by this statement. However, I'll add music to the suspect list starting today. Read this passage from a recent Lil Wayne interview:


What are you reading right now to help you…



I don’t read a damn thing. That’s why I don’t write music. I’m too cool to be reading and writing…I’m a very intelligent nigga. I can read like a motherfucka. I don’t want motherfuckas to think I’m illiterate.


You’re in college so…


I don’t read, other than that shit.


But we talking about books for leisure.


Nah, I’ve done that like once or twice. It’s just not my thing. I’m not into made-up stories.


You know how people get together and they like, “Yo, you read…”


I’m not even in that conversation circle. That would be crazy, I can’t answer nothing so why would I sit there and talk? I ain’t read no books. I sit and watch ESPN all day. I can tell you what happened in sports. I do what floats my boat.

Now it's not my business to regulate what another man does, but who is his publicist? They allowed him to unleash that garbage out of his mouth? At the moment, Wayne is quite possibly the most listened to artist in the world, so his influence is unmatched. If you have any doubts, just listen to any of the hundreds of songs, take a peek at the scarves, colored pants, tatted faces, and dreads running around out the blue. Obviously, these young people are easily influenced and nonsense like the above quote is doing unbelievable damage.

When did it become cool to be dumb? Growing up, my parents taught me that 20 years after the "bad kids" in school were cutting up and not doing their work, I'd be able to laugh at them as I sped past in my Lamborghini. The image has never left my head, and served as incentive for long nights of studying. Wayne's attitude is not uncommon, and unless more people wake up and understand that knowledge is power, we're all destined to remain enslaved.