Maia Campbell unwillingly shoots the most effective anti-drug spot ever

griffn — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:00:42 +0000

If you were an adolescent black male in the ‘90s, there’s a good chance you had a crush on Maia Campbell. She was the girl who played Tiffany Warren on LL Cool J’s show In the House. Rumors have been circling around the Internet that she had come across hard times lately, battling a crack habit and mental illness, possibly falling into prostitution. But the reality of that doesn’t really hit home until you see it live and on camera.

This video surfaced last week of Maia somewhere in South Central L.A. It’s not safe for work (language).

Yeah, Maia drops some ill quotables in there (“Back up like Michael Jackson, nigga…”), but there really ain’t nothing funny about this. Especially the part at the end where she’s talking sincerely about catching a beat down from the man next to her.

Right about now you’re probably wondering where her support system is. But word on the street is that LL, Debbie Allen, family, and friends have all reached out to Maia and offered help at one time or another. Her mother– author Bebe Moore Campbell– was taking care of her, but passed away three years ago. The issue seems to be that Maia, who has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, doesn’t stay in rehab and tends to fall back with the same crowd.

The good news to this story is that apparently Maia is back in treatment. Bad news is she’s been there countless times before. Hopefully, this will be the last trip and we’ll be seeing her on Oprah telling her story soon.

Oh, and, kids, don’t do drugs. Seriously. For real. Don’t do drugs.

No related posts.

Lil Wayne reaches new heights of coonery with “Whip It Like A Slave”

griffn — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 01:35:45 +0000

In 2009, African-Americans reached new heights with the inauguration of Barack Obama as the first black president. Not to be outdone, niggas have struck back hard with a new song by Lil Wayne and Dem Franchise Boyz titled “Whip It Like A Slave.” Observe:

I wake up in the morning take a shit, shower, shave
Stand over the stove and whip it like a slave
I whip it like a slave
Whip, whip it like a slave
Stand over the stove and whip it like a slave

Okay, new day, new yay
Bet I whip it like Kunta Kinte

If the notion of whipping it like a slave offends you, don’t worry, it’s just a metaphor. For cooking crack. And maybe that’s an intentionally deep connection. Maybe Lil Wayne wants us to know that selling and using drugs is the closest modern-day equivalent we have to physical and mental slavery. Maybe Lil Wayne wants to subliminally school his listeners on the evils of drug use. Or maybe Lil Wayne just wants you to know that he wakes up every morning, takes a shit, showers, shaves, then stands over the stove and whips it like a slave.

For those who might think Weezy is just a simple thug who doesn’t know any better, consider this: he is college educated– which says way more about college education in America than it does Lil Wayne. If you attended the University of Houston, you may want to look into getting a refund.

It used to be that slavery was a sacred subject– a nod of respect to our heroic ancestors and a testament to the power of our people to overcome oppression. Now it’s a punch line in a song about cooking crack. I’m thinking there is no further to fall than this. But then again if anyone has the power to mine the depths of niggerdom for new levels of ignorance, it’s Lil Wayne– the man who earlier this year had a group of preteen girls dancing around the stage of the BET Awards while he sang “I wish I could fuck every girl in the world.” (Click here for pictures.)

Trust me, I’m the last person to get outraged over hip-hop music. I think the people who blame hip-hop for one thing or another are ridiculous, and should worry more about fixing the conditions that create the music than the music itself. I think “Grindin’” and “Ten Crack Commandments” are two of the greatest songs ever made. I don’t get upset if a song is about drugs, I get upset if a song is about drugs and not creative.

But there is a line, even for me. I don’t know exactly where the line is, but I know “Whip It Like A Slave” is on the wrong side of it. If Lil Wayne wants to diminish his own generation by writing drug raps and putting naked girls in his videos, then whatever. History will judge us by our words, our music, and the extent to which we either embraced or pushed back against this type of tomcoonery.

But I shudder to think that there is a kid out there somewhere who’s gonna sit in history class during the two days of the year they teach about slavery, and roll his eyes and start humming, “Whip it like a slave, whip, whip it like a slave.” If this song in any way diminishes the respect we have for the struggles of our ancestors, then it deserves our outrage.

I’m not sure what the response from the black community should be. It might be better to let the song die a quiet death at the bottom of the Billboard charts than whip up a frenzy and watch it rocket to number one. But I will say this: we’ve marched and boycotted for less. Maybe all that isn’t necessary here, but the least we can do is make sure this song doesn’t get played on the radio and doesn’t find it’s way onto our Sidekicks.

Forbes Avenue » drugs

Maia Campbell unwillingly shoots the most effective anti-drug spot ever

Lil Wayne reaches new heights of coonery with “Whip It Like A Slave”