Dear parents of Lil Poopy,
First, I want to thank you for teaching your child how to exercise his freedom of speech. I also plan to write a letter to the thirsty media that felt the need to share the story of your sons’ freedom of speech expression during the morning news that I watch while cooking breakfast, and expose the controversy to all of my toddlers’ virgin ears prompting a very uncomfortable explanation over bacon and eggs. As citizens of this great country freedom of speech is a great skill to have acquired at some point in life, especially as early as that of your 9 year old son. Because of his explicit creativity, which I have no doubt is not entirely his own, I now have to explain to my inquisitive four year old why ‘coke’ really is a bad word; and insist that the beverage be called by its full name in our house from now on. I am sure that as you claim, your son is bright, and he goes to school every day, and his teachers love him. Personally I feel that he is talented and might have actually gone some place if his parents hadn’t pimped him out to an industry that denies him at the first sign of trouble.
You may think that I’m biting your head off with my sarcasm, but this is not my intention. I am sincerely thanking you, because if it wasn’t you, it was going to be someone else. But you lovely people have given me yet another perfect example of why we must talk to our children about everything. All the time, at all ages. Gone are the days of censorship for the sake of the kids. I’m not sure if the handlers of your son gave you a copy of the lyrics when you allowed him to make that awfully colorful video, but it might help you to understand what the fuss is all about if you take those lyrics and analyze them line by line. I figured, if I have to explain this to my kid after hear a 3 second excerpt on television, what might the average child internet surfer be able to hear if they look Lil Poopy up on YouTube? So I looked it up. I’ll give it to you, the beat was phat. It had a nice rhythm, and I could definitely dance to it. But the more words that came out of your sons’ mouth, the sicker I got to my stomach. It wasn’t so much the lyrics as it was the fact that this lifestyle is the direction that you are shaping your son to grown in. I was even further disturbed by the YouTube video of your child on stage in an adult night club with other rappers holding half empty bottles of liquor, rapping obscenities while your son rapped along with them. Most of us mothers out here dream of our children becoming doctors, or lawyers, hell even President of the United States. When I look at my son, and envision him 20 years into the future, a liquor swilling half naked rapper promoting illicit drug use is just not what I see….or would ever want to see. The real humdinger about your story? The multitude of parents out here that promote this and worse in front of their children every day. Lil Poopy, is just the poster child.
Far be it from me or even Child Protective Services to say that your decision to put Lil Poopy on display as you have, should be considered neglect or even bad parenting. I am not here to judge you. I am here to ask you, for the sake of rest of the children who will be influenced by the words of your child, to be a little more considerate to the struggling parents out here attempting to raise upstanding citizens in this seemingly unstable society. You decision to allow your son to skip his childhood, should be just that, your decision. I shouldn’t have to suffer the consequences of your decision because you felt the need to broadcast it to the world. Hip Hop is an art form that has been exploited over the years, like all music, by greedy individuals that lack talent and positive intent. The Golden Age of Hip Hop was also the maturation age of Rap. No longer were lyrics child’s play poems to rhythmic music. Through artists like Public Enemy, Eric B. & Rakim, and Slick Rick the art of storytelling developed into the art truth telling. And I really doubt that as they were paving the road for future MC’s that images like that of Lil Poopy ever materialized in their imaginations. Hip Hop and Rap have always been artistic vehicles synonymous with social struggles. Mr. Rivera, I hardly think that you or your son is struggling when you can afford to make a video the quality of “Pop That” to be broadcasted on YouTube. Your son’s producer Brian Slay was quoted by the Boston Herald saying, “Hip-hop now is like the WWE — it’s all fake,” he said. “Back in the beginning, what you were rapping about you were really doing. Now it’s all an act.” I’ll be the first to say that I LOVE wrestling, but I’m not body slamming my five year on a homemade ring in my back yard to put on YouTube in hopes that Vince McMahon will see it and invite us to be on RAW.
I’ve never been a fan of children in the entertainment industry simply because it really isn’t a place for kids. Yet still, with all the cautionary tales in the tabloids today, parents continue their pursuit of fame and fortune for their offspring. Kids just want to feel important and you can do that without putting their innocence up for sale. Upon the appropriate age and display of responsibility if music is something they wish to explore, then make your mark on the world by teaching them the positive route to achieve these goals. It’s the moral thing to do. How are we to create a better world if we are raising the future occupants to believe that immoral behavior brings fame and fortune? I suggest that if you want to salvage Lil Poopys’ music career you put in on ice for now. In five years, change his name to something that people with money will actually purchase. Also during this five years hone his craft through education and you might have a product decent enough to compare to this phenomenal teen from Columbia, South Carolina. Ray Thompson. (An Artist I will write on the future)
RaisinEmReal 