Lil Wayne Apologizes For Disrespectful Emmett Till Lyric

Lil Wayne is finally apologizing to the family of Emmett Till for his “inappropriate” lyric in his guest verse on Future’s “Karate Chop” remix.

In February, Lil Wayne landed in hot water over the lyric, “Beat that p***y up like Emmett Till,” a reference to the 14-year-old boy who was tortured and lynched for allegedly whistling at a white woman in Mississippi in 1955. The reference sparked criticism among fans, fellow musicians, his record label, and the Till family, who wrote an open letter to Lil Wayne expressing their outrage.

“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 family wrote. The family also said that the rapper “would be a great asset to the struggle” if he used his celebrity status to turn “tragedy into triumph.”

Over two months later, the rapper penned his own open letter to the family expressing how sorry he is for the disrespectful lyric.

“It has come to my attention that lyrics from my contribution to a fellow artist’s song has deeply offended your family,” Lil Wayne wrote. “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, as well as the letter you sent to me via your attorneys.”

The rapper, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., continued:

“Moving forward, I will not use or reference Emmett Till or the Till family in my music, especially in an inappropriate manner. I fully support Epic Record’s decision to take down the unauthorized version of the song and to not include the reference in the version that went to retail. I will not be performing the lyrics that contain that reference live and have removed them from my catalogue.”

Lil Wayne ended the letter by saying that his “ultimate intention is to uplift rather than degrade [the black] community.”

Do you think Lil Wayne’s apology was enough? Or was it too little, too late?

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