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When you’re a musical legend, whenever you decide to release new music, even after decade long hiatus, people are going to be intrigued with what you have to say. So when Lauryn Hill dropped “Neurotic Society” earlier this month everyone’s ears perked up.

Once people were able to dissect her spit fire delivery and get to the lyrics, many took offense, calling them homophobic and intolerant.

Some of the lyrics read as follows:

Commerce and girl men
Run the whole world men
Bold, drunken debauchery
Old world brutality
Cold world killed softly
Whole world run savagely
Greedy men and pride fiends
Program TV screens
Quick scam and drag queens
Real life’s been blasphemed

The song, Lauryn claimed, was a way to alarm people about what will happen when neurotic behaviors like “self-indulgence, religious apathy, capitalism and “social gluttony,” remained unchecked.

But people, especially those in the LGBT community argued that Lauryn wrote the song to spread a message of hate.

Lauryn addressed those rumors today on her tumblr page in an open letter. Read it below.

Neurotic Society is a song about people not being, or not being able to be, who and what they truly are, due to the current social construct. I am not targeting any particular group of people, but rather targeting everyone in our society who hides behind neurotic behavior, rather than deal with it.

The world we live in now is, in many ways, an abhorrent distortion, an accumulation of generations and generations of response to negative stimuli. Many don’t even have a concept of what normal is, by virtue of having lived afraid, ashamed, as victims of abuse, or inadequately handled for so long. I believe in coming up from under that fear and allowing the psyche/soul to truly heal. I understand that healing is a process, but I also believe that it is our responsibility to seriously care for ourselves, so that we can extend that level of concern for others and positively affect our environment.

I want what is best for Humanity. Humanity, aligned with the Spiritual principles, that help each individual conquer fear, and transcend limited circumstance. I believe in healing and dealing with the traumatizing events of our lives, both in this lifetime, as well as those passed down to us, or inherited, so we can live as fully as possible.

The whole world suffers from a lack of honest dialogue. Character and integrity have suffered at the hands of political correctness and corporate agenda, while our society moves further and further towards unhealthiness and breakdown. I oppose these trends.

Everyone has a right to their own beliefs. Although I do not necessarily agree with what everyone says or does, I do believe in everyone’s right to protest.

The overarching message of my music is to get up and stop compromising! And hopefully it will stimulate and motivate the changes that our society needs.

Artists are constantly under media and public scrutiny. This is not a one-way street. Those of us with the charge of putting out faithful vibrations, have a responsibility to report what we see, and to write about what we know. I have seen some of the best and also some of the worst representations of human behavior. The same way that I exalt that which is high, is the same way I expose that which is abusive, in order to motivate and remind if not all of us, than as many as possible, of the Higher Calling.

 

What do you make of Lauryn’s explanation? Is it sufficient or do you think she’s just attempting to cover herself now that people are challenging her message.

If you need a refresher and want to listen to the song in its entirety, check it out on the next page.

Source: touchfm.org

So while you all were enjoying your burnt hot dogs and busting illegal fireworks outside of my window at exactly 1:24 a.m., Frank Ocean celebrated his independence after publicly revealing that he’d had a romantic relationship with another man and was bisexual.

In a very heartfelt and beautifully written letter posted Wednesday morning on his Tumblr page, Ocean sought to clarify the rumors that a few of the love ballads on his soon to be released debut album, entitled Channel Orange, were intended for a male love interest. In the letter, Ocean writes:

“4 summers ago, I met somebody. I was 19 years old. He was too. We spent that summer, and the summer after, together. Every day almost, and on the day we were together, time would glide. Most of the day I’d see him, and his smile. By the time I realized I was in love, it was malignant. It was hopeless There was no escaping, no negotiating with the feeling. No choice. It was my first love, it changed my life.”

Ocean went on to say that he thought about the women he had been with and thought he was in love with and the love songs he listened to and “realized they were written in a language I did not yet speak.” Ocean wrote in his closing. “I feel like a free man. If I listen closely. I can hear the sky falling too.”

One of the first Hip-Hop community insiders to speak on the matter was Russell Simmons, who wrote on Global Grind, “Today is a big day for hip-hop. It is a day that will define who we really are.  How compassionate will we be? How loving can we be? How inclusive are we? I am profoundly moved by the courage and honesty of Frank Ocean….”

Others outside the Hip-Hop community are speculating about what impact his announcement will have on his career including questions about how the genre and its fans, which are said to be notoriously homophobic, will react to his lifestyle. But within this mix of congratulatory pats on the back and questions about what the future holds for the singer/songwriter/rapper, there is a certain level of incongruity in his declaration of sexual freedom and what Frank Ocean represents.

Ocean, who is probably most known on the R&B front for the hit song “Novacane” and for appearing with Jay-Z and Kanye West as one of the few features on Watch the Throne, is a part of the collective, Odd Future Wolfgang Kill Them All, or OFWGKTA, an alternative, suburban black skater boy/girl rap group, known for saying some pretty outlandish stuff. And when I say outlandish, that includes lacing their lyrics with the kind of homophobic, anti-black and female debasement glee that could probably make Lil’ Wayne blush (maybe that’s why he’s a fan). The leader and co-founder of this clique is Tyler the Creator, who uses multiple personas to exhibit his creativity as well as his angst. One such alter-ego is Wolf Haley, a white ginger (e.g. red-haired) kid, whom he said that he always wanted to be. It may be this persona, which causes him to refer to himself as a self-racist or to use his Twitter feed and rhymes as platforms for anti-gay slurs and references. And when he is not calling people f****ts or even berating himself, his targets include veteran female emcees such as Rah Digga, who he once called a dude, and MC Lyte, who he called a “dyke.”

It’s funny how people stand so strong in their racist and homophobic convictions but refuse to accept those labels when they’re put on them. Anytime someone prefaces a statement with, “I believe everyone should have equal rights, but” you pretty much know bigotry will follow and that’s exactly were we are with former SNL comedian Colin Quinn. Hopefully this man is comfortable being an unemployed stand-up comic because he’s pretty much angered the entire black and gay community over the course of a three-day Twitter rant on equality when it comes to race and sexual preference. Don’t worry, he’s not racist or homophobic though. Let’s look at the long line of inappropriate comments he made late last week:

Now if you don’t support same-sex marriage, you’re well within your rights to express that however somewhere in between protesting this effort, Colin attempts to out a bunch of stars like former SNL castmate Will Ferrell by saying he was one of the closet celebs on set but he doesn’t want to blow his cover because his wife is his “anchor” but he has an “elf” like quality that made him wonder. And that’s his business how? He also suggests John Travolta is homosexual among other male actors and points out all sorts of questionable behavior, playing into the whole feminine versus manly man gay argument.

Switching from an anti-homosexual stance to one of white power, a day or two after going in on gay celebrities, Colin expressed his terror at stats showing minority births are growing in the U.S.:

This foolishness on top of John Derbyshire’s comments last week about White Europeans running better society’s really has me baffled. I thought deep down white people knew their racism was pretty baseless but I’m realizing some people really believe they are superior—and that they own America. It’s easy to see how this country was founded like it was. When fear kicks in about other races overpowering them, white people tend to lash out. Luckily followers have been letting Colin have it all weekend for proudly proclaiming such ridiculous ideas—unfortunately, he thinks this is good news since TMZ reached out to him for more info about his statements. He tweeted “Finally a little publicity for standing up for what’s right! #backontop”

No, finally a little publicity for being viciously inappropriate. Good luck with that in “your” country.

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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GLAAD achieved it’s mission. Today, CNN announced that Roland Martin has been suspended indefinitely for the non-gay friendly Superbowl tweets that landed him in the hot seat with the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Sunday, and I think we all know that indefinite suspension is code for he will be fired—eventually.

Angry, I immediately took to Twitter, and was probably on my way to proving I learned nothing from this situation about Twitter restraint, when a tweet from Carolyn Edgar stopped me in tracks. She wrote:

“Instead of getting upset that GLAAD had the juice to get Roland Martin suspended, how about we figure out how to get some of that juice?”

As much as that’s not something Roland Martin supporter’s want to hear in this instance, the words are a dose of harsh reality. If people want Roland Martin to maintain his post at CNN, they’re going to have to figure out how to be just as clever, convincing, organized, and dedicated to the cause as GLAAD, because they’ve basically achieved their goal.

A lot of people say as a black person, if you are upset at Roland Martin’s suspension then you should disagree with Don Imus’ firing but I think there is a crucial difference there. Don made his racist remarks on-air with Fox, Roland tweeted homosexually insensitive comments from a personal Twitter account that are not reflective of CNN. When you look at those facts, black people have a right to be mad. Although this isn’t necessarily a race issue, it is interesting that neither CNN contributor’s Dana Loesch or Erik Erickson were fired for the controversial statements made on their radio shows, yet a Twitter comment gets this response.

But shouldn’t we do more than get angry? A lot of people liken the gay rights struggle to that of black civil rights activists, and while I don’t agree with that comparison, there are some things the black community can learn from the gay community because in an overly simplistic, two-worded summation of LGBTQ activism: they move.

That’s sort of the unspoken joke about gay activists—they have eyes and ears everywhere and they will make you pay for saying, doing, and possibly even thinking anything remotely anti-gay. Why can’t the black community do the same? In just the last few months, several racially insensitive situations have come to light. Newt Gingrich singled out black people as welfare hoarders, French Elle said we’re only stylish because we adopt white codes of fashion, Michelle Obama’s been blasted for her backside, likened to the Grinch and Marie Antoinette, and been labeled an angry black woman, Tea Party members have called for the lynching of the entire Obama family, and there are countless other instances that are too numerous to name. But every single one of those individuals still has his position and is free to offend the black community again while we go one writing open letters and waiting for change.

Commentors on this site say it best whenever suspect behavior is exposed: simply stop supporting it. But there’s another next step that has to go beyond not buying a rap CD, or watching reality TV, or purchasing a magazine—organized action. It’s not enough for a handful of people to make a personal decision about what they expose themselves too, the black community’s agenda has to be made known and be seen clearly. GLAAD didn’t hesitate to bring popular members of the gay community in on his efforts to get Roland Martin fired. They did their homework, they disseminated information, and they got results. Now it’s our turn.

Do you think Roland Martin and Don Imus’s suspension are equal? Do you think there are things the black community can learn about getting results from gay activists?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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The superbowl is a time for fun and ish talking both in person, and now thanks to social media like Twitter, online. But there’s always someone who takes on the role of inappropriate police, and this year that “someone” is the Gay Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).

The alliance is calling for CNN to fire political correspondent Roland Martin for tweets sent yesterday that they deem homophobic. The situation all started when Roland saw David Beckham’s H & M ad and tweeted:

“If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!”

GLAAD immediately responded with the tweet:

“@rolandsmartin Advocates of gay bashing have no place at @CNN #SuperBowl #LGBT”

Roland, a man who argues for a living, shot back, tweeting:

“@glaad @CNN well you’re clearly out of touch and clueless with what I tweeted. Way to assume, but you’re way off base.”

Roland then sent out tweets to his followers, letting them know his comment was really bashing soccer—which he does frequently—not gay men, but it didn’t help his cause when he later wrote:

“Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass”

Unsurprisingly, GLAAD has now launched a full-fledged campaign to have Roland fired, saying “Advocates of anti-gay violence have no place at CNN or Time Warner.” They also reference Roland’s defense of Tracy Morgan’s controversial routine about what he would do if his son was gay, saying:

“Martin’s tweets today advocating violence against gay people weren’t an accident — they are a part of a larger pattern for Martin.”

Roland’s history of supporting conversion therapy is also being used to back up GLAAD’s stance. In 2006, he wrote on his website that his wife is an ordained Baptist minister who has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle, and to live a chaste life, seemingly encouraging others to do the same.

It doesn’t appear that CNN has made any comment on the situation just yet, but GLAAD likely won’t back down until the network does, or they get what they want.

Do you think GLAAD is being too sensitive or does Roland Martin seem to have a history of anti-gay/homophobic behavior? Should CNN fire him?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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