The Pretty Flacko and the Racial Mountain
“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times ”
Black identity is not a monolith. Depending on the hue of one’s pigment, ethnic background, current home and social class, Black people all experience life differently.
But regardless of where we come from, the one common factor that shapes our perspectives is the overarching juxtaposition between black individuality and the black community.
Although, you are your own person, when you are Black it’s as if your community precedes your existence. Even though you didn’t ask for this perceived burden to be bestowed on you, the responsibly of your forefathers, aunt and uncles or parents can seem like a weight on your shoulders.
I speak for first generation kids of the diaspora in North America but I’m sure variations of the following phrases speak to respectably politics familiar to Black kids everywhere. You’ve probably heard, “I want you to go to school and accomplish more than I ever could”, “you’ve got to be 100 times better than them to get half of what they have”, “I moved to this country to give you a better opportunity” or “you will be a [insert respectable occupation according to black parents here] by force and by fire”.
Blame it on colonization or slavery or another dignity-stripping, humanity-erasing travesty that Black people have lived through and continue to experience remnants from, our various communities are about all we’ve got and at the core is our camaraderie. Or so it seems…until a contributor to popular [Black] culture desires to distinguish himself as an individual jiggy n*gga.
“I be that pretty muthaf**** Harlem’s what I’m reppin’“
- A$AP Rocky, Peso (2011)
Asap Rocky, co-founder and culture crusader of ASAP Mob paved his lane in artistry as the outspoken fashion forward rapper. Pretty Flacko has caught flack for a few unsolicited public statements throughout his rise to stardom, most of which regard some element of Blackness.
From suggesting that dark skinned girls do not have a suitable complexion for red lipstick, to that time in 2015, when Rocky was asked on his thoughts of the water crisis in Flint, Michigan by Time Out.
“I just had an epic dream like Dr. King / Police brutality was on my TV screen. “
-A$AP Rocky, Dreams Interlude (2015)
In this same Time Out interview, Rocky explains that he was intentional in specifying “TV screen” in the song “Dreams” because he was in London, England when he wrote the lyrics. Since his circumstances at the time were physically far removed from what Black people were experiencing in America, he felt as though his stances on racial injustices were irrelevant to the discussion.
The irony in his out of sight, out of mind approach to racial issues are that Rocky is currently locked up in jail for allegedly assaulting someone in a street brawl that took place in Stockholm, Sweden.
Rocky fans and artists alike are in support of Rocky’s release, as they believe he reacted in self-defense. A #JusticeForRocky hash tag is in circulation, a petition supporting his release and even fellow rappers like mob mate Asap Ferg, ScHoolboy Q and The Game have vowed to not perform in Sweden till the Harlem native is freed.
There have been rumors that Rocky is being held in inhumane facilities and being treated poorly, which by no means should be taken lightly – he doesn’t deserve any of this, no one does. It’s almost as if this is an injustice, heightened by his …race. *gasps*
Black Individuality vs. The Black Community
If you are a Black American but have claimed to be absolved of issues that affect Black Americans, I’d propose that it would be absurd to assume that Black people would band together and defend you in your time of need? So although, some Black folk have chose to support Rocky, I’m not mad at the ones that won’t. In the era of “self-care”, people won’t allow others to skip out on things in order to save their mental – odd.
One of the most prolific African American artists known for championing Black art also lived in Harlem and is credited for his documentation of the Harlem Renaissance. Langston Hughes speaks on an artist [Countee Cullen] struck with the Asap Rocky illness from back, back in the day.
“One of the most promising of the young Negro poets said to me once, “I want to be a poet—not a Negro poet,” meaning, I believe, “I want to write like a white poet”; meaning subconsciously, “I would like to be a white poet”; meaning behind that, “I would like to be white.”[…] But this is the mountain standing in the way of any true Negro art in America—this urge within the race toward whiteness, the desire to pour racial individuality into the mold of American standardization, and to be as little Negro and as much American as possible.”
I wouldn’t reach so far as to label Flacko - the bad bish, anti-Black or anything but I do believe that he thought his celebrity would be the factor by which he could free himself of the burden that is his blackness. Welp - fat chance.
It’s like Hughes says, to try and be a racialized “individual” would be failing to account for essential parts of your identity. There is no way around this dangerous stream of consciousness, than to begin to internalize racism and become “the standard” white American. Bogus.
Systems of oppression created by racist bigots aren’t concerned with your riches or the mere fact that you are a fashion killa that lives in SoHo, when they hate the power that your skin possesses and the strength that your people withhold. Your positionality as a Black [wo]man, no matter where you go in the Western world (and sometimes even predominately black countries of the east) defines your supposed worth to non-black people (and black people too). It’s ludicrous but the unfortunately truth. The moment we accept this, we’ll stop trying to abandon our beautiful Blackness by jumping through hoops to appease to the very people that have worked tirelessly to erase and eradicate our excellence.
The remarkable pinnacles that Rocky has reached are not only a testament to his talent but to the black people that have supported his artistry thus far. I’m one for redemption and giving people a chance to learn from their mishaps and grow. With that being said, I’m hoping Rocky will be home soon, as most of us do. I just wish that when he gets there, to Harlem or SoHo or wherever, he chooses to educate himself on his blackness and to concern himself with issues that he can’t simply wish away, by choosing to live in Europe.
