(Todd A. Smith)
Celebrities have a right to support whatever politician they want and whatever political party they want.
And their fans have every right to criticize them or not support them.
Back in the early 1970s, entertainer Sammy Davis, Jr. got ridiculed by many in the Black community for embracing former President Richard Nixon, a Republican.
But it seemed that more Black entertainers form the 1970s to the 1990s cared more about their people than just profits.
Rapper Nicki Minaj recently faced criticism for appearing with Erica Kirk at a Turning Point U.S.A. and praising President Donald Trump.
Singer/rapper Lizzo said that more entertainers will align with the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement because it is profitable.
While probably true, that perspective seemingly would have been foreign to Black entertainers of past generations.
Back in the day, artists from Marvin Gaye to Public Enemy were not afraid to speak out on social issues and for the Black community, even if it meant fewer record sales.
In fact, hip-hop was not very profitable back in the early days of the genre, anyway.
Therefore, many rappers like Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five and Poor Righteous Teachers blessed the microphone for the love of the game and to make a difference in the community.
Hip-hop came about as a means for people in poor Black and Brown neighborhood to express themselves without resorting to violence.
Instead of gangs, people started forming hip-hop crews, which consisted of rappers, disc jockeys, graffiti artists and break dancers.
Chuck D of Public Enemy once famously said that hip-hop was the “CNN” of the ghetto” because it reported on the plight of people from impoverished communities, which was often underreported in mainstream media.
Hip-hop educated kids in the suburbs about how treacherous gang violence was in the Los Angeles area.
It spoke out against police brutality.
It spoke against crooked politicians.
It spoke against political policy that was detrimental to the Black community.
But ever since hip-hop became a global money-making machine, artists like Nicki Minaj have forgotten about the ghetto and only rap for the pop charts, to paraphrase N.W.A.
As a result, rappers are doing more damage to the communities they came from than they are good.
Since the popularity of gangsta rap in the late 1980s and early 1990s, hip-hop has done its share of negative things to the community.
But it seems like more and more modern rappers are willing to sell out their community than ever before.
During the 2024 presidential election, rappers like Sexyy Red voiced support for President Trump because she wanted another stimulus check, even though a Democratic-led Congress was the reason for those checks.
Trump held up the stimulus checks until he could put his signature on them, making the uniformed think he personally gave them checks.
Rappers agreed to appear on stages with Trump, despite his history of racist rhetoric and discriminatory policy like eliminating diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, erasing Black history and making it easier to discriminate against government employees of color.
Trump has attempted to give police immunity for brutality.
He has said that Black people relate to him because of his mug shot, which is beyond stereotypical because it assumes that Black people are all criminals.
The real estate tycoon has a history of discriminating against Black New Yorkers attempting to live in his apartments.
The billionaire called for the death penalty for the Exonerated Five and did not take it back once the five Black and Brown teenagers were found innocent of attacking a White female jogger in the late 1980s.
Nicki Minaj appeared on stage with the widow of a man he constantly said that Black people were unqualified for certain jobs.
She supported a president who has very little minority representation in his Cabinet.
While this current generation might be more concerned with clout and going viral, the artists that stand the test of time are those who used their voice for the voiceless.
People might not remember those from the 1970s or 1980s who said or did things detrimental to Black progress.
But they do remember Stevie Wonder advocating for a national holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr. on the song “Happy Birthday.”
They do remember Edwin Starr speaking out against the Vietnam War on the song “War.”
They do remember Gaye talking about the plight of the hood on the song “Inner City Blues.”
They do remember Public Enemy criticizing Arizona for not initially celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on the song “By the Time I Get to Arizona.”
Those songs changed the course of history.
Some of those songs even made a lot of money for the artists, proving that woke does not equal broke.
More than anything, celebrities need to also care about their legacy.
When they leave this Earth, what will they be remembered for?
Will they only be remembered for making money?
Or will they also be remembered for making a difference?
Sadly, Nicki Minaj will be remembered for making money.
Furthermore, she will be remembered for making statements detrimental to her own people.
And lastly, she will be remembered for making music that is detrimental to her own people.
What a legacy.
She might be making (White) America great again.
But she is definitely not making Black America great.
I hope that it is all worth it.
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