Wale’s “The Kramer” is the only track on “Mixtape About Nothing” that shines a negative light onto the Seinfeld series. Using Michael Richard’s intolerant rant from November of 2006, Wale brings up the highly charged and highly taboo topic of racist hate speech in America. But does his response to Michael Richards succeed in providing a conscious discussion of this difficult topic?
Wale’s lyrics are fierce, obviously emotionally charged and provide a dramatic call for help for those who have been hurt by hate speech, “who gonna listen to us? Who gonna speak for us? Who gonna plead for us? Who gonna be the head NIC for us? Who gonna defend us from crooked police on us? I’m just an insecure N-I-G-R.” His second verse is an alternate perception of the N-word saying how, “N***** ain’t bad, see N***** just had a clever idea to take something they said into something we have, something we flipped into something with swag.” Wale makes noteworthy jump after jump addressing different opinions and perspectives about hate speech culminating in a vicious self-reflection that ends the track.
“The Kramer” follows a similar lyrical strategy of political tracks by other Hip-Hop superstars like Eminem (with Mosh) and Jay-Z (with Minority Report) in the sense that it pits two parties at ends using “us” and “them” but “The Kramer” seems to flounder with whether it is trying to deliver the message that all white people are like Michaels or whether white people should attempt to learn from Michaels’ mistake. However this blending of “us” and “them” serves a purpose for Wale, it shows how hate speech is universal in whom it impacts. His ambiguous delivery criticizes the response people have to hate speech, some view it as a clear-cut “us” vs “them,” others have a tendency to ignore entirely, while still others believe that it is a difficult and multifaceted topic.
“The Kramer” may not provide the spark that both “Mosh” and “Minority Report” attempted to emphasize but it does strive to educate not just those who are racially intolerant but everyone who suffers from hate speech, “and make sure, everything you say can’t be held against you in any kind of way and any connotation is viewed many different ways ‘cause under every n**** there’s a little bit of Kramer, self hatred, I hate ya and myself.” With “The Kramer” Wale is able to show his audience the difficulty of dealing with hate speech from many different angles. His point appears to be less about how people like Richards are racist and more about the confusion and division of opinions people have about the N-word. This particular track can be interpreted in a vast variety of ways and I would love to talk about other people’s thoughts.
You can listen to “The Kramer”: here
2 comments:
As far as the song goes I roughly agree with you, but I feel the ambiguity almost makes his point get lost.
Also, as long as speech doesn't incite violence I am fine with it. Even the 'inciting violence' part can be taken too far (Whats a joke, what isn't? should someone making a joke go to prison?) No matter how ignorant it is, it still has a right to be said.
I'll be giving it a listen today when I'm off work.
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