Really, Lil Wayne, You Respect Women?

In her column at Essence, The Root's contributing editor Demetria L. Lucas takes issue with the rapper's "I believe females deserve the ultimate respect at all times, no matter when or where or how" comment. Suggested Reading The Root 100 – 2021 The Root 100 – 2022 The Root 100 – 2023 Video will return…

In her column at Essence, The Root's contributing editor Demetria L. Lucas takes issue with the rapper's "I believe females deserve the ultimate respect at all times, no matter when or where or how" comment.

Video will return here when scrolled back into view
Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach
Stefon Diggs and Cardi B Viral Boat Video Prompts Response from Patriots Coach

"I don't know what anyone else believes, but I believe females deserve the ultimate respect at all times no matter, when or where or how," Wayne said in the interview. "I feel like a woman's supposed to be respected at all times, therefore I believe I made the right decision."

Really, Wayne?

The concert's long over, what's done is done and everyone who cared seems to have moved on, including me. But I take issue with the hypocrisy of his statement about women being respected. Of course, it's the right thing to say and do, and the sentiment sounds lovely, but Wayne's one of the last people I see actually respecting women.

I get that Wayne made "How to Love," a heartfelt song empathizing with the struggles women go through in relationships. And I acknowledge that he seems to be an attentive father to all of his children by different women, two of which were pregnant by him at the same time. But he's also best known for littering his music with raunchy lyrics about women, praising "red" girls and thus deriding darker hues, consistently dropping B-bombs and using "hoe" as a synonym for woman.

Read Demetria L. Lucas' entire column at Essence.com.

The Root aims to foster and advance conversations about issues relevant to the black Diaspora by presenting a variety of opinions from all perspectives, whether or not those opinions are shared by our editorial staff.

Straight From The Root

Sign up for our free daily newsletter.