So it has finally happened. An entertainer, caught red-handed with drugs and illegal weapons, has been convicted of the crimes. You would think that such an occurence was what should be expected in the legal system, but then again that would be forgetting the key word - entertainer.
I personally could care less about Lil Wayne, Dwayne Michael Carter Jr, as a person. I don't know him, nor do I have any desire to. His music is even less of a source of interest. Lil Wayne is a rapper, of some success but that says little considering the music genre.
The thing that matters to me is his criminality. Like a host of entertainers before his, especially in rap music, Lil Wayne has been given every chance to change his ways. At every turn he has taken those chances and thrown them to the wind.
But it is far past the time where the legal system remembers that entertainers, in any format, are just people. The law sees not their fame but their criminality, and they should be penalized just as anyone else is. Yet time and again they are not.
The list of entertrainers is huge, especially in rap music. DMX, Ja Rule, Lil Wayne, Snoop Dogg, are but a couple of names that fly off the top of my head as I think about the entertainers that have committed crimes that would place you or me in jail for years (perhaps decades) and walked away.
Lil Wayne has been arrested with marijuana, cocaine, and guns on several occasions. Yet this is the first time he will be going to jail. The mind boggles at how he was allowed to be free after the first arrest, let alone several of them.
Why is this a big deal? Because Lil Wayne and so many others like him are an inspiration to the youth. Tens of thousands of kids imitate him. They try to mimic his life, style, and in some cases criminality. Because an authentic rapper is one that is a criminal.
Such a role model, whether Lil Waynbe of others are willing to be honest enough to admit that they are such even if they claim not to be, is a negative in any comminuty. The fact that crimes ordinary citizens would be incarcerated for are ignored for these performers reinforces that negative. Which is something that needs to end.
I don't think that the 1 year plea deal is fair for a criminal facing the multiple charges in multiple states that Lil Wayne has. But considering the multiple evasions of justice, it's a start. I can only hope that judges across the nation see this as a wake-up call when faced with a celebrity that cannot understand the law of the land.
Going to jail is not a rite of passage. Being a criminal is not an obligation. Crime, in any form, is not a path to fame or fortune. These are things that need to be clearly stated to all the fans of Lil Wayne, and rap / hip hop (where I feel the problem is most extreme).
Will this one conviction change the lives of those on a path to self-destruction in hope of future wealth? Maybe one or 2. But those are lives that now may become far richer, and possesions have nothing to do with it. And if more convictions follow, well that just helps that many more.
Lil Wayne has finally touched a bit of justice. I can only hope that this experience will improve his life and help him guide others away from what has lead him to a loss of his freedoms and Rights.
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