By Jamil Oakford/managing editor
Being a savage seems to be a hard job.
One must “drop the mic” on seemingly everyone just to keep up appearances. Roasting the “basic” people is just a daily pastime.
As of late, it seems like everyone wants to be that person. Everyone wants to have that burn that leaves someone with the proverbial third-degree, the one to read someone else their obituary for everyone to see and hear.
Because of this, it often leaves no room for genuine human moments. For example, news of Chicago-based rapper Fredo Santana’s death was both sudden and sad. At 27, Santana was treated for kidney and liver failure late last year and died of a seizure this month.
This didn’t stop people from dragging him in the comments of news stories about his death. I suppose saying “trapping ain’t dead but you is mf” is far more appropriate than posting something real, like commenting on the fact that at 27, Santana had serious health issues leading up to this fatal seizure.
People have made whole careers out of being savage. Worldstar Hip Hop is a website dedicated to posting videos and letting people drag just about anyone.
Charlamagne tha God from “The Breakfast Club” radio show has a whole segment called “The Donkey Corner” dedicated to being savage toward people.
We’re so consumed with the savagery, we don’t mind it when Nicki Minaj, during her beef with Remy Ma, calls her out for being a bad mother and choosing money over “her son just to have that left hook on Remy.” While there is a lot to the story of Remy Ma, her son and her prison time, wasn’t it a bit of a low blow even for a diss track?
Our own president gets to be a savage as he gives pointless nicknames to political adversaries. While some of us think he’s being childish, his base loves it.
Being mean is nothing new. Being a savage also isn’t new. And saying nothing if you’re without something nice to say is highly unrealistic.
With such a crowded field in the department of savagery, shouldn’t there be at least a few of us who decide not to buy into it? For the sake of not being basic, shouldn’t we subscribe to a different way of dealing with people we don’t like or subjects that annoy us?
