I call my son Lil' Dave. He's 2. He weighs 30 pounds and he just started talking. A lot. He can say things like "bus" and "big truck" and "choo-choo train". He was with me in the car the other day and we were listening to the radio when a song came on that he seemed to really like.
The artist was Lil' Jon. He's 36 years old. He has great big grillz, oversized sunglasses and long dreads. He can say things like "YEAH!!!" and "OKAY!!!" and "WHAT?!?!". His music seems to be a big hit with my 2 year old. Me, not so much. That is not my point, however. My question is, why would a 36 year old man refer to himself as "Lil"? And once we get past why, what are the impllications of calling oneself "Lil"? By the way, I've included some before and after Lil' Jon photos- one of him in high school and then one of him sporting his current image.
In the hip hop world, Lil' Jon is by no means alone in his Lil'-ness. To name a few of his colleagues, there are Lil Flip, Lil Wayne, Lil Scrappy, Lil Kim and Lil Mama. In defense of Lil Kim, she actually is little, just measuring in at 5' tall and Lil Mama is both little and young. Which brings me to our "Young" MCs, not Young MC, who actually was young when he MC'd, but this cast of characters: Yung Joc, Young Buck, Young Dro and Yong Jeezy, who are, respectively 24, 26, 28, and 30 years old. So, with the exception of Lil Kim and Lil Mama, none of the rest of this bunch are either lil' or young, so what's with the names? And what's the big deal?
Check it, by calling oneself little or young, it follows that they are requesting that you (the audience) consider them little or young. The process of naming oneself in hip hop is an essential aspect of the culture, just as naming ceremonies have traditionally been important in both secular and religious context in all cultures throughout time and history. By creating a name, one is defining their self identity. Prefacing your name with Lil or Young implies a state of arrested development, a prolonged adolescence. Considering that America has traditionally emasculated men from lower socio-economic groups, particulary men who belong to minority groups through both policy and circumstance, does it make sense that the pop culture icons that our presented to our hip hop youth reinforce that reality by effectively celebrating immaturity and pushing off the responsibility of manhood? This is the very phenomenon that
Piri Thomas explored in his novel
DOWN THESE MEAN STREETS and
Claude Brown wrote about in his appropriately named
MANCHILD IN THE PROMISED LAND.
It is also a societal pressure that hip hop has traditionally fought against by embracing names that denoted leadership and responsibility. Names such as Big Daddy Kane, Daddy-O, Biggie, Grand Puba, Ed O.G., Large Professor, KRS-ONE, Prime Minister Pete Nice were titles of leadership. They expressed the ideals of fatherhood, responsibility, learnedness. They were expressions of elevation, of advancement, of manhood. The artists who took on these names were saying "I am a leader in this movement, I accept that mantle of responsibilty". We need artists today who are willing to do the same thing.
When I look at my brothers in the Ant Farm Affiliates, I see artists and individuals who embrace their positions as men in hip hop. Consider the names in our crew: Expertiz, Quest the Rising Sun, Roc-1, Protege, Nemesis Alpha, Spaz the Working Class. What is implied in these names? Take Quest, for instance, a quest is a journey or a search, often undertaken by a knight or a hero. The Rising Sun is the birth of a new day, a means of shedding light and providing life for everyone. There is great power in is name.
Now, ask yourself, who would you rather follow- a young buck or the Rising Sun?
