African American Scholar Marc Lamont Hill Goes After Rapper Slim Thug

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

When I recently read the open letter to the rapper Slim Thug(pictured above), written by Columbia Professor Marc Lamont Hill (pictured below), I was concerned. I love "Slim Thugger" and his musical brilliance, but putting him in an intellectual toe-to-toe with one of the most brilliant young scholars in America is like puttingLennox Lewis in a boxing match with Beyonce. Marc is my boy, and incredibly sharp, and I would encourage him to pick on someone his own intellectual size. Simultaneously, I encourage Slim Thug to quietly walk away and shut up. He needs to stay in the booth and use his intellect for something other than ridiculous social commentary.
But Slim Thug asked for his public butt whooping, after engaging in one of the most feeble and misguided critiques of the African-American woman that I’ve heard in quite a while. Even for a rapper, he sounded as if he needed to be educated on what black women are all about. Here are Slim’s words, "straight out of the negro’s mouth":

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