Epic Records released a statement apologizing for a leaked song featuring lyrics from Lil Wayne that offended the family of Emmett Till. The record company announced it is doing everything in its power to take down the remixed version of Future's "Karate Chop" featuring Lil Wayne.
The song was leaked online Wednesday, Feb. 13, containing lyrics of a sexual nature that reference the 1955 beating death of Emmett Till. The 14-year-old Mississippi boy was tortured and beaten to death for whistling at a white woman during the height of racial tension in the South. His assailants beat him and gouged his eyes out before tying his body to a cotton gin fan using barbed wire, and then disposed of the body in the Tallahatchie River. His mother, Mamie Till, held an open-casket funeral, which sparked controversy and outrage, and contributed to civil-rights reform in the United States.
Till's cousin and founding director of the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation, Airickca Gordon-Taylor, objected to the song's lyric in which Lil Wayne recites "beat that p---y up like Emmett Till." Gordon-Taylor told the Chicago Sun Times on Wednesday, Feb. 13, "My agenda is not to be disrespectful to Lil Wayne, even as much as I feel he's been disrespectful to my family. We just want Emmett's name removed from that song."
Gordon-Taylor commissioned the help of Civil Rights Leader Rev. Jessie Jackson to reach out to Lil Wayne, who has not yet commented. L.A. Reid, chairman and CEO of Epic Records, reached out to the family to offer his personal apology. "Just ended a conversation with L.A. Reid, CEO of Epic! He apologized to me and our family and stated the song is being pulled!!!!," said a posting on the Mamie Till Mobley Memorial Foundation's Facebook page.
In an apologetic statement, Epic records said, "We regret the unauthorized remix version of Future's 'Karate Chop,' which was leaked online and contained hurtful lyrics," the statement said. "Out of respect for the legacy of Emmett Till and his family and the support of the Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr. ... we are going through great efforts to take down the unauthorized version." The label said that when the official version of the song is released it "will not include such references."
