Last night, I finally got around to watching Straight Outta Compton, the 2015 biographical film about Niggaz With Attitude. It was a pretty good movie, especially as a fan of early-90’s West Coast gangsta rap. Some of what was presented in the movie didn’t match up with what I thought happened in real life, but much of it happened before I was even born. As a child, I only knew the music, and that was what little of it I could sneak and listen to with my schoolyard friends.
In my youth, I did not understand the genius marketing behind N.W.A. The usage of controversy to build a brand is a ballsy move, one that many are too afraid to take. We have recently seen this tactic used by the Alt-Right, and ultimately, it may have played a major role in the election of Donald Trump
What I am talking about is publicity.
One scene in Straight Outta Compton resonated with me. When threatened by the FBI about the inciteful lyrics of “Fuck the Police,” Eazy-E decided to reframe the situation. Instead of cowering, he used the incident for free marketing. N.W.A. was so big that even the federal government wanted to put a lid on them!
I wanted my blog to grow, and it is growing, all thanks to a little off-color (pun intended) joke.
My tweet, which was a light politically incorrect joke, has gotten quite a few people’s panties in a bunch. Something that was meant to get a chuckle out of a few dozen active followers has caused anger in almost a thousand Twitter users. I’m not in Mike Cernovich territory, but this is really amazing to me.
In just a few days of this tweet being circulated, I have seen a massive increase in hits on my blog. While it was not my intention to disparage the Black Santa at all, I enjoy the free publicity.
More power to the Black Santa; he is a Brotha that has employment in an increasingly difficult world. He seems like a reasonable fellow, but the people on Twitter making a big deal out of it, on either side of the political spectrum, ought to reevaluate their priorities.
If outraged Twitter users are going to make it easy to apply Law 6 though, I will take it.
Happy Holidays!